Walk Inside Your Story and Own It

dinsdag 10 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Kristen Chase 2 hours ago in Healthy Living

I'm neither a quote person nor a TED Talk watcher, but sometimes, some words are too compelling for me to ignore. That's exactly how I feel about Brene' Brown, a mom, author, researcher, and vulnerability expert.

If you're like me and you've always felt like you're on the outside of your life looking in, then you really need to read this. And even if you're completely self-actualized (congratulations!), her words are important to parents too.

I'm not quite sure at what point I found myself as an outsider in my own life, but there have been many moments over the years where I've felt like a benched player on the sidelines. Whether it's simple things, like not wanting to try something new for fear of failure, or serious issues, like confronting my own demons (or the demons of others that are affecting me), I've been there. And I've wished for many years that I would just get over it, not give a crap about what anyone else thought, and truly lived my life.

That all changed when I heard Brene' Brown speak at Mom 2.0 a couple of years ago. I admit to flipping through her book, but like most of my hobbies, it got put aside for work and kids. A worthy sacrifice.

But honestly, it wasn't until recently that I finally dug up her Listening to Shame TED Talk and watched with intention that my life was truly changed. All those years of living with fear of failure and the inability to step outside my comfort zone were completely changed with these words:

You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story & hustle for your worthiness. 

I've spent most of my parenting years feeling not worthy: Of my amazing children, of my own happiness, of our wonderful life together. Much of it has to do with a damaged childhood where love was conditional and good things always seemed to end or be taken away from me.

The idea of taking a risk was not even an option because my everyday life seemed so risky. And I was never quite sure if anyone would be there to catch me if I fell.

But thanks to Brene', I have to say I've got a better handle on my life intention, not just as a parent but my own person. And quite frankly, I'm tired of standing outside, doing exactly what she said: Hustling for my own worthiness.

It's your story. OWN IT. Then go live the awesome life you were meant to live.

What's your life quote?

Image via RickPiggott/Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kristen Chase

is a writer, sex book author, and mom of four. She has absolutely no hobbies, unless you count obsessing over Ryan Reynolds, cleaning Sharpie off the walls, and Twitter. 

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US Military's Medal of Honor Goes to an Ordinary Dad With an Extraordinary Story

maandag 26 augustus 2013

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Jeanne Sager 6 hours ago

A lot is being made over Ty Carter today, and rightfully so. Army Staff Sgt. Carter is being presented with the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama this week. He's only the fifth living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Carter is a true American hero, a man who has already collected eight other medals -- including the purple heart. But if there's one story that really sums up who the man receiving the nation's highest military honor is, it's the way he learned that he would be awarded the Medal of Honor.

The story -- as told to the Stars and Stripes -- goes that Carter was on a family vacation, a trip to Crater Lake that he'd promised to his wife and kids. He'd been ordered to take a detour, to stay within cellphone range. And so it is that a man the nation owes a debt of gratitude learned he would be receiving the country's highest award while he:

sat on the back of his camper, parked near a gas station in the remote Oregon woods, with his two dogs asleep and his kids arguing and his wife feeding the baby.

It sounds so ... normal, doesn't it?

He sound like any dad in America.

Perhaps that is because Ty Carter IS like any dad in America.

He's a heroic dad, a dad who, faced faced death multiple times to assist comrades during a firefight with Taliban insurgents in October 2009 when Combat Outpost Keating was ambushed. Two dozen men were injured and eight died during that fight, making it one of the deadliest battles for Americans in the Afghan war.

But still, Ty Carter is a dad. An American guy who takes a camper on vacation with his wife, kids, and dogs.

That doesn't negate his heroism. If anything, it only serves to ? what a hero he is. Ty Carter had more than just his own life on the line that day in 2009. He was a husband, a father, a breadwinner out there on the frontlines.

It's easy to conflate the images of these action movie "heroes" with the heroism of everyday men and women in the military. Easy, but misleading.

America's heroes are not the Vin Diesel or Arnold Schwarzenegger types.

They're regular men and women, ordinary folks like Ty Carter who, when push comes to shove, rise to extraordinary.

Image via US Army

Click "Like" if you love someone in the military! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jeanne Sager

writes articles for The Stir by day, slays closet monsters and bounds through bedtime stories with her elementary schooler by night. The Phineas and Ferb soundtrack reverberates through her brain.

