Tag: growth

Three ways you can help combat hunger in the U.S.

On By epil(epsy)ogueIn Call to ActionLeave a comment

In 2020 over 37 million Americans were living below the national poverty level and were food insecure.

What is food insecurity?

Being food insecure is when you are unsure when or how you will get the next meal. Many factors can cause food insecurity. There are some Americans that are just above the national poverty level that also struggle to have consistent meals.

People living with chronic illness or disability can find themselves in poverty. These conditions can easily prevent earning a steady income. Whether it be from physically being unable to work, or discrimination in the workplace. 

Medical visits are likely often for these groups, and medical costs can quickly become overwhelming. Tasks that abled people often take for granted may not be feasible for disabled or chronically ill persons. Tasks such as grocery shopping. These conditions make these groups likely to face hunger.

How you can help: Donate food, donate time, donate money.

Reusable grocery bag filled to top with groceries, sitting on a stool.
Photo by Austin Kehmeier

Donate Non-Perishable Food: boxed meals, canned foods (meat, veggies, fruit), cooking oils, dried herbs and spices, granola bars, instant mashed potatoes, pasta, rice, shelf-stable milk, whole grain cereal, are a few examples.
Avoid Donating: items packaged in glass, or cellophane.
Go the extra mile: Call your local food bank and ask what items they are in need of, before donating.

Food truck being unloaded by three women.
Photo by Joel Muniz

Donate time: Some food banks rely heavily on volunteers especially during the colder seasons. Transporting, prepping, and serving food are all jobs that can make a huge impact on many families, children, veterans, chronically ill, and elderly in your community.

Woman's hands, holding United States currency coins, and a note that says 'make a change"
Photo by Katt Yukawa

Donate Money: whether it be a monthly donation or a one time gift, every dollar is appreciated. Just a donation of 5 dollars provides an entire meal, and then some. Stocks and mutual funds can also be donated. Contact your financial advisor and the charity you wish to donate to for the information needed. Most organizations are able to take donations by phone, mail, or online.

Food insecurity is a year round issue. Although the winter season is known for the season of giving, consider donating any time of year. Any, and all help is appreciated.

Find a food bank near you or donate to Feeding America. Feeding America is the largest hunger relief charity in the United States. I am not affiliated or sponsored by Feeding America. For more information, other facts visit feedingamerica.org or click on their logo below.

Feeding America's logo.

How do you help combat hunger in the United States? We would love to hear your story! Please share in the comments below.

3 Must Do’s When Living With a Chronic Illness

On By epil(epsy)ogueIn chronic illness, Health and WellnessLeave a comment

Trying to be “perfect” with a chronic illness is impossible. However, being open to learning about yourself, and adapting to your ever-changing situation, can help you thrive in ways that may seem unattainable. Here are three basic things that greatly help manage living with chronic illness.

Turn Bad Days Into Good Data

There are no avoiding bad days when you have a chronic illness. There is no doubt that a bad day can cause feelings of anger, frustration, and grief when losing another day to your condition.

One way we can turn them into a positive is by learning everything we can about those days. Analyze your day or week leading up to that bad day. Was it food, lack of sleep, and/or activity that triggered this bad day? If you are not sure, keeping track will help you see patterns you never noticed before.

Photo by Isaac Smith

Sometimes with chronic illness bad days happen for no particular reason. But perhaps you can find something that you have the ability to manage. Changing that one thing can perhaps decrease the frequency and severity of the bad day.

A health journal can be an ally in tracking your ups and downs. You can create a diary on paper, or look for apps that fit your needs. Along with tracking the “what went wrongs” do not forget to note the “what went rights.” Remembering to mark those positives can help maintain perspective.

Treat Your Emotional Health, Not Just Your Physical Health

With chronic illness you more than likely have been prescribed medication (or several) to treat your physical health. You have maybe changed your routine, or added an activity in your life to help cope with your chronic illness. But have you added anything to help improve your mental health?

Photo by Mike Erskine

Sometimes people feel like we must hide our illness, or just “tough it out” but that can be extremely detrimental to your mental health. Along those same lines, mental health can be extremely detrimental to your physical health.

Take the time to acknowledge your emotions, so that you can deal with them in a healthy way. If you are unsure how to start, reach out to a professional to help guide you in your mental health journey.

Be Forgiving

Would you treat a friend badly because they had to cancel plans because of their chronic illness? I assume not. So why would you be down on yourself when you have to? Treat yourself how you would treat a good friend in the same situation.

Replace judgemental thoughts with love and forgiveness. When you catch yourself saying or thinking a negative thought, stop, and reframe the thought. For example, I find myself thinking “I’m so pathetic” quite often.

When I catch myself in those moments I stop, take a breath, and change that thought. “I may not have been able to open the jar, but I tried, and asked for help when I needed it. And for that, I am proud of myself.”
This may seem difficult at first, but the more you practice, the easier it becomes. Eventually, you may even find yourself skipping the negative thought in the first place!

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar

What are your “must do’s” in living with a chronic condition? Do you practice any of the above? Let me know in the comments below!

Create the Perfect Apology With These Five Tips

On By epil(epsy)ogueIn Health and Wellness, lifestyle, Mental HealthLeave a comment

‘Tis the season of forgiveness.

We all have said, and done things that we regret. We know we messed up. So how do we start the apology process? Sometimes it seems impossible.

If we break down the process into steps, and gather our emotions, it’s not.

Here are five ways to communicate that you are sorry, and have the other person feel your sincerity. 

