How to Develop an Iron-clad Wall of Positivity in the Face of Illness/Disability!

B'SD

3 Elul, 5772 

One of EMPOWER Yourself's newer readers is a woman facing breast cancer. Here's what her husband thinks of the book (his remarks were originally in yesterday's post, an accident on my part. I'd like to present them all on their own: 

"Ron" wrote on his Facebook wall: "I will be starting a new thread - Adina's Cancer Journal - to tell you what we are going through - but, more importantly, to help you if we can. My first message, though, is this. I strongly recommend getting hold of Yocheved Golani's book, "It's My Crisis and I'll Cry If I Want To". Having seen many many "self-help" books over 40 years or so, this is not just another one. It is a workbook for the person facing a life-threatening or severe crisis, that invites the reader to develop his own iron-clad wall of positivity in the face of what can be hell on earth."

Sure enough, Ron's wife Adina had needed a good cry when she learned her diagnosis. And she learned what to say to anyone who criticizes her for that, in the opening pages of the book.

A medical crisis - you'd cry too, if it happened to you. Use your tissues and handkerchiefs with my blessings borne of experience. GOD gives you Permission to Weep (read all about it on page 5!). You can say that to any critics after explaining that "It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry if I Need To."

Then strengthen yourself to face the situation with decency and growing inner strength.



Buy the E-book or print edition today so you and your loved ones can smile again, too: Click on the words EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.


Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.

Here's How to Know Who Your Friends Are

B'SD

1 Tamuz 5770


My Self-Help Coaching work brings me into other people's lives. I've had occasion to hear clients telling me of lively but very troubling relationships that they mistakenly called "Friendships."

Here's a One Size Fits All definition of friendship: "Friendship isn't about who you have known the longest. It's about those who came and never left your side ..."

By being at your side, those people seek to improve your lot in life with productive assistance, be it financial, a shoulder to cry on, a sounding board for reflecting ideas back to you so they make better sense or by performing tasks that ease your pain. Simple, heartfelt fun is also the core basis of a friendship. Friendliness makes you feel elevated, makes you feel that you're a better person than you thought. Life seems so much sweeter with a healthy friendship. It reassures you that the actions you've taken and the thoughts you've pondered are good for you or, something ill advised. A real friend points out what can or cannot work for your benefit.

Your illness is one thing. If someone likes taking you on guilt trips, or blaming themselves or you about why suffering is happening, don't go along for the adventure. Why you're sick is between you and The One Above, not the gossips down on Earth. Illness is not cause for mentally or actually punishing people you know.


Friendship increases happiness. It is not about symbolic victories that hurt other people, not about punishing someone on your behalf. Friendship makes your heart lighter and your lips curve into a genuine smile.




There's a lot of heartwarming stuff about friendship in EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. Read it with those real friends helping you through your medical challenge.

Coping with a Medical Crisis?
Make the Changes You Need in Your Life

What to DO When You're Confused & Don't Know What to Do

B'SD


16 Sivan 5770







is filled with suggestions for calming down and clearing confusion from your mind when you're ill. Here's another look at the situation by a business coach I know and respect (he's my neighbor): What to Do When You're Unclear, Confused and Don't Know What to Do.


I hope you find it helpful ;^ )


Yocheved Golani
Coping with a Medical Crisis?
Make the Changes You Need in Your Life

How to Stay Warm Despite the Deep Freeze Around the World: Here's How

B'SD





22 Tevet 5769

News updates about unusally cold condtions around the world are cause for concern.

Older people and ill people with lower levels of physical defenses and protections require more precautionary measures for staying warm and safe.

Everyone else would do well to follow the advice below (italics and illustrations mine), too:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
For Immediate Release: Friday, January 16, 2009

HYPOTHERMIA: A COLD WEATHER RISK FOR OLDER PEOPLE

Almost everyone knows about winter dangers such as broken bones from falls on icy steps, sidewalks or streets. But cold weather also can cause an important, less obvious danger that can affect older people. Older adults are especially vulnerable to hypothermia, which can be deadly if not treated quickly. The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has some advice to help older people avoid hypothermia.

Hypothermia occurs when a person's body temperature drops below normal and stays low for a prolonged period of time. With advancing age, the body's ability to endure long periods of exposure to cold is lowered.

Older people also are at risk for hypothermia because their body's response to cold can be diminished by certain illnesses such as diabetes and some medicines, including over-the-counter cold remedies. In addition, older adults may be less active and generate less body heat. As a result, they can develop hypothermia even after exposure to relatively mild cold weather or a small drop in temperature.

The best way to identify someone with hypothermia is to look for confusion or sleepiness, slowed or slurred speech, shivering or stiffness in the arms and legs, weak pulse or low blood pressure, poor control over body movements or slow reactions. If you suspect that someone is suffering from the cold and you have a thermometer available, take his or her temperature. If it's 96 degrees or lower, call 911 for emergency help.

The NIA has information to help you prevent hypothermia. Here are a few tips:

-- Wear several layers of loose clothing when it is cold. The layers will trap warm air between them. Tight clothing can keep blood from flowing freely and lead to loss of body heat.

-- Wear a hat, scarf, gloves or mittens, and warm clothes when you go outside in cold weather. A significant amount of your body heat can be lost through your head, and hands and feet are the first body parts to get cold.

-- To keep warm at home, wear long underwear under your clothes, along with socks and slippers. Use a blanket or afghan to keep legs and shoulders warm and wear a hat or cap indoors.

-- Make sure your home is warm enough. Set your thermostat to at least 68 to 70 degrees. Even mildly cool homes with temperatures from 60 to 65 degrees can trigger hypothermia in older people.

-- Check with your doctor to see if any medications (prescription or over the counter) you are taking may increase your risk for hypothermia.

Because heating costs are high, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has funds to help low-income families pay their heating bills. For more information, contact the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (1-866-674-6327) or the Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116).

The NIA has free information about hypothermia. To order the fact sheet, Hypothermia: A Cold Weather Hazard, or the brochure, Stay Safe in Cold Weather, call toll free 1-800-222-2225. Hipotermia: El Peligro de las Bajas Temperaturas is also available. These and other free publications on healthy aging can be downloaded from the NIA Web site

http://www.nia.nih.gov/.

The NIA leads the federal effort supporting and conducting research on aging and the medical, social and behavioral issues of older people. For more information on research and aging, go to .

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov/.

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Click on this news report about how some people cope with the cold by using a sense of humor.

Here's one more tip from me: Bake, roast or cook warm foods to heat your body and kitchen but DO NOT use your oven to heat your home. The dangers of doing that (e.g., uncontrollable fire, carbon monoxide poisoning, scorched children) are severe.

Get LOTS MORE stay-healthy tips when you click on I WANT TO BUY YOCHEVED's BOOK!

To your good health,

Yojeved Golani
Coping with a Medical Crisis?
Make the Changes You Need in Your Life