{WW:11/1/17} PurpleStride Puget Sound 2017

This past Sunday I ran the PurpleStride Puget Sound 5k. This is me at the pre-race rally. My friend asked me to attend the event in honor of her aunt who died from pancreatic cancer in 2015. I was inspired and amazed by the amount of support and love passed around during this event. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Wages Hope with this walk to end pancreatic cancer. Read More about my experiences at PurpleStride. #PANCaware

PurpleStride Puget Sound 2017

This last Sunday, I was honored to participate in PurpleStride Puget Sound 2017. It is a 5k run and walk to raise support and awareness for pancreatic cancer. It was an event held in the beautiful Magnuson Park and presented by Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

My friend, Brenda, asked me to take part in the event in memory of her Aunt Linda, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2015. I was thinking it was about time to run a 5k again, so I readily accepted. I registered for the run with the Love for Linda team and anticipated race day.

Finished the race!
Wage Hope against Pancreatic Cancer!
#PANCaware

It wasn't until I got to the event and began to listen to the message presented, that I became aware of the affects of this deadly disease. Pancreatic Cancer has the lowest survival rate of all major cancers at just 9%. That number has increased by 3% since PurpleStride was founded in 2008, still it is unacceptably small to those affected by the disease.

Unfortunately, funding for pancreatic cancer is limited and likely to decrease if the Senate-approved National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passes. The provisions of this Act would weaken the ability for the Department of Defense to allocate high-risk, high-reward research grants through the Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program. The purpose of this program is to advance treatment options and improve the lives of patients, very important and much needed objective.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has a goal to double the pancreatic cancer survival rate by 2020. Help them do that by taking action on this piece of legislation. Send a letter to your congress representative to prioritize lifesaving cancer research by using this template, sponsored by Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Congress acts when they know people like us care.

PurpleStride Puget Sound 2017 was a powerful and inspiring day. I was moved by the life and the love that surrounded me. I was motivated by survivor's stories, and the dedication of the family and friends who showed encouragement for the ones affected by this disease. Thanks to the amazing participants and teams, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network met and surpassed their fundraising goal of $325,000 to raise $369,000. It is a beautiful show of support that will give patients a better tomorrow and increase funding for more research, which paves the way for better, life-changing treatments.

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. This year the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's focus is - Demand Better. For Patients. For Survival. I am thankful I accepted the invitation to experience the determination and support to Wage Hope to end pancreatic cancer. I intend to do some more research and continue to raise awareness for this deadly disease.

Time for Reform

Photo by Nine Köpfer on Unsplash

It is interesting how life changes so slowly that sometimes you can hardly see the difference. This happens with good habits, also with bad. After a wake up call that involved me getting really sick for a few days, I finally woke up, realizing it is time to reform.

Last weekend I went out with some friends and had a great time. But I drank a little too much wine, and ate something that didn't agree with me and ended up sick for just over three days. It was a very unpleasant experience, but it also set off an alarm that alerted me of some bad habits I'd been very slowly gaining. This particular bad habit was using alcohol as a crutch to get through the good, the bad, and the mundane.

I've never really been addicted to anything, nor do I believe I was really addicted to alcohol, but now I understand how the dependence happens. It materializes slowly, without you ever really realizing it is a problem.

I do really like wine, beer and spirits. I would drink with my friends and often times with meals as well, just because I could. I slowly began to drink more often and faster, which meant I would have two glasses in the time I once would have one. Then I would not pay attention to my body and have another.

In the moment, it felt good and freeing. I did't really get bad hangovers either, so I didn't even realize anything was wrong. Except, that I started feeling really fatigued and unmotivated. I thought I was just because I was busy. Or that I was having a hard time kick starting myself after the carefree summer months to being being productive again. I'm sure those things contributed to it, but now I realize my habits did not help me either.

It wasn't until I got sick to the point that even the thought of alcohol repelled me that I realized exactly how much I came to covet the substance. Again, I don't believe I was addicted because I could give it up. However, I had to change and I did.

Once I became able to think and function again, I made a pact with myself to stop using alcohol as a crutch. I want to be able to experience life, the good and the bad.

