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Take A Moment, Turn Off The Television!

Scary stuff going on!

Tonight I am going to turn in a more serious direction by starting with a question. What the hell is going on in the world? I recommend we take a moment to gather our thoughts and feelings in order to move away from the chaos that is erupting everywhere. I mean, what is wrong with people.

It seems as though all the craziness is bursting through the seams of their very being. People are being influenced by the hatred and bigotry of a group of mad humans who are looking to harm anyone who gets in their way or disagrees with them. It seems as though the world is infused with madness. Really!

I went several days without watching any television or news programs. I felt great. I had forgotten how toxic television can really be, and how it influences our mood and well being.

Everywhere on the TV the news creators are keeping the public mad with fear, hatred, and bigotry. I think to myself this can’t be real, but it is. At least that is what they are trying to make us believe with the stories they are sharing.

Even when I watch my favorite news station ” One America News Network” I am left with a bad taste in my mouth. All the revelations about corruption, greed, racism, and sex has worn me out. I do not believe that there are that many horrible, detestable people in the world. Are there really?

I am going to play devil’s advocate and say that no one can ” make ” us be a bad person. It is our choice. That’s right! It is our choice to turn away from those in need. It is our choice to spit in the face of someone we have been programmed to hate, and it is our choice to be the kind of person who is no longer human.

I think we need to take a moment, take a breath, and look at the world around us. We need to step away from our fears and hatred. Who are we really? What do we have to be thankful for in this world. What are some of the GOOD things going on right now! And, how can WE change the programming of our mind to forgive and move onward?

It is possible to change what direction our lives are going. It is possible to become a better person. All it takes is the desire to change, and the responsibility to make it happen.

I was watching a video on Yahoo one day, it has been awhile, but it made me smile. It showed that there are indeed good people in the world. This video showed some men saving a mother dog and her pup. I could not find the video, but I want to tell you the story.

A mother dog and one pup was stuck along the rim of a drainage pool down this deep embankment, and they could not traverse back up the very steep side to safety. Each time they tried they slid back toward the water.

In the distance were several guards who heard the frantic whimpers of the animals and came to look. The men were speaking Russian or Ukrainian, some language that I could not understand although the message was clear.

Will they help or not?

I will say that there were two scenarios that could have occurred. One, they could have laughed at the peril of these animals and walked away, leaving them to finally fall into the water and drown. Or two, they could have been good humans and helped.

These big hulking men gathered a rope from their truck, and while two of them were holding the line, the other slid down this steep embankment to the mother dog and pup. Both of the animals were jumping on this fellow with their tails wagging. It was a sight that brought tears to my eyes. The man grabbed the pup first, and the two men at the top pulled him back up to safety.

In the video we could see the mother dog scrambling around close to the waters edge, tail wagging, watching the rescue of her baby.

Once safely at the top the second men took the puppy while the first skidded his way back down to the mother dog who leaped into his arms the moment he was close enough to reach and up they went to join the trio at the top.

At the end of the video the little group crossed along the top of the embankment to safety. I could not understand one word that was being said while the men organized this rescue, but the message was very clear. They were good Samaritans who could not leave a helpless creature in need.

This video reminded me that while there is so much hatred and anger being projected across our television screen, there are still wonderful people who take time out of their day to helps others in need, or do a good deed for some lowly creature.

I worked newborn nursery many years ago. It was a beautiful place to work. A place where life often begins. Babies come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. No one ever hesitated to soothe a child in need. No one could resist the opportunity to snuggle a baby close who was having a hard time settling into this great big new world. No baby shied away from a set of hands reaching to care for it because the hands were black or white.

What I ask of you, and myself, is to take a moment to look at the good things that are going on in the world. Look at all the wonderful videos on YOUTUBE of great things occurring around you. Look at all the marvelous people reaching out to others across this great world wide web who want to help and educate. It is a revelation to see. It is heart warming. It will change your mood entirely.

Look at my little Picasso

If I know one truth it is that we are influenced by the people who surround us. If we surround ourselves with war mongrels we will be one as well. If we surround ourselves with self loathing and hateful people, we come to loath ourselves, and others too. And if we surround ourselves with those who want to harm others, then we will reach out to do harm as well. It is a truth. It is a reality right now.

All I ask is that you test this truth by changing the people who influence you if your life is in chaos and you want it to change. We are what we bring into our lives. We are the people who surround us. No one can make us be who we do not want to be. It is our choice.