Express your regret or remorse. Something happened, and it didn’t turn out well. How do you feel about what happened? Were your actions something regretful? Do you feel utterly empty without the other party’s presence in your life? Be honest and open about how you feel about the result of what happened.

Explain what you think went wrong (without pointed phrases). Pointed phrases are statements that shift responsibility to the other party. They invalidate the other person’s feelings. An example of a pointed phrase is “I’m sorry that you were offended” or “I’m sorry, but you…” They have every right to feel what they feel, as do you. As much as you wouldn’t want them to dismiss your feelings, don’t dismiss theirs. 

Request forgiveness and allow as much time as the other needs to process their emotions. Putting a time limit, or expressing an expected date of when the other person should forgive you, will most likely cause the other person to not want to even begin the forgiveness process. 

Before composing: Give yourself time to be in a space where you feel ready and able to apologize. Being sincere is more important than rushing an apology. Emotions of remorse best translate in a face to face interaction. in times of COVID-19, that may not be an option, but consider a video visit. Likewise, just your voice can convey sincerity over the phone. 

If you want to say sorry but feel like an in person or over the phone apology would cause more issues (ie. Interruptions, raised voices), a hand written one is better than none. No deed is too small if the relationship is worth restoring.

You are ready forgive/apologize, and move forward. How do you know the other party is ready? You won’t necessarily know. But don’t let assuming that the other party is not ready to forgive, hold you back from reaching out with an apology.

Do you feel like you need to apologize to someone? Are you going to use the tips above? Let us know, in the comments, how your apology was accepted (or denied).

How to Use Movement to Improve Your Mood.

On By epil(epsy)ogueIn Health and Wellness, Mental Health4 Comments

Motion is emotion.

When I first heard this phrase, I quickly shrugged it off. It was a week of increased seizure activity, and that particular day was exceptionally challenging. Fatigue was causing my ability to move to almost be non-existent. My mood was so low I couldn’t fathom experiencing any other emotions. 

However, my partner, being the wonderful support he is, never left my side. He continued to remind me that motion is emotion. He was trying to encourage me to move up and out of the dark place I was in.

Shifting our thinking when feeling negative, anxious, or depressed can be a daunting task. When it comes to shifting our mindset, we remember my partner’s advice: motion is emotion.

Consider Newton’s first law of motion is a perfect example. “An object at rest stays at rest..” But this doesn’t mean it will stay like that forever. To jumpstart that movement, start with the basics.

A vibrant woman with fiery red hair, dancing in a field of fluffy dandelion-like flowers. She wears a flowing white sun dress, her body arched backward, arms gracefully stretched behind her, against a serene blue sky with wispy clouds
Photo by Olga

Stick to the basics. Have you moved your body? Have you felt the sunshine on your face? Have you brushed your teeth? Have you had a meal/snack? Have you taken a shower?

Yes, these might seem like little things. But, these little things inspire bigger things. How?
Because they do matter. You may not be aware that they matter on most days. It is on that day that you feel your worst, that you can notice the biggest difference when you accomplish these little things. 

If you want to change the world, or even if you want to change your own world, you must start at the basics. Initiate that forward motion. referring back to Newton’s first law, it also says “…An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force…”

Starting may be difficult, but continuing is easier. I promise; it’s physics. There may be times that an outside force (like seizures in my case) may slow, or halt your motion. But remember, motion is emotion. 

If you have read it this far, I want to remind you that you are amazing. And you have the ability to take care of yourself and tend to the basics. You are worth it and your mental health is worth it.

And when you complete the basics, just know that I am proud of you. I am grateful I have you to come along this journey… Join me won’t you?

What movement helps you when you feel stuck? Share your ideas in the comments.

How to Focus on the Positive (in a time of Negativity)

On By epil(epsy)ogueIn Health and Wellness, lifestyle, Mental Health10 Comments

“Just focus on the good”. – Advice I’m sure you have heard before.

Kind of a hard thing to do right now in the world. All the scary and bad thoughts that can easily occupy your mind. Everything and everyone is focused on the Coronavirus how terribly it is affecting the world. So if everyone and everything is having you focus on the bad, how are you supposed to get your mind at ease, and off of this pandemic?

The simple answer: change of mindset.

The better answer: small steps can help in changing your mindset.

This will not happen overnight. This is something that takes practice, and dedication. Dedication to see the good. This does not take more than a few moments, and you don’t need any special equipment. 

Right now change of mindset might seem like an overwhelming task. But all you need, is one. One good thing. 

How do you find your good thing of the day?

First assess who you are, where you are, and what you have in this moment. 

Is there someone in your life that is always your support? Have you accomplished something that maybe was a bummer doing, but you are proud that it’s done? Did someone say or do something that made you smile? 

Even if you’re something good is simple as: I had good snuggle time with my dog today. That’s where I need you to start – smallest things. Overtime reflecting on your day it will get easier, and you will find more, or bigger good things. I promise.

Enlist the help of your family and friends to start getting in the habit reviewing your one good thing of the day.I practice at the end of every day with my husband. But as long as we have been practicing, even we found we forgot to think of our one good thing, once this virus stopped the world. 

But being dedicated to our mental health, we picked it back up. Don’t let a slight lapse in practice discourage you. Just start again and let you one good thing of the day be that you are back focused on remembering your one good thing!

You’ve got this, friend. So go out there, and be prepared to start counting your good things!

Anything you can think of right now as your one good thing? Share it below in the comments.