Pit Stop Day

There are those amongst us that no matter what’s going on in their lives , will see something positive to uplift and move them forward. My EXTRAordinary woman of the week, Nancy Mura, is such a person. When life gave her lemons she made sweet lemonade. Nancy is not just a survivor, she THRIVES. She is the author of a magnificent  children’s book “Willie Whistle” – A Name for Puppy.

Read her story and I dare you not to be inspired.

EXTRAordinary woman of the week Nancy Mura

I was born and raised in Rochester, New York.

My mother raised my sister and me.  She was a wonderful dedicated person who worked long hours to provide for us. She died in 2000 at the age of ninety one years old. I dearly miss her and enjoyed the last years we spent together.

She had a very difficult life, but she never let that interfere with her love for both my sister and me.  Laughter was always in our daily lives.  There was always food on the table and the doors to our home were open to friends and family.

Included in our family were several furry friends, which included three dogs and two cats. They brought much joy into our lives with their unconditional love and funny escapades.

There are so many wonderful memories that I have of my family. We spent so many happy days together and I will always cherish that love we had for each other.

All the encouragement, loving support from my husband, mother and sister over the years gave me the strength to meet all the challenges that would occur in my life.

In May of 1986 when my husband had quadruple bypass surgery I quit my job to stay home and take care of him.  Then the following January, 1987 my sister was told that her cancer had returned and it was terminal.

In February of 1987 a lump appeared on the left side of my face.  A biopsy was performed and the results showed that I had a parotid tumor and should be surgical removed.

Little did I know that this was just the beginning of a continuing re-occurrences of the tumors from 1992 thru 1996 and extensive surgeries performed on the left side of my face which would include dis-figuration.

After the last surgery in 1996 the result showed the tumors were malignant.  The diagnosis was carcinoma/explemorphic adenoma.

Radical radiation was performed twice a day to the area over an eight week period. This eventually caused me to have some loss of hearing in the left ear and loss of the saliva gland. Cataract surgery was performed on the left eye and a gold weight inserted in the left eye area so the eyelid could close.

Between 1998 and 1999 reconstruction surgery was performed on my face to make me look presentable.

From 1987 through 2000 I lost my whole family, which included my husband, mother and sister.

In 2002 after a CT scan was performed and the results showed the tumors had returned and were now living in my lungs and called carcinoma explemorphic adenoma a lung cancer which showed fifty nodules in both lungs.

Chemotherapy was performed without success.  In February 2003, I made arrangements to go to the Mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota for a second opinion.  The oncologist assigned to me reviewed my case and said that chemotherapy would not be effective on this particular tumor.  He recommended that the medication Gleevec be taken.

Up until 2007 I was on the Gleevec medication.  After a CT scan was performed in 2007 it showed that the tumors had grown and my oncologist recommended I take another drug called Sutent which I have been taking for the last two years with success.

I have been told many times by my doctors that my disease is very rare, due to the parotid tumors metastasizing to my lungs; they do not know of any others cases like mine.

In 2007 my story was included in Preferred Care Gold, (now called MVP) Health Care Literary collection.

I have been retired since 2003. I am a volunteer for the Red Cross and was involved with “The Kids Are Us” program, which involved the use of puppets.  The puppets were a learning tool for students within the elementary schools through out the Rochester, NY area.  The puppets that were involved in this program had different disabilities; Cerebral Palsy, Blindness, Learning disability and Down syndrome.  Unfortunately, due to lack of funding this program has been discontinued. But, I am still involved with the Red Cross blood drive.

I am now an author.  While I was going through chemotherapy in 2003, to keep my mind occupied, and for therapeutic value, I decided to write a story.  It would be fictional and something I hoped that children, adults and seniors would enjoy.  It involved animals who have different personalities.    So I wrote this story about a puppy named “Willie Whistle” who is abandoned at a shelter which is owned by a white Persian cat named Marta May Paws.  It tells of the many different friends he meets who live at the shelter and how they help to raise him, and of all his adventures throughout his growing up years.   People who have read the story have laughed at all the lovable characters, and enjoyed reading it.