You can also test this truth by watching videos of people saving animals, helping children, working to save the environment, giving to the elderly, or helping their neighbors. After such exposure we often come away feeling a whole lot better. It influences us to want to help as well, just like the hatred influences us to hate.

I am saddened by the things I see going on in the world. So much pain, and while I can’t change anyone else, I can change myself. I can pick and choose what I will watch, who I will associate with, and whether I will give of myself or not. Those are the only things I can control. Those are the only things you can control.

We do have a great country. It has so much potential. It is the people of this country who can make it great or destroy it. What kind of person do you want to be? We can not change the past. I am not responsible for what my ancestors did or did not do. I can feel sad that they may have made bad choices or done bad things, but I can say that I have not been one to do bad things as well. Can you?

I have been to other countries where the people were not as fortunate as we. Where their governments did not look after their citizens as well as ours. It helped me appreciate all that I have in this world. When I am being greedy wanting ” more stuff” I am often brought back to the reality that I have all that I need. Many do not.

Take a moment. Take two. Look at your world and make it a better place. Each of us contributes to the chaos around us. Are we helping or hindering? Turn off the television set. Go out and help someone. Share an adventure with a family member or two. Give of yourself. Do a good deed without being asked or expecting a reward. Forgive a wrong that has been done to you, ask for forgiveness of some harm you may have caused. And, love yourself. You have the potential to be a great person. You and I have a choice. Let’s make today a better day. We can do this together. We have the power to do great things. And as I always say, have a great day today. You and I deserve it.

Let’s stand together ( this guy was on my fence).

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STOP THE CHAOS NOW

( I want to repeat this one) Silence from my end is not a good thing being a poor blogger, but my excuse, if you even care, is that I have been in a total state of shock as I have watched and listened to the stories of violence and destruction that have exploded all over this country.

How do I even have a conversation with you when there are so many earth-shattering events occurring? The feelings that are surging through each one of us, every single day is so toxic. I’ve sat back for months watching, listening, crying, shaking my head so disturbed by what has been happening that I am left speechless.  Frozen. I move through the day like a robot functioning on auto pilot. 

I ask myself is there anything of value that I might have to share? Who gives a shit what some no name individual thinks or feels?  Who am I to talk about any of this it is so horrible.?

I want to know how do we overcome these wounds? How do we heal from these profound injuries to our hearts? How do we stop the chaos?

I know that anything I might say to you has probably blown through your mind at one time or another just as it has mine. Somehow, some way we must come together.

There is so much hatred spewing out into the world I can’t even imagine how we can contain it. We humans are so vile to each other in so many ways that I fear for my life. For your lives. For my children lives. The fear is unimageable.

Stories pour out of every news outlet available. Some offer vivid pictures if you can’t imagine it yourself. I have no doubt everyone is talking about all the destruction that is and has been occurring. There can’t be anyone who isn’t shocked, ashamed, and disgusted by what one human can inflict on another.

I move through my day-to-day business in a state of shock.  I interact with my family and friends. I go to work, pay my bills, but there is this impending feeling of doom inside my chest that is so new to me that I can’t even grasp how to express it or to eliminate it. This fear is embedded deep in my heart.

Saying we must come together is not enough. The words are meaningless. The horror that has happened in the last of couple years has shaken all of us to our very core. Sometimes I stand and just stare at the television feeling like a trapped animal. I don’t know how to make things better. I don’t have any answers on how to change it except for platitudes like “We need to love each other. We need to help each other.  We need to come together. “  Bullshit, we need to stop the violence on all spectrums, against ALL PEOPLE.

I know that there are great individuals out there doing wonderful things. There are organizations and groups of people that are plugging along trying to make it a better place, but I think we all feel so helpless, and for me it’s not a feeling that I’ve often felt, so I am frozen and frightened and don’t know where to turn. Our leaders don’t have an answer, and the tide keeps moving in. How is it going to end?  How can we make it end?

How do we as individuals, and as a group take control of this violence?  How do we step into the storm of hatred and bigotry to bring an end to this? People are dying, children are being murdered, strangers are assaulting strangers for no other reason than they feel hate at what they see .

The color of one’s skin is something to hate.  The nationality of another is something to loathe.  People’s sexuality is despised. Rich hate poor, and poor hate rich.  Your religion is a reason to hate despite what your holy book preaches, and someone just doesn’t like the way you look.

I’m not a religious person. I don’t go to church. I have not had great experiences with preachers who run churches, and although I was raised a Catholic, I gave that up because the nuns and priest looked down their noses at the poor in our parish with no money to give. We were a very poor family.  Not a good experience for us.

