Your Tendencies are NOT a Life Sentence

B'SD

18 Elul, 5778

One of the dominant themes of the EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge print and E- book is that you need not be locked into a psychological limitation. People are able to choose their attitudes and perspectives, even to get their grins back (my goal in helping you!) despite painful setbacks and situations.

I use the empowerment/ability to choose a new way of thinking and behaving model when I coach people, too.

Listen to the intention embedded in my response below. It was directed to someone who decided that she cannot behave in any manner other than the one to which she's psychologically inclined according to the Enneagram (a system for gaining insight into our instincts, motives, preferences, strengths, and weaknesses, plus those of other people):

"Being a specific number is not a life sentence. Some of us grow up. It is a matter of mastering the insights into our personalities, developing the character/maturity to stifle impulses so that we don't sabotage our self interests, and choosing to remain in the ideal level. It takes work and practice plus a sense of commitment. The Enneagram is a tool for growth, not an excuse for remaining stuck."

Everything that I do in life involves making a choice that will serve my needs, including my physical and mental health. All of us need to do that. It's called "maturity."





Smile as you and whomever you share the book with grow insightful and emotionally stronger together. 

Nurture the development of your insights into the gamut of emotions when someone is ill. 

Learn how to calm down and to stay that way longer than before. 

Solve financial problems by reading the contact information for charitable organizations willing to pay some or all of your specific medical expenses.

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 

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

Fill your mind and behavior with wise choices that leave you proud of yourself. Grow.

When Having Disabilities Means FUN and Accomplishment!

B'SD

16 Elul, 5776

WOW, this is exciting news about empowerment! Disabilities, aka differently abled abilities, need not hold back enthusiasm nor best efforts! That means FUN!

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/217942

Paralympic Games had a Jewish founding father

The founder of the Paralympics was a Jewish doctor who escaped the Holocaust by fleeing Nazi Germany.

ISRAELNATIONALNEWS.COM

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Read about how to develop a Can-Do Attitude in the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





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

Fill your life with can-do messages and actions!

Cherishing Life Despite Hardships, a How-to.

B'SD

8/9 Shvat, 5776

It's after nightfall here in Israel, a new day. I've spent much of the daylight hours crying, sighing and praying due to the recent terrorist murder of an ideal Israeli.

My composure is somewhat recovered, my energies directed toward preparing for my synagogue's Tu B'Shvat celebration this coming Sunday night. I'm in charge of the program.

This Hebrew-language video explains to children that we cherish the life deep inside plants, the potential for goodness, though superficial appearances deceive us into seeing what appears to be lifelessness.

Israelis spend the holiday praising the special foods grown in the Holy Land, and planting trees.

Perhaps you'd like to spend some time praying for the safety of innocents and celebrating the sweetness of life with me. 

I plan to blog again after I've cooked up some holiday foods for the forthcoming party.

The best response to sorrow is to dig deep inside yourself, decide on a noble response, a life-embracing perspective, then to live up to your principles.

Caving in to sorrow as a lifestyle is a recipe for disaster, personal and otherwise.

Empower yourself to make wholesome progress.





Want to get your grin back despite the physical, medical, and/or emotional suffering before you?

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





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

Fill life with simple goodness.

How to Know that You've Grown

B'SD

6 Tevet, 5776

I do 1:1 coaching with ill people, sometimes with perfectly healthy people. And they tend to come up with the same questions: "How will I know when I'm making progress?" and "How can I have a relationship with GOD, Who let this happen to me?"

My answer is to trust your heart.

​

Spirituality, and a relationship, are multifaceted experiences. Both are about transcending your limitations and becoming a better you.

You know you're on the right track when you feel joy, a sense of satisfaction and the certainty of emotional growth, all at different times but sometimes all at once.

Friends, family and colleagues might even give you some delightful feedback about the positive changes they notice in you.

​

Keep a journal (as suggested in the EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book). Note the times that you feel pain, agonized, uncertain, and when you feel the positive emotions.

Talk to GOD out loud.  Even a sigh will do.

Life is a matter of balance. Do what you can to keep yours, and cherish the pleasant parts of life. They can keep us going past indescribable pain. Be sure to focus on what's going right, and especially on when it seems that GOD gave you a hug of some sort.

Go on. Buy a notebook or use one sitting around somewhere in your home. 

Record your accomplishments. 

And enjoy them.





Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





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

Fill your mind and heart with optimism. On purpose.