The Willie Whistle series of books volume one and two are now available on nancymura.blogspot.com. Also, anyone can read Nancy’ story on this site.  Mindy Schwartz who is my project manager can also be contacted by e-mail mssphotography@aol.com for purchase of my books.

Right now I am in the process of co-writing a couple of children’s books. Along with Taryn Simpson who is an award-winning novelist, ghostwriter and screenwriter. The two books we are writing are called the Table and Chair and Rosie and Baby.

People have asked me over the years if I have been angry about what has happened to me.  I look at them and say, sure there are times that I feel down, but then I think of so many other people who have worst diseases then I have. There are those who are disabled, can’t see, walk or talk. I have never said “why me.”  I am very fortunate to be here.   I think of life as an adventure.  Who knows what is over the next mountain.  One should enjoy life, be happy. Be thankful for the family and wonderful friends that are part of your life and always pay forward in helping others.  Do not look backwards, and have great faith in God.

Purchase her book here

Nancy, thanks for sharing your inspirational life experiences.  – Adalia

As always, I appreciate your visit. Has life handed you any lemons and how did you deal with them. Please share – my readers and I would like to get to know you. Like what you’ve read? Please subscribe in the RSS feed (upper right) and each new post will be delivered to your in box.

Are you fired up for your business and personal life?

You know you are FIRED UP if you:

1. Awaken in the morning filled with joy and enthusiasm for the day ahead.
2. Smile as you greet the morn.
3. Eat breakfast.
4. Have your daily to do list.
5. Feed your mind positive self chatter.
6. Feel passionate and purposeful.
7. Have a vision for your successful life.
8. Take action for your goals.
9. Embrace your fears.
10. Love and allow you to be loved
11. Take time to relax and unwind.
12. Pay it forward
13. Show gratitude

You know you are fired up when you:

Confidently and courageously take risks to make your dreams a reality.

Are you fired up or have you lost your enthusiasm for doing the things that will create your successful life.  Are you tired of trying? Are you ready to give up?

You know you are not FIRED UP if you:

Awaken in the morning and wish you did not have to get up

Look in the mirror and say “yuck.”

Refuse to put a smile on your face.

Are overwhelmed.

Skip breakfast.

Keep second guessing yourself.

Play the blame game.

Feed your mind negative self chatter.

Do not appreciate the small things in life.

Are angry and frustrated.

Have lost that loving feeling.

Have lost the passion for your purpose driven life.

Do you want to get FIRED UP? Do you want to re ignite your passion for your dreams?

You can get fired up by:

1. Journaling
2. Meditating
3. Joining a master mind group
4. Hiring a coach
5. Finding a mentor.
6. Exploring the self help community – there’s an endless supply of tools to assist you.

It’s time to get FIRED UP for your success.

Other resources:

Fired up for life
Fired up now
Fired up motivation

Are You Fired Up by Anne Whiting

Thought Stimulator:  Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire first. ~  Reggie Leach
As always, I appreciate your visit. Are you fired up? Please share – my readers and I would like to get to know you. Like what you’ve read? Please subscribe in the RSS feed (upper right) and each new post will be delivered to your in box.

You can contact me at adalia@claimyourconfidencenow.com

Even though the women of today are making more money, many lack the confidence to take charge of their financial health. How is your financial health? Is your financial house in order? Do you have confidence in your financial future?

Anne Naylor – Personal motivation consultant and author – wrote an empowering article that could be helpful to you.

“6 Tips For Facing Your Finances With Confidence”

Dealing with money issues is not easy. Families fall out over money. Your sense of status, place in life and well-being may have come to depend upon a certain level of income and expenditure. Expectations dashed, disappointment and financial loss can make for deep-seated misery.

I am not an economist — my sister is — but I still have to deal with money on a daily basis. We all do, unless we have chosen to renounce cash and found other methods of survival, which some have done quite successfully.

Listening to an investment counselor recently, I heard him say that the days of the “borrow to spend” mentality are no longer the workable option they had become. Sooner or later, the credit runs out. It is no fun when it does.

A mood of blaming and complaining is very understandable. You may feel like a helpless infant in a grown up world when it comes to the economy. However, blaming and complaining about the state of the economy, and those responsible for it, renders you more stuck and prepares you for nothing better, other than more complaining and blaming. This frame of mind does not help you to deal with your personal finances, fit and ready to meet the world as it now is.