In the past I was not one to believe in the end of the world theories told by religious leaders to keep us all in tow.  Discussions by those leaders that the world was going to come to an end in fire and brimstone. These preachers and such liked to fire up the fear and hysteria in its congregants.  It was part of the reward of being a “leader” the power to evoke sinners to be less sinful. But after witnessing all this violence. The hatred. The bombings and wars. Murders, rape, and genocide, I think those prophets who have said the world is going to end are correct.

We humans are going to be the catalyst that ends our world. This world that has been given to us is going to be destroyed by us because we are so foolish and stupid that we let our extremism, our extreme racism, are extreme sexism, our extreme religiousism get in our way of appreciating all that has been given to us. I mean you add any ISM to any bigoted idea that you have and that’s what we’ve become, a people of intolerance and hatred who disrespect their world, and each other with total disregard for human life, total disregard for the animal kingdom, total disregard for the oceans of the world, and the planet that God gave for our safe keeping.

Despite my personal feelings I will share with you that I do believe in a higher power.  I do believe in a God, and I think it is time for all of us to come together and offer up a prayer to our God for the strength, knowledge, and courage to evoke a change in our world right now.

I ask that together we stop everything that we are doing and say a prayer in whatever language we speak, asking whatever higher power we pray to, to help us heal this world. Those of a scientific mind probably are aware that there have been many studies that verify that prayer can and does make a difference.  Put aside your doubt and be open to that fact that as a massive world of people we can come together in prayer, and perhaps jump start our humanity back on track.

I will pick a time and together we will say a prayer to bring these horrible events to an end and bring us all back into balance because right now, we are tilting out of orbit as humans.

Let us get together tomorrow at sunrise, or any sunrise that works for you as (there are 7,868,872,451 people on this planet right now as listed on google so there will be a multitude standing by your side whatever time you say your prayer.)  Get up, face the rising sun, and offer a prayer to God that sanity will be restored to our people. Image the multitudes standing beside you as you say your prayer for our world and each other as well. And as I always say, have a great day today, you and I deserve it.

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Plastic People, Plastic Robots.

Which one should I pick for “me”

Hello this is Kris, and welcome to my blog.  Today I am re-releasing a blog I wrote several years ago.  I feel this blog says today, what it did back in 2017.  And it starts with the question, “why are all these stars cutting up their faces to look like some creature out of a toy story?”  I must ask, are we real or imagination? Does our skin melt away only to be replaced by plastic?  Is this a dream? Foolish questions really, but when I look at many of the stars and people of “importance.” I am seeing plastic dolls. What has happened to their faces?

I will not name names here because I don’t want to get my butt kicked by said people but, after viewing Yahoo time and time again with its many pictures of the stars, I am shocked at what stares back at me from the pages. I see stars that I haven’t seen in years, and I don’t recognize them. What the hell are they doing to their faces? Who wants a face that looks like it is frozen in time with a mouth like Heath Ledger from Batman? Even the men are in on it. Some of my favorites look hideous. Do they even look in the mirror when the plastic surgeon is done with their face?

I am disgusted with the stars as there is nothing wrong with getting a little older. Our bodies are going to do what it does as it ages, and that is wrinkle and sag. I bet underneath a lot of the dresses and suits their skin is just as marked with age spots as mine.  The flesh on their thigh’s sags just like mine because that is what it does, it loses its elasticity and sags.  And their skin is just as thin as mine even though their faces are frozen in some weird time period.  Do they think that that we don’t know they have a neck like a Turkey with those scarves and high button collars?

What about all that face paint and blinding white light that these producers douse their announcers and stars in?  These people are cast in bright lights so we can’t really see all the lines and wrinkles. And it hides their necks,

They use to call me shrimp, after leg surgery I am called Tall.

What is wrong with just being ourselves? When I look at some of the stars that I stood in awe of with their frozen looking faces I am so disappointed. How can we look up to them when they refuse to remain human and grow old like us?

We have all seen the pictures when plastic surgery has gone wrong for some of these famous beauties. There isn’t one of them that looks natural and lovely. Oh, if they do a tiny little bit, they get by with it, but once they get started, they come away looking like something out of a toy factory. Some even look like they are wearing a mask!

I don’t go to the movies or watch a lot of television so it might be years before I see one of my favorite stars again, so when the show comes on and I see what they have done in the last several years I am often shocked, and a little pissed! Where did the person I fell in love with go? Who is that standing on stage?

