Month: May 2019

Freedom Isn’t Free

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Cheryl's View.

When I was a little girl, we always recognized and celebrated Memorial Day. As a child, I thought I knew what we were celebrating, even though my focus was on one event that was the most important to me. Which was the end of the school year. I hated school. I always did, which is ironic that I ended up being a life-long learner as well as earning a Master’s Degree in physical therapy just 3 months shy of my 40th birthday. But as an adult I fully understand the incredible sacrifices that have been made by ordinary people who did extraordinary things to allow me the freedom and the ability to make some of the choices that I have made in my life. The freedom that we so often take for granted. The kind of freedom that people have fought and died for over the course of over 243 years.  It...

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Seize The Day

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Life's Lessons.

A few days ago I woke up feeling heavy and sluggish. Gingerly I rolled over in bed, got up, and staggered toward the enticing aroma of fresh coffee brewing. Ahhhh, coffee! I followed it into the kitchen where my husband and 3 dogs greeted me with wagging tails and a cheery “Good Morning!” Easy for them to say. Eventually the coffee worked its magic well enough for me to give everyone a pat on the head (including my husband) before going down to my girl cave to get some work done. I also had to clean the kitchen, get dinner in the crock pot, get dressed and head out the door for ballet class. I had a lot to get done, and I was in a crappy mood. I made sure I took my bad mood with me as I made my way downstairs. But something funny happened. All of a sudden my creative juices began...

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Never Stop Dreaming

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Life's Lessons.

The ability to dream is something each and everyone of us are born with. However, as we mature into adulthood and the responsibilities of work, home, family, and life’s challenges can get in the way of our dreams. And sometimes we even forget how to dream. That happened to me. It was a long time ago, but it really doesn’t seem like it now. I was going through a major bump in my road of life, and simply getting out of bed in the morning was a supreme challenge for me. My focus was merely to live to survive another day. Or not. Well, I kind of did. After all, I couldn’t imagine leaving my husband to take car of my dogs all on his own. But every moment in life was so effortful. And just in case you were wondering, I have been accused of inventing the word effortful. But think...

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When Circuits Misfire

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Life's Lessons.

Don’t you just hate it when your circuits misfire? Maybe there is just too much going on in your head, the signals aren’t clear, or the messages are conflicting with each other and you can’t move forward. Or backward. Or at all. I believe this is called cognitive dissonance. A few weeks ago I was driving on the interstate in rush hour traffic. I was anxious to get home so I could let the dogs out. My husband was out of town and I was feeling guilty that I was gone so long. On the other hand, I was feeling quite satisfied that I had a very productive day and feeling good about my accomplishments. As my conflicting thoughts swirled around my mind, suddenly something felt terribly wrong. Confused, I looked down at the dash and saw that all of my indicator lights were on. My...

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