EMPOWERING Myself and Other People to Cope with War

B'SD


20 Tamuz, 5774

I've had several blogposts waiting to see the light of day for some time, now. I chose not to let them appear on your monitor because the lighthearted banter was not appropriate to my being under siege with the rest of Israel.

I can share medical innovations and cute stories with you at another time, GOD willing

I, and many other Israelis, have literally been running for our lives into protected shelters of some sort, as an onslaught of Hamas missiles head to civilian areas these past few weeks. 

Israel's major airport, Ben Gurion, has been a frequent target, too.

It's been hard to live normal daily routines as we dodge this and that, struggle to shop for necessities, and then prepare meals. Our sabbaths are also punctuated with sirens, hunger, and fear. We feel a wistfulness for the serenity that daily Jewish life and values, and especially the Shabbat, bring to our lives.

Southern Israel has been a Hamas (and PA) target for years. It has taken an especially brutal beating this go- 'round. I have friends in that part of the map, and know some of the soldiers there, too.

I chose not sit out the war 

thinking of merely 

my own well-being.

Last Friday I participated in a convoy of volunteers who'd shopped, prepared and delivered home-cooked foods to southern families in deep distress, and to Negev area IDF bases in need of morale-boosters for the thousands of reserve soldiers suddenly called to duty.

Fellow travelers of the car I was in watched the puffs of smoke all over the sky with me. Those puffs told us that Iron Dome was working, with GOD's supervision, to protect Israel's citizens. I deeply felt GOD's protection over us during that mission of mercy to countrymen in need. All of us did.

We took a soldier from our neighborhood all the way to his base outside Gaza, among other errands on our agenda.  Along the way we made a few stops. In the photo below he's amusing some children with magic tricks at an absorption center in southern Israel (Israel houses immigrants fleeing persecution in other countries, for free, until they adjust to their new surroundings).

We went to a dedication ceremony at Giv'at Oz V'Gaon, a new neighborhood named for the three teens murdered in cold blood last month, as they attempted to travel from their schools to their homes for Shabbat.

Jewish life is all about positive energy.

We build and help others to flourish.

We kept driving until we'd reached 

the IDF location for that soldier

traveling with us.

One of his colleagues came out 

to hoist some of that 

home-cooked food indoors.

One of our traveling companions
took this photo 

of the rest of us.

Middle East heat radiated from 
the cloudless sky.

We were in the desert, 
with no trees to speak of. 

Young and newly planted saplings,
planted by Israeli Jews,

dotted the area.

Here's a picture of my arm 
reaching from the car 

as I handed out treats to 
a few hot, tired soldiers 

thrilled to meet us at one of 
the several IDF bases we visited.

Yes, indeed, we had traveled that close to the action, 

to do what we could to keep up morale and smiles on.

Wondering how I kept my courage up without faltering in the face of frightening odds?

I've had past practice at overcoming challenges. 

I made choices and took actions that were quite difficult to do, at first. But as I realized that my life could continue with all that, I did all that again and again.

You can learn all about those empowering techniques, and use them yourself, after you read

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 

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

You have a medical or mental health war to win, to improve your life. Fight fear with practical, can-do thoughts and actions.


 

Knocking Out Anorexia

B'SD

10 Adar, 5773

I've spent time in a psych hospital, working on the patient records of people being treated for anorexia and other eating disorders. I came away with one distinct impression about that:

Absolute hell for all concerned.

If you or someone you know is suffering with an eating disorder, I highly recommend reading this blog and following it over time: Anorexia 101.

Here's Part 2: From Diet to Anorexia.

I'll be guest-blogging about comforting foods that don't damage waistlines in the near future. Stand by for updates about some nutritional news YOU Need to know!

Meanwhile, you can buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. It can do a lot for you and/or a loved one. Buy it at Booklocker! 

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

You don't have to dig your grave with your mouth! Reach out to loved ones and medical professionals for necessary help.

 

2 Wheelchairs + 1 Wedding = A Match Made in Heaven on Earth

B'SD


21 Tamuz 5772

As you'll read in 

"The purpose of this workbook is to be a tool for strengthening your resolve. Emotions go on a roller coaster when a person learns of the medical and/or emotional/spiritual crisis that seems to be engulfing them. That’s a sign of being human, of being normal. Despite your yearning to master and to control the situation you’re in – or even to get rid of it, reality dictates that you remain calm and logical. The temptations to go ballistic are innumerable. We all suffer with that problem.

