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*Most of the magic in my life has happened when my life is shattered.

*You become real when the shine wears off of life.

*Grieving with another human being is one of the most holy places to be.

*We avoid pain, but sometimes pain and grief is the place to be with people.
It’s the realest place we can be.

*I spend some time allowing my heart to be broken open for someone else.
That’s how we end up feeling connected.

*When a friend is grieving, all we have to do is be present.
If we just accepted our presence as a gift instead of always trying to find the
right thing to say, people would feel more capable of grieving with each other.

*That’s where the wisdom is born—when everything falls apart.

*You have to let everything fall apart before you find out what’s indestructible about you.

Thank you Glennon Doyle Melton for sharing your wisdom.

Lately, there has been so many serious things going on.
And people often feel you either have to feel sadness or joy; it has to be one
or the other. We can’t have both at the same time.

I’m here to tell you that when life is serious, people are grieving or facing life’s challenges,
we should bring humour into it when we can. Why? Because it’s already serious enough!

So I’m going to dare you today, to share one of your most embarrassing moments with me. Because it you can’t laugh at yourself—you’re taking life too seriously!

I've had many situations to choose from. But this is the most embarrassing moment
that I could think of. I don’t think I’ve ever shared this before. Here it goes:

It was several years ago when Geordie and I were dating; a time when I really wanted to impress his parents… especially his mom. We were at the Hidden Valley Beach in Huntsville.

I had gotten dressed in a very big hurry, threw my bathing suit on and left.
Geordie’s mom arrived at the beach and was walking toward me. I was lying in a lawn
chair in my bathing suit. Suddenly, my friend looked over and said, “Are you wearing your underwear???” They were the same colour as my bathing suit, so I thought—when I was rushing—that I had put my suit on. My mother-in-law was close so there was nothing I
could do but lie there and hope and pray that she would not notice….that I was indeed in
my underwear! I told my friend not to say a word and to please get me a towel ASAP!!

To this day, I have no idea if Nancy, my lovely mother-in-law, realized and wondered.
Wow… I felt so hot and I know I was beet red! That was embarrassing!!

So…I dare you to share an embarrassing story so that we can all have a good laugh.
Because sometime life to too much and we go through hard stuff. We need a break.
And if we can’t laugh at each other, we are taking ourselves too seriously! So let’s hear it...

What was your most embarrassing moment???
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I’ve decided that once a month I will share one of my 7 Take Aways.
These are what I share in my presentations, as an audio download, webinar (coming soon)
and they are written in my book, Love Your Life to Death.

They are the culmination of what I learned in 27 years of nursing as well as in the last few
years hearing many people’s stories. I believe they are essential, if we want to live life
to the fullest, learn to grieve and support others and to have “The Talk” about end of life,
long before it arrives and diffuse the fear.

Take Away #1: The best time to talk about, plan and prepare for grief is when we are young and healthy. The next best time is… Now!!

We are expert procrastinators! People often say, “Why should I talk about grief when
things are going well in my life?” Why? The truth is that grief can arrive at any time.
And grief isn’t just about end of life; it’s divorce, diagnosis, job loss… anything that
causes sadness or misery in our lives.

But if we talk about, plan and prepare long before we are facing grief, at least we can
create a soft landing for ourselves; in life, grief and end of life. I’ve planned my life well, knowing that there is no plan that is perfect and that change is the only constant.
At least I have a direction.

I’ve also planned my end of life and so has Geordie (my better half!).
My extended family has as well. It was such a relief for most of us. We felt empowered
(and yes, emotional). We has great conversations and sorted out things that would
have been horrible to figure out in a crisis.

It is each and every one of our responsibility to plan our life and our end of life.
Here’s something to think about:

*Do you have coping skills and strategies that will help you navigate through grief?

*Do you have beliefs about life and death?

*What else could you do to talk about, plan and prepare for before long before
it arrives and diffuse the fear?

Take Away #1: The best time to talk about, plan and prepare for grief is when we are young and healthy. The next best time is… Now!!

 I just interviewed Jenny Cressman for my radio show. I initially had booked Jenny to talk about “Just Showing Up” locally and globally, and now there has been mass destruction from one hurricane after the other in many areas.

 Jenny spent many years with the Muskoka Women’s Advocacy Group - who help women and children in crisis. Now she spends much of her time in Cuba, enjoying and helping the locals year after year. I asked Jenny about her new adventure:

Jenny: “Yes, I “Just Showed Up” in Cuba! That led to a new life for me. Now my focus in on traveling to and writing about Cuba. I just finished a novel, fictional but based on the resort I will be taking people to, on October 25th, 2017 (and a couple of times a year!).

Yvonne: “I love that many in your groups bring an extra suitcase full of necessities to leave for the locals, because they are in need year round.

Jenny: We’ve been able to take 2000 pounds of clothes and supplies. We’ve also brought 85 bikes; great means of transportation that make such a difference. The buses are very limited.

Yvonne: Although your area did not get hit directly by the hurricanes like many other areas, there is always flooding there. We often think “I can’t give thousands of dollars”, so we don’t do anything. Then we feel helpless and bad, and try not to see what is happening in other parts of the world. But the truth is…

Jenny: On average, Cubans make $20 per month! And some things, like a fridge or a stove can cost as much as they do here.

Yvonne: So…if we’re thinking we don’t have extra money, but we could donate $5.00…that’s a week’s ages!!! That was my “aha” moment!!

*Jenny, you are continuously helping in Cuba and are a champion for the Dubois Charitable Foundation, which is sending disaster relief aid containers to Cuba.
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There is so much we can do. One of my favorite sayings: Heroes do not always wear capes.

*James Solecki does work in Turks and Caicos and has started a Hurricane relief fund.
He also donates to KIVA with every new Integra contract. To learn more click here

* I have donated some money, and I’ve donated a lot of time and clothing locally (and part of proceeds of book sales). Now I have put together a small bag of clothes and toothpaste for Jenny. I asked my son Tanner if he has some nice t-shirts he no longer wore (he grew about 6 inches this year!). He gave me 5 shirts!

Jenny, Thank you for what you do, for Just Showing Up! and sharing your hero story!

We all can make a difference. It is better to do something than to do nothing.

Just Show Up. You never know where it will lead!
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