Chattin

My life has been an unusual journey and I have tried to learn through every aspect of it to give me some sense of direction as to what my purpose in life would be. Every child asks themselves over and over again -- What do I want to be when I grow up? And the list starts being compiled -- a doctor, lawyer, teacher, professional athlete, etc. My list however was diverse and it included; a meteorologist, a teacher, a CSI agent (clearly I watched too much TV as a kid) and lastly a police officer.

All through college and the years following, I worked in the corporate world and was promoted into many different positions, but at the end of the day I was not fulfilled. I spent a good many years working in human resources and employee relations because my true passion was people. Counseling and developing people at work got me through each stress filled year. The stress of the corporate world took its toll on me physically with what seemed like one tremendous migraine headache after another. Then one day in my office during one particularly stressful day I recall feeling dizzy, I lost feeling in my body, and the next thing I remember was I woke up in the emergency room. I knew then that something had to change…

I needed something and I gathered the courage to change everything. I literally hit ‘control-alt-delete’ and rebooted myself. I knew that just like a poorly running computer, I needed better programming. I knew that my past would not equal my future and I started to take charge of my life. I needed the best tools and carefully developed a plan on where I wanted to be and what I needed to do to get there. I hired a results oriented life coach, started using the best self-developmental tools, reclaimed my physical self, put my nose to the grind stone and forged full steam ahead.

Today, I am stronger, wiser, and a different person. I would never go back and change things even if I had the opportunity to do so. It took me a long time to understand why I went through this journey. Then one day it came to me…. I went through this journey to help and support others. I never knew what I wanted to do when I grew up but there it was sitting right in front of me, clear as day - a life coach that specializes in real life!

Any woman who has dealt with infertility knows that coping shows up in many different emotions -- laughing, crying, feeling hopeful to depressed -- all in a matter of an hour sometimes even less. The thing is only if you are the woman going thru infertility do you know how this feels -- the rollercoaster ride which you have no control over -- doctor's appointments, ultrasounds, blood work, shots, and of course the emotions that come along with this.

One of the only things that a woman has control of is what she wants to talk about or not. You see everyone wants to be supportive -- spouses, parents, friends, and that is great but ‘note to self people’. Don’t say a word until she brings it up or in some cases chooses not to bring it up at all. Asking how is everything going when she is being poked, prodded and feels like an overstuffed sausage because of all the bloating from medications --- probably not a wise thing to do. Take the lead from her and trust me everyone will be in much better place!

And one last thing -- think before you speak -- saying stupid things like you will get pregnant in time or you need to relax to a woman dealing with infertility will lead to an explosion that you will not be ready to deal with! I call these statements stupid because if you took a moment to think about it telling a woman she will get pregnant in time-- hello she is seeing an infertility specialist for a reason! And then the best one telling a woman to relax -- how can a woman really relax going through all these things? One answer to that question - she can't relax -- just be there for her, think before you speak and chocolate always brings a smile!

Anyone dealing with infertility knows what true commitment it is - the emotional and physical toll it takes on your body, your mind, the doctor’s visits, and the financial burden. And as if dealing with infertility wasn’t hard enough now add work and this becomes a dangerous combination to those who cross your path.

Most people work because they have to not because they want to. Who goes to work because they love their job, enjoy getting bossed around, and then at the end of the week they are thrilled when they see their measly paycheck? Chances are your paycheck is going towards those uncovered infertility treatments and unless you are independently wealthy, work is a necessary evil.

Has anyone ever told you that you’re a shero?

Born in Richmond Virginia on March 24 at the turn of the 20th century’s first decade, this young girl had no idea that as the millennium approached; she’d have met with Presidents and served as the head of two major public service organizations. It was 1912 and her family later moved to a small Pennsylvania town, yet she somehow found herself as a teenager speaking out against lynching as a member of the United Christian Youth Movement of North America. A severe asthmatic as a child, she was not expected to live beyond the age of 16, she passed away in April of 2010—98 years young.

Her parents, a builder and a nurse, encouraged her to be involved in activities at school such as basketball and oratory, even though she wasn’t always accepted by fellow students because she was “the only one.”  She forged ahead, going on to attend and receive degrees from New York University, then launching into a social service career with the city welfare office then on to the YWCA in 1933. The university that ranked as her number one choice, Barnard College, denied her admission, however decades later bestowed her an honorary degree.  In her first job, the primary work centered around those whose pocketbooks and hue couldn’t’ get them access to better jobs or education. This unassuming lady’s concern for this and other societal issues widened and she soon met influential activists such as the pioneering educator Mary McLeod Bethune which in turn led to a meeting with Eleanor Roosevelt.  She became a sought after counsel during the “New Deal” years on desegregating the armed services in addition to other national platforms.