Now I would love to look beautiful all the time, but it goes against nature, and I would rather have my health than look in the mirror and not see me anymore. If some news person would do a slideshow of some of these famous people as they aged with their plastic surgery and showed what they have done to their faces over the years, it might even shock these stars. I know it does me.

Who says all of us must look like dolls out of Walmart? When did all this start and why do we buy into it? We are amazing creatures! No, we are not all brilliant or beautiful, or talented but, we are all wonderful, unique, and very special in our own way. We should not strive to be one of the “Stepford” wives, but instead let our inner self shine through.

How can we teach young girls and boys to love and appreciate themselves when all around are these walking, talking dolls trying to look perfect in every way? The sad thing is we know that this is not really how they feel inside. No way. If they did, they would not cut away pieces of themselves to fit into a certain mold

They call me Curvy!

Did I tell you I can see into the future? What I see is that we will be able to walk into a designer shop somewhere and pick a face off the wall just like we can pick out a wig we want to wear, and that is who we will become instead of who we are.  It will be like a Stephen King movie. Steven don’t steal my idea!

This is another frightening thought as I have never been in a plastic surgeon’s office but, I would imagine the plastic surgeons have books just like the beauty shops so you can pick out your cheeks, eyes, lips, breasts, and buttocks. Anything that can be replaced is offered.

Maybe they could open a big shop like a Walmart only call it Plastic Mart where all they sell will be the things you could hope to replace on your body through surgery or just try out the replacement parts like face mask, bra stuffers, and booty pants.

Sadly, while I’m trying to be humorous, I am sure it will happen at some point in time.  Did you know that in China they have made a female robot that is lovely, walks, and converses with you? There is also a company somewhere where you can order your own favorite robot star doll to have as your companion. And, on Yahoo awhile back some organization or such reported that it is predicted by the year 2030 humans will be marrying and mating with robots. What do you think of that? Not only will our parts be replaced, but we will be replaced as well. 

None of us are perfect and we shouldn’t want or expect that from each other. Our own uniqueness is what puts such flavor in the world. If we were all dolls out of a factory, I think humanity would come to a standstill. Don’t let any institution sway you to change how you look and feel. Do not let them take away your specialness. That is what we love about each other, that is the attraction. If we take away what is us, we might as well be mating with robots!

This is a real face, isn’t it cute!

I say it’s time to take control and be who we are through our real appearances, and our behaviors towards each other, period.  I’m going to steal someone’s saying here or part of it and say, “people will not necessarily remember how you look, but they will remember how you made them feel.” Make us feel happy, excited, and glad to be part of humanity.  Leave all your parts in place and focus on giving your inner loveliness to the world. And if Hollywood doesn’t like it, then form your own company called “Real People”, and use real people, not plastic looking dolls. So, for today appreciate your beauty and the beauty in others, and as I always say, have a great day today, you and I deserve it!

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Hello, this is Kris, welcome to my blog cast, this is part two of my rant on breast cancer awareness month.

Sometimes the monster starts as a little tiny bump, a lump or scratch. Sometimes it catches our eye right away, and at other times it goes unnoticed for days, weeks or months. But once that creature has caught our attention we are very aware from then on that there is something abnormally wrong inside our bodies, be it small or large. It could even be some funky lab results.  Whatever!

If you have paid  attention to Yahoo or any of the other news networks there have been a plethora of stories telling about doctors who missed the boat and misdiagnosed patients for months, even years as they slowly died or almost died from cancer.

I cannot tell you the number of people that I have personally known, because the list has gotten very long, that have had something abnormally wrong in their bodies and were told to watch and wait.

Some days I just want to scream when I hear the stories of women and men who have been told “ let’s watch it” and then were later diagnosed with cancer. Young mothers told they were “just tired.”  Young men who were scoffed at and told to come back in a few months.  The list goes on and on.

What is it?

I had a lump in my breast.  I noticed it one time when I was showering, isn’t that the story we always hear, it’s true. And I did what anyone else would do, I watched it for a few months.  Did I mention that the lump was tender, it was, so I assumed I had hurt myself helping my son move.

The first thing my doctor said was that I needed to have a mammogram as the lump shouldn’t be there as if I didn’t already know that.  I had the test which showed a small lump in my right breast.  I followed recommendation after recommendation after recommendation for almost two years. I had ultrasounds, mammograms, saw a surgeon who told me it was nothing “it’s too tiny to even bother with.”  I saw a breast specialist in Kansas City at a great cancer treatment center which I was so excited about because that is the place to go, “right?” the specialty place.  That’s where they will get things right!