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18-Month-Old Girl Rescued From Store's Awning After Crawling Out 2nd Story Window (VIDEO)

maandag 29 juli 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Julie Ryan Evans 1 hour ago

When I think of children sneaking out windows, I think of teenagers who are setting off to do all sorts of things that give me nightmares. A toddler in Brooklyn, however, recently made her own daring escape, and it should make all parents look more closely at their windows.

According to ABC, it happened last Friday. The 18-month-old girl's grandmother, who was watching her, didn't even know she was gone after she crawled out a second-story window and fell to a store's awning below. Shocked neighbors saw the child crawling precariously close to the edge and jumped into action.

Qing Chen, who was working in the pharmacy across the street, told Eyewitness 7 News:

She was crawling back and forth and to the edge she was about to fall off. And that's when we yelled at her and crawled back to where the letter 'O' was and she sat there. We screamed at her [and] said "Don't move" and she started crying and she just sat there.

They tried to use a ladder, but it wasn't tall enough. Then Chen ran up to the apartment and knocked on the door. "I'm like, 'Your baby is outside, she's about to fall, I need to get her,'" he told the station.

The windows wouldn't budge open, but he was able to crawl through a small space where the air conditioning unit was and got out there to rescue her, while other neighbors waited below, ready to catch her if she fell. While she was taken to the hospital for observation, she didn't appear to have any injuries.

So phew. But the fact is we've seen too many of these stories before -- of small children crawling or falling out of windows. Not all of them have endings as happy as this, and sometimes it means injury or even death for children. Not only is it a reminder that toddlers need to be watched at all times, it's also a reminder about the dangers windows can present -- especially in these hot summer months.

So if you haven't already, please check your windows. Make sure they're secure and have any necessary alarms and locks in place to prevent incidents like this from happening. When they're crafty teenagers, however ... lord help us all.

Has your child ever tried to escape your home? Are your home's windows secure?

Image via NBC

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julie Ryan Evans

can be found writing from coffee houses wherever she may be. The quality of her days is largely influenced by the seat she nabs and whether a protein plate is available.

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Woman’s Headache Turns Out to Be Flesh-Eating Maggots in Horror Story of the Summer (VIDEO)

woensdag 17 juli 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Kiri Blakeley 11 hours ago

It's these kinds of stories that make me want to plan my next vacation ... at home. A 27-year-old woman from the U.K. went on the trip of a lifetime with her boyfriend to Peru, but on the plane trip home, she began experiencing headaches. Soon, she had shooting pains in her face and was hearing a "scratching" sound inside of her head. At first, doctors thought she had an ear infection. However, she was referred to a specialist to make certain. That's when they discovered the stuff that nightmares are made of. The woman, Rochelle Harris, didn't have just any old ear problem. She had ... maggots in her ear! And they'd set up shop deep within her ear canal. Shudder shudder shuuuuudder.

Rochelle had remembered walking through a swarm of flies while in Peru, but when one landed on her ear, she simply waved it off and thought no more about it.

Until the headaches. And the shooting pains.

And the scratching noises. Yiiiiiiikes.

Luckily, the specialist was able to locate the maggots and eventually determine that the eight of them, big old suckers, had hatched inside of her ear drum, and drilled a hole into her ear canal.

If the critters reached her brain, they could cause meningitis, or internal bleeding, or even facial paralysis. Oh my god, my head is a little scratchy right now. Dandruff? MAGGOTS?!

Docs tried flushing the creatures out with olive oil and then left Rochelle with her new pals for the evening. She said:

It was longest few hours of my life. I just wanted them out of me and now I knew what was causing the sensations and sounds, it made it all the worse.

The next day, Rochelle was sedated and the maggots removed. It was also determined that, thankfully, they had not yet reached her brain. WHEW.

This isn't the first time I've heard about this type of thing. One woman I read about had worms that had burrowed into her brain -- but doctors kept thinking her complaints of feeling itching inside her skull was a psychological problem. Finally, one doc believed her yammering that something was in her brain and discovered the worms just under her skull.

Just goes to show, if there is something off with your brain, don't let so-called experts tell you there's nothing wrong. Keep going until you find a doctor who will examine you thoroughly.

This is so skeevy I don't know if I'm ever leaving the house again.

Have you ever had anything burrow under your skin?

Image via Discovery Channel

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