The graceful style of her leadership got noticed and her reach beyond New York amplified. The country was changing and she readily got on board for this new direction to benefit all citizens. Equality’s multi-faceted fight became hers too. Sometimes she was the only woman at the table with a powerful group of men that planned the strategy for significant social shifts in the United States. When Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963, she stood alongside him as a relevant member of this historical team during a time of transition.

She became the Godmother of a movement. Women’s rights champions partnered with her causes, leading to major legislative realities in this country. Throughout her career, which so intricately defined her life, she was known for her responsiveness, firm yet gentle as an ally for social justice.

 As her life unfolded, the steadfastness of her energies became world renowned, to the point where a theatrical production chronicled her contributions to many endeavors. Not to mention she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 by President Clinton and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004 by President George W. Bush.

Dorothy Irene Height was a true “shero.” Her name is synonymous with the National Council of Negro Women, a public and community service group she led from 1957 to 1988, when she became the group's chair and president emerita. From 1947 to 1956, Ms. Height also served as an active member and as the president of Delta Sigma Theta, an international sorority of black women, with a focus on public service as well.

 
This Black History Month of 2012’s theme is Black Women in American Culture and History, of which Ms. Dorothy I. Height’s life exemplifies in a myriad of ways. The duality of who she was by her demographic is enduring.

Deborah L. Parker is a motivational speaker and the author of Navigating Life’s Roadways: Stories of insight from My Odyssey and Inspiration for Your Journey on amazon.com. She resides in the Metropolitan Washington DC area.

He was born to an average family, but from the beginning there was nothing average about him. Although his family considered him to be a fat kid with an oversized head, his sister considered him just a boy who looked different.

He was different. When others around him were learning to talk he found no words to say. His parents worried day and night about him, even having him tested for mental problems. But then one day, the magic of a compass stirred him from his quite lair and from that moment on he found his voice.

Mesmerized by how it worked he began to speak and at age six he began to study science and math. He was a good student when he finally enrolled in school although he was very shy and quiet and steered very clear of his peers and occasionally struggled with the strict rules enforced upon him by his teachers. He by all accounts was considered a loner and had no friends.

She was born in 1821, in a time when women did not have the same rights and privileges as men. But from very little on this little lady would prove that no matter your gender you let nothing stand in the way of what you were born to do.

With no education her only means to learn came from her older siblings who often spent hours teaching her about reading and writing when she was young. At age eleven she helped her brother back to health after he fell from the barn rafters an almost died. Even at this very young age her dedication for helping others was undeniable. She stayed at her brother’s side for three years caring for him, administering medicine and nursing him back to health.

Having tapped into the giving gene she went on to get schooled and become a teacher. She always had a deep need to give back and to help others. She even opened the first public free school which was such a success the town opened another one and hired a man to run it, paying him twice what Barton was making. Unhappy with this she left for a new career path, government office.

It was 1854 and Barton became the first woman clerk ever to work in the US Patent Office at a salary equal to a man’s salary. But sadly after much opposition the position was eliminated and she spent the next three years soul searching on what lay on the road ahead.

Her thoughts always went back to paving the way for other women in government positions. So in 1860 she returned to the Patent Office only being able to get the job title copyist, but she was there nonetheless and knew her life had a bigger purpose.

That greater purpose came to light during the civil war. Many injured soldiers were brought to her town and quarantined. With little help to nurse them back to life she jumped in on the front lines and started caring for the fallen men. She made such an impact that she was granted the access to ride in the military ambulance out to battlefields to care for the wounded soldiers. She even battled congress and won the rights to bring her own medical equipment into the field to help save these men’s life. Within no time at all and against all odds for women at this time she was on the front lines of some of the worst battles in history, caring for the wounded and nursing the sick back to health. She saved countless men from horrific death and did it all out of a need to give back and to help her fellow man.

At one battle a bullet tore through her sleeve of her dress just missing her but sadly hitting the patient she was attending to. With such dedication she was named ‘"The lady in Charge” and become a significant hero in history.