Let me just say I was dumbfounded when she told me it was “nothing, nothing” and treated me as if I was a great bother to her.  She informed me when I mentioned that my lump was tender that “breast cancer isn’t tender, it isn’t tender, that is why we teach self-breast exams, it isn’t tender.”  Well God Dam it, mine was tender and stayed tender until they cut the bastard out.  Excuse my language.

Are you nuts, don’t wait.

Sadly, this specialist treated me like I was a complete idiot bothering her with this tiny lump.  She told me to go ahead and quit my job of 21 years with good health insurance to go to school and have horrible health insurance which is exactly what I did as I heard her voice saying, “it is nothing, nothing.”  She even stated that if it was her that she would do just go to school. Now I will share that she said, and I swear this is true, “I can go in and traumatize your body, but if it was me, I wouldn’t bother.”

Can I ask who out there would say, “oh, okay, yeah, traumatize my body.”  My reaction was hell no I don’t want you to traumatize my body if there is no reason.  I just want to go to school.  I just want to get my nursing degree, and in my second full semester I also got to do chemotherapy which almost killed me, and radiation.  What a success story!  And what hell those months were for myself and my son.

So, the theme for today’s blog is that if you have something wrong in your body rather it’s a lump in your breast, in your testicle, in your neck, under your armpits or in your groin have it checked out, please.

If your doctor says let’s watch it, that’s OK. It’s OK to wait a little bit and see what happens, but my push for you is that you strongly encourage your doctor to run tests and find out what this abnormal foreign body is inside of you. 

You could end up here.

It could just be a fatty cyst, but a fatty cyst can grow and attach to the muscle causing you problems. If it’s just a swollen lymph node watch it and figure out why the hell it’s swollen because our lymph nodes shouldn’t be swollen. If it’s your blood work and your labs are abnormal go back for your rechecks. Don’t wait!

I must admit as a nurse I know patients who do not return for their follow ups like they are told, and honestly doctors are too damn busy to chase you down.

My book is about taking action, doing something now, don’t just watch and wait and wait and wait. Almost two years after I found that lump, I finally found out what it was.  Need I say I was so furious.  This lump that had been so small in the beginning had grown because I did as they said and “watched and waited.” By watching and waiting it had grown, moved out of the duct into the breast tissue resulting in me suffering through chemotherapy and radiation in my second and third semesters of school.

There is more to the story that I will cover through the month of October, or you can read my book that is for sale on Amazon.  The most important thing for you to understand is to take action sooner rather than later so that you don’t have to fight the monster in your body.

Let’s start a new mantra this year, and for all the years to come.  Let us shout it from the rooftops, TAKE ACTION NOW against any cancer so that you will live another day and not have to fight the demon that may be hiding out in your body. And as I always say, have a great day today, you and I deserve it..

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The Facebook Challenge. The “Take Action Now Challenge”

I am re-releasing this blog because ” Breast Cancer Awareness Month” is right ahead of us, just, one more day , and our minds will get blown away with all the “caring, sensitive, advertisements for products supporting breast cancer awareness. If you have read my previous blogs you know this is a sore spot for me. Below is my book which expresses those painful, angry opinions. They come from my experiences with breast cancer.

I will add a piece each week about my opinions and experiences with breast cancer. I hope my book will be an awaking for you. If I tell you one thing, it is to take action now if you have something that is wrong inside your body. Do not wait! Waiting can and will lead to death. Here’s the actual piece from Facebook.!

Okay, I have been thinking. A dangerous thing for me to do, but I must. I want to send out a challenge to all my friends, and friends of friends to share the new ” Take Action Now.” theme. Did you know that cancer kills, but did you know that sometimes cancer kills because we didn’t act fast enough.” My book, ” Screw Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Take Action Now. The New Mantra.” is an important message for all to hear. When something is wrong in our bodies we need to act. I would like to have this message reach a million people. I know, I know, I expect a lot, but the projections for the number of new cases of cancer for 2020 was roughly 1,805,695. I am talking just in 2020, with an estimated 606,800 deaths that year. The driving force behind my book is that I feel I am not reaching enough people with this important message of ” take action now” through just my blog. So if you will share this blog, and this post with all your friends on Facebook, and have your friends share it, and continue on to who knows when, maybe as a group we will save someone’s life. There is much to learn about cancer. It is better to learn it now instead of when you really might need to have this information http://www.amazon.com/dp/BO8GFCX7MK

Add as I always say, have a great day today, you and I deserve it!