I am thankful that I do not have to quit drinking completely, but I did for a week to let myself recover. Now I can simply moderate my consumption. Having a drink during social situation or while watching a football game is a pleasure. I need to keep it that way, an enjoyable activity, not an everyday indulgence.

This was not a severe case, thankfully it didn't get that far. But this is a serious subject. Simply becoming aware of my situation was enough for me to turn my habit around. I have an accountability partner and write consistently in a journal to help me catch the pattern if it does ever become an issue again.

It was also during this week that I recommitted myself to my writing. I've been writing, but it has been floundering and inconsistent. It was while I felt sick that I started asking myself what I want in life. I want to be a published writer. I want to be able to write with a clear mind. I want to finish these projects I'm working on and then start more. Writing is what I love and who I am. I want to be the best version of myself.

This week, once I could function again, I wrote everyday and made significant progress on one of my projects and created a good foundation for a second. All in only four days. I forgot how much writing means to me, when I find myself in the grind and when I float along feeling inspired. I'm thankful to find that elated feeling once again, one that was muted before.

By confessing this here, I share something very personal to me. However, it is a very significant occurrence for me and I feel a freedom in my heart to be able to write more openly. I'm still embarrassed and frustrated about getting so sick, but I am thankful for the wake up call to turn myself around and choose a new direction.

I want to be healthy, happy and free, just as I want those things for you. I am not proud of my previous actions, but I am pleased to turn it around before I became completely self-destructive. If you or someone you know has trouble letting go of bad habits and need help turning away from them, get it, you and your loved ones with thank you. It is worth the struggle to be free.

Last weekend, I felt confined to the choices I was making, not realizing how they were negatively affecting me. This weekend, I feel free and able to start fresh and see my world in a new light. Finding the good in the bad, I am thankful to be able to turn myself around and begin anew. That has already happened in my heart and now I declared publicly. 

30-Day Meditation Challenge

Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

Meditation is the action or practice of meditating.

Thank you Merium-Webster for that clarification. There is something about meditation that seems really vague and difficult to grasp. We are always looking for that zen moment where everything is right in the world. I don't know about you, but that just doesn't happen all the time. When we do not receive that moment of clarity while meditating, we assume we are doing something wrong.

We are not.

Meditation is simply a moment of contemplation. It gives you a chance to stop and think about your day and what you are hoping to receive from it. This creates a perfect opportunity to set an intention and deliberate on what to do next to fulfill that purpose. It is a time for reflection and musing and there is no wrong way to meditate.

For me, meditation isn't sitting and visualizing myself as a tree or the ocean. And please don't tell me to completely clear my mind of all thoughts, that is impossible. Focusing on breath does work for me, but partly because I perpetually forget to breathe all the time.

The act of meditating is a chance for me to have a little talk with myself without any judgement. It is when I check in and decide if what I'm doing is really what I want to be doing in this moment and in life. When something is bothering me, meditating helps me block out the distractions to determine what the source is so I can actually do something decisive about it.

The Challenge

I am beginning a self-established 30-day mediation challenge on Instagram. I choose that platform because it would make me determine my words and thoughts carefully since there isn't room for extended commentary for me to ramble on, like I am now. Also, I wanted to add a visual component to the project.

Meditation is a very personal thing. Even when sitting with others, the journey is within you. I want to be able to share some visual stimulation with my thoughts. Some of it is going to get creative because I'm still not even entirely sure what it will become by the end. That's also the fun of it; I enjoy the expedition of creative practices.

21-Day Meditation challenge with Light Watkins, hosted by Wanderlust TV

In the middle of my 30 days of meditation, I am going to join Light Watkins with Wanderlust TV for a 21-day meditation challenge. I am excited to see what these guided meditations will add to my own practice. In the meantime, I want to get started exploring what mediation means to me.

I am really excited about this challenge. It began yesterday on my Instagram account @ladyanda827. I look forward to my commitment for a daily meditation practice and the accountability to follow through on it.

If you find satisfaction in meditation, or would like to, I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and ideas!