After the war she went on to start a foundation to help search for the missing soldiers which lead her into her most famous act of kindness of all. From heading up the search for fallen men she went on to press government into signing onto the European Red Cross. Even after the government signed on she moved the agency forward by having it include help in the face of natural disaster. She was the founder of the American Red Cross and she served for the cross till the age of 83. She helped millions of people; saved hundreds of life’s and did it all at a time when women were not given the means to have such success.

She was a woman who let nothing stand in her way, who dodged bullets for what she believed in and in the end she created one of the most humanitarian agencies in America. She is Clara Barton. What would our world be like had she not persevered and founded The Red Cross?

Obstacles in life are only road blocks, they are never dead ends, so let nothing stand in the way of what you were born to do.

He was born on February 24th, 1955. Shortly after his birth the nameless child was given up for adoption and left the state of Wisconsin to be raised by his new family in California.

By all accounts he was considered a smart boy, but not a motivated one. His teachers recall having to bribe him just to get him to do his homework and to study. However even so when tested his scores were off the charts.

He was a silly guy, a prankster and loved having fun over conventional work. His father often tinkered with electronics in the garage and often encouraged him to take things apart and put them back together as a way of learning how electronics worked.

He did this throughout his high school days and without even realizing it, he was tapping into a dormant gene of interest that soon would change the world.

College was to conforming for him and after only six months he dropped out. He was old enough to be considered a man; he had no future, no ambition and no college degree. He was at a cross roads in his life and the road ahead was very unclear.

Convinced he had knowledge of electronics that could change the world; he started a computer company out of his garage. He tinkered, developed, designed and sold his inventions.

From a meager beginning, out of the dirty confided space of a garage he developed products that changed the world. He was brilliant, a dreamer, and a man who could not be conformed, but under it all he had a clear vision and he brought his vision to life.

In 2003 at the height of success he was diagnosed with cancer. He gave a valiant fight for life, it was his true nature. In 2011, just a few days ago, he passed away. He was brilliant, he changed the world with his technology, and he lived by the true entrepreneur spirit of chasing a vision you believe in.

The world has lost one of its greatest assets, but we will forever have the wonders of technology he brought to us.

He may have been born into this world without a name, but he left this world with more than just name, he left as an icon, a legend and a hero. What would the world be like if we never had the brilliant mind of Steve Jobs? May he rest in peace.

While cleaning her boat to store it for the winter, Carol lost her leverage and flew over the side of her boat and onto the hard driveway below. The pain she felt was almost immediate and she knew something major was wrong. She could not even move and she knew she was in real trouble.

She laid there helpless on the dead end road that she lived on, with no help in sight. Her only hope was her black lab Bud who was by her side standing at attention as if he knew he would have to go into action soon.

She looked at her dog and told him he had to get help and the old boy started to howl. He howled in a way that she had never heard before and for what seemed like an eternity she lay there helpless, hoping someone would hear Bud and cometo her rescue.

Her neighbors recall hearing the dog for a few minutes and were alarmed by the sound he was producing. They too had never heard old Bud sound so desperate. After a few minutes their concerns grew and they decided to go investigate. Almost immediately they saw Carol on the ground with her hands clutching her neck.

With the 911 call made, help was on its way. Carol clutched her neck all the way to the hospital, refusing to let go. Her life hang in the balance, but she was a tough woman and was not about to go down without a fight. Upon arrival to the hospital a team of doctors met her at the door and raced into action. It was not long till the verdict was revealed. She had broken her neck.

But this was not just any break, Carol had broken the two parts of her neck that sit just under the brain. The survival rate after breaking these bones is almost zero. The doctors were amazed she was still alive! In almost 100% of the cases, when this part of the neck is broke, life is over.

Everyone was bewildered and some thought was given to the fact that she had clutched her neck and not allowed any movement until she reached the hospital. Could this have been what saved her life? Could Carol have escaped death because of one tiny decision she made while laying helpless on the ground. It seemed impossible that in such pain a person would have the mind set to do something that would be live saving.

One of the doctors asked Carol the exact same question that I did. How did you know to hold your neck? She responded by saying, "It was pure instinct."

Although the doctors think it helped save her life, Carol owes all her thanks to her lab Bud, who will forever be her angel. He won some awards, got himself in the newspaper and for a few short weeks he had made himself a celebrity.