The mark of a refined human being, a "decent person," is that he or she behaves pleasantly and intelligently despite the pain, setbacks and sadness of the problem in their life. In the 21^st century, however, a huge sense of confusion clouds our thinking: we became used to instant solutions back in the 20th century. 


Technological advances gave us instantly cooked food zapped in microwaves. We advanced from s-l-o-w snail mail or telegram-facilitated communication to real-time Faxes, Instant Messaging, quickly received and responded to E-mail, cell phones, PDAs, blackberries and more. We lost the sense of having to wait for results.

That loss of perspective affects our understanding of emotional restraint and spiritual growth. They develop with the repetition of polite behavior despite inner turmoil. Time and patience are crucial factors for becoming refined individuals. They’re critical coping tools for medical challenges.

You turn every mistake into a blessing when you decide that it will not weigh you down and choose to use it to rise to greater heights. Growth means rising above present limitations, after all."


Watch these ideals come to life with people who live them without ever having read the EMPOWER Yourself book.

Click on 

2 Wheelchairs + 1 Wedding = 

A Match Made in Heaven on Earth

***

Imagine what YOU can accomplish after reading  E-book or print edition EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. Buy it at Booklocker. 





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

How to EMPOWER Yourself in an Emergency Room and MORE!

B'SD

12 Tamuz 5772  




Here’s another important thing you need to know in a medical crunch: When a person already taking medication(s) is admitted to a hospital - including the emergency room - or outpatient clinic, they usually receive new medications or, changes are made to the medication they've been taking all along. That can present some serious health problems for people with drug sensitivities. They become sicker or their medical problem is not adequately addressed while they're in the hospital or clinic. This is scary stuff! Here’s how to understand the problem:


Hospital-based staff members are not mind-readers. Worse, they tend to be crushed by heavy schedules and excessive responsibilities. They can't easily access every - or any - patients' complete medication lists. Communication lines might falter or not even be attempted. Medical professionals down the line aren't always able to know of recent medication changes. As a result, the new medication regimen being prescribed during the hospital or clinic stay, then at the time of discharge could 1) Omit necessary medications, 2) Add too many drugs treating the same problem, 3) Cause physical harm or 4) Hold incorrect dosages that simply do not help the patient.


Sometimes the situation happens in front of you as you scream, beg and plead in vain for someone to pay attention and to prescribe the medication you need versus the stuff they want to ply on you.


The patient and the medical staff share a problem called "A need for medication reconciliation." How that is to be accomplished is one serious matter. I've resolved it live on the spot for a few people.


Here’s how to solve the problem: You need to alert all medical personnel of the issues affecting your health. But what if relevant people aren't paying attention to you the patient, or to your loved ones demanding better care? See pages 42-47 of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge  for the LISTEN to the Person Before You: Lessons for Caregivers section. You can print it out and give copies to nursing supervisors, the head of the medical department treating you and anyone else you deem appropriate. There's NOTHING like in in the How-to and For Dummies line of books! 


Here are a few more suggestions: Print out the "Don't Tell Me You 'Understand'" poem on page 7 and hang it over your hospital bed. Practice more patient-protecting ideas described in the book. Delegate authority and have loved ones or friends present facts to relevant medical personnel. Learn how to successfully advocate for yourself in dire medical straits. Practice until you get it right.


There are plenty of reasons that I chose the “Face your medical problems with dignity. Face your future with optimism” motto for my book-related blog and Self-Help coaching services. An improving and protected sense of dignity plus ever-better optimism and solid information help ill people to cope with medical, mental health and disability challenges. You can overcome despair that way, and allow yourself to heal emotionally, even physically despite devastating setbacks. We hear these great sayings over time, but I learned the lessons in my gut and every cell of my body. You can, too.


Every medical professional owes it to their patients to ask, “How can I help you today?” If they don’t, you’ll know what to do when you read the EMPOWER Yourself book.

Medical and mental health professionals recommend the "persevere past emotional and physical pain" message of It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry If I Need To: EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. So do clergy of different faiths.


You can learn the lessons to help you when you buy the E-book or print edition book from the publisher, Booklocker, which ships way faster than online book stores. Go to http://booklocker.com/books/3067.html





By the way, Americans, did you know that some doctors fear Obamacare - because it will fail to serve YOU? http://video.foxnews.com/v/1714511797001/

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