I think this is an amazing story of survival. And the part I like best is what Carol told me about life now. She went on to say, that life is rich, she never gets bothered by the small things and she appreciates everything a lot more. Out of a near death disaster arose a love for life and the little things.By listening to her gut instinct she has enriched her life and has one heck of a story to tell. In life you have to trust yourself first and all others second!

He was about to embark on the journey of a lifetime to the bottom of the earth. To a place where only the absolute strongest could survive. A place shrouded in darkness and mystery, a place that could kill the average man in less than 24 hours.

He was trekking to the Antarctic and the question is would he survive?

For three hellish months this man would be confronted with starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, delusions, loss of comrades, and death.  

What started out as a scientific journey to the bottom of the earth ended in despair and suffering. The year was 1912 and the location was the Antarctic. A team of devoted adventures and scientist packed up all the supplies they assumed they would need and traveled to the ends of the earth for what they thought would be an adventure of a lifetime.

Although this man had nothing but good intentions, Mother Nature has a way of making her own rules and so it was on this fateful trip that Mother Nature would rewrite this man’s life story.

Departing from his home base camp he was on a mission to explore a region unknown to man. Along with two of his closest friends he packed his gear, sleigh dogs, courage and ventured into the unknown.

It was not long before disaster would strike. Soon after leaving, while walking over glacier ice packs, one of his fellow explorers suddenly disappeared into the abyss. In a blink of the eye, he had disappeared into the white landscape, along with a sled of dogs and all the gear.

He had fallen into a glacier crack and was lost forever to the icy grave. But, the now two man team had to carry on and make a camp to be able to survive through the night. With most of their supplies gone and a team of dogs lost, survival not adventure was now the new name of the game.

Lost, unsure off where they even were they set up camp and rationed what little food they had. They developed a game plan and they set forth into the icy landscape the following day. It wasn’t long before their food ran out and their dogs began to starve. One by one, they made thechoice that they had to eat their beloved animals in order to survive. And so they did.

Although they did not know it at the time, they had been eating the dogs liver and it was full of toxins that were slowly killing them and making them sick. The two man team was becoming desperate, their toes were frozen off, frostbite worked away at their hands, their hair was falling out, their nails lost weeks ago, and their skin just hung on their bones.

Soon, his friend, who ate more liver than him, would not be able to go on. So he laid him on a sled and although he was weak and dying himself he dragged his fallencomradeto a place where he could make a shelter to protect him from the cold. The comrade, despite his effort perished that night.

Left with only one dog he was determined to make it out alive and continued to trek toward base camp. He was cold, alone, forced to eat his only company(the last dog), and was still miles from camp.

At his lowest point he hung dangling 30 feet in the air, below was the abyss that had taken his fellow mate, and holding him to life was a make shift rope that twisted in the wind. He had fallen into a glacier crack. But, he had the will to live and although his hands were like frozen meat, bloody, with the skin hanging off them, he inch by inch climbed up the rope to the top of the crack, only to slip and fall back down the rope again.

Exhausted, bleeding, dying and depressed, he mustered his last and only bit of strength and climbed the rope again. This time he made it and he climbed out onto the solid pack ice and safety.

Throughout the week, while crossing this ice he would fall through cracks at least 14 more times. Every time, escaping death by a hair, and with every climb out his energy would diminish and so would his spirit.

Finally across the ice he found a base camp in a cave from a different team of scientist. Although it was abandon he set up their for the night, he had eaten his last dog, was bone thin and very sick. So he was relieved to have a shelter to rest for the night before making his final push back to base in the morning.

He would never make that morning trek. Mother Nature in a cruel twist of fate buried him into the cave. He had survived months with no food, lost two friends to the elements, was forced to kill his animals, had faced death over twenty times and now he found himself buried alive with no hope of escape.

But, the will to live is so powerful, so strong, that no storm and no element on earth can stifle it. So after being stuck for a weak, he finally was able to get out alive and begin the last leg of his journey home.

It was three months to the date when he crossed a ridge that overlooked base camp. His toes were gone, his fingers had turned black, he was skin and bone and on the verge of death. He had survived three months in the Antarctic and now as he looked at camp he discovered it was vacant.

In the horizon he could see a ship leaving shore. It was the ship that was to carry the men back home after their exploration, and it was leaving without him. He had made it, but not in time.

 He was too weak to scream and for a moment he thought of dropping to his knees and dying right there on the ridge. After fighting for his life for three months, he was about to give in.

But he did not, instead he began to wave his hands widely in the air, and although it seems like a miracle someone on the ship saw him and ordered the boat to stop.
It was too far out to sea to come back, but a smaller boat was released with a handful of men who came back to shore to save their friend. It has been said he looked so horrible and disfigured that his fellow men did not even know who he was and had to ask him his name.

Although the main ship could not return to take them back to salvation until the following summer, he had made it back to base camp. He would remain here on Antarctic for the winter, recovering and gaining strength to return home in spring.

He is Douglas Mawson the man who has inspired thousands of people stuck in a survival situation to make it out alive. He saved himself with his incredible will to live, and in return has saved others!

Who would we have lost, had he lost his will to live! Never give up!

Born into a family with little money he spent the early part of his childhood working the family farm and helping with his dad’s tannery business. He was a shy boy and awkward around people and often found his sanctuary around animals. It has even been said he had a special ability to relate to them.

Wanting more for their son his parents were somehow able to get him in the prestige’s academy of West Point. Considered an honor they had high hopes that this would help their reclusive young son.

Although he did not yet know it among those who attended West Point wasa man who would change his life, this man was from a rich upbringing, and this man would graduate top of his class. Back to our guy, he did not finish in the top of his class, in fact he was ranked 21 out of a class of 39 and during his time at West Point he had received several demerits. Still he was assigned to the 4th infantry.

Life was not easy, but he slowly and steadily worked his way up the ranks. During one of his battles, the battle of Monterey, General Garland asked for a volunteer to carry a message to General Twiggs. The route required themessenger to run the gauntlet down the streets occupied by Mexican forces.

He was just a young man when he found himself standing in front of a judge getting sentenced to 30 years in prison for drug charges. Life had not yet begun for this lad and already it appeared to be over. Could he survive?

By some weird twist of fate he was granted 6-8 years, which was reduced to one month community service and one of rehab. A lucky break that saved his troubled life. Fate had dealt him a good hand, but he still had a long road to recovery, and that would be left up to him.

During the month of rehab he connected with his soul on a trip to Sedona. Something rocked him emotionally; something profound happened among the red rock cannons, something he cannot even put into words. That something changed him forever and for the first time in his life, there was no going back to the addictions.

Wanting to get his life back he went to school, but not having a traditional spot to call home he lived in the outback in a make shift shelter, cooking over an open campfire and sleeping on a bed of pine needles. For two years he would bike into town in the morning and live by society’s rules, attending college and working at a glass factory. At night he would be isolated in the wild, with nothing more than his survival instincts to keep him alive.

What came out of his two years living in the wild was a deep desire to connect with Mother Nature, to hone skills that would help keep people alive who had to take on the wild. He felt a deep passion for the outdoors and began the task of creating a survival camp.

He handed out flyers, posted info on telephone poles, cold called tons of people. But no one would bite and it seemed as though his dreams might not be within reach. But he was a survivor and was not about to give up.

He dug deep and thought about his passion and his will to survive and miraculously things started to fall into place. He started his training school on the art of self-reliance and with small baby steps it started to grow, and grow.

Today he is known around the world; he has appeared on every major media outlet, has written two books, is renowned as a leader in his industry, has his own television show, does public speaking, has built a self-reliance home and is considered an icon in the art of survival.

He has survived addiction, escaped a life of hell in prison, combated living in the wild, persevered the rejection of his ideas, and he has taught the world the true meaning of survival.

He might walk this world barefoot, but he is not without soul. He is deep and courageous, he is Cody Lundin. What would be different in our world if Cody had not survived?

Survival is 90% mental, so never underestimate your minds ability to keep you alive.

By the time she was three she had moved to three different homes,by the time she was five she had lost her dad to illness. And before she was eight she would be told that she was vain, and would have every mirror taken out of the house, so she could not look at herself.

Before the age of eleven, she would have her family’s house taken away due to her grandfather’s negligence of shooting guns from the property and a stray bullet hitting a child and paralyzing him for life.

Forced to move into an apartment with her mom and step dad, before she even hit twelve she was a child consumed with fear and insecurities, but it only got worse.

When she was thirteen her mom wanted to help her break free of her fear and though she was flat broke, she was able to get her daughter in Dramatic Arts in New York City. After her first semester the drama coaches told her not to come back, they told her she “had no future at all as a performer”.