The origin of the word “confidence” literally means “have full trust.” Here are some of the dictionary definitions for confidence.

• The feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust

• The state of feeling certain about the truth of something

• A feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities

In times of economic uncertainty, I have noticed that there are always those who are managing their personal finances well. What is possible for some is possible for many more. Read rest of the article here

Other Resources:

Women’s Money Corner

Yes to Financial Fitness

Women & money owning the power to control your destiny

Thought Stimulator: Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.  ~A.A. Latimer

As always, I appreciate your visit. How is your financial health? Ae you a business owner or an employee?  Please share – my readers and I would like to get to know you. Like what you’ve read? Please subscribe in the RSS feed (upper right) and each new post will be delivered to your in box.

You can contact me at adalia@claimyourconfidencenow.com

Whitney Houston’s hit song “Greatest Love of All”  has timeless lyrics regarding children -  lyrics that touch your soul and inspire you to nurture the children of the world. My EXTRAordinary Woman of the week, Shelley Seale has been involved in non profit work and social activism almost all of her life – particularly around child advocacy. Through her book , and her work – she has contributed to bringing attention  -  to the plight of  some of India’s children.

Meet Shelley Seale, writer, dreamer, child advocate and EXTRAordinary woman of the week.

1. Shamelessly plug yourself and your business /services

I’m a professional freelance writer, editor and graphic designer based out of cool and creative Austin, Texas. When not there, I am usually off vagabonding in any part of the world whenever possible. My mantra is “travel with a purpose.”

I recently completed a nonfiction book, The Weight of Silence: Invisible Children of India which was published by Dogs Eye View Media in June, 2009. This nonfiction book is a story straight from today’s headlines – the true, written version that Slumdog Millionaire portrayed on film. It follows my journeys through India and tells the stories of some of the 25 million children living without parents in India, on the streets or in orphanages; and the inspiring people who are helping to uphold their rights, one child at a time.

2. How long have you been a writer?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember! Freelancing full time for about five years now.

3. What motivated you to become an entrepreneur?

I think I have some sort of entrepreneurial bug in me. Maybe it stems from just being really independent and liking to do my own thing, I don’t know. I’ve always been an entrepreneur; even in my previous career incarnation, before I started writing full time, I was in real estate for 15 years and I started two different firms. I have started and owned several ventures during my lifetime.

4. What has been a defining moment in your life or an AHA moment?

Oprah Winfrey shares a defining moment in her life when she was in the third grade – the day her book report earned her teacher’s praise- it made her classmates whisper, “She thinks she is so smart.” She says for too many years after that, her biggest fear was that others would see her as arrogant. “The last thing I wanted was for my actions to make me appear conceited. Full of myself,: she remembers.

I don’t remember the exact incident, but I know it was the first time that anyone ever read something that I wrote and said, “That is good!” With writing, you really put yourself out there personally – often your thoughts, your feelings, your human experience, your soul. It’s a very vulnerable place to be sometimes, and to know that other people can relate to it, that something you wrote really resonates with someone else – that is a real a-ha moment, and something that makes it all worthwhile and keeps you going.

5. What has been your biggest challenge?

How hard it is to get work and get published sometimes, and how easy it is to constantly keep working to do so. Writing is all-consuming. Although I would be miserable in a regular 9-to-5 job, I sometimes envy those who can go home and leave their work behind at the end of the day.

6. What has been your greatest reward?

Doing what I love to do – what doesn’t feel like work to me.

From a very early age, my grandparents and parents always inspired me. I have the most wonderful, close, loving family who have always supported me unconditionally. It’s an amazing gift, which is why it breaks my heart to see other children go through life without that. While writing the book, there were so many people along the way who inspired me and have become my heroes. Caroline Boudreaux was the first one – this woman gave up a very successful television advertising career after meeting a group of orphans, by chance, on one evening – and dedicated the rest of her life to supporting them and ensuring their fundamental rights. Dr. Manjeet Pardesi, her Director of Operations in India, has a similar story – he left behind a successful accounting business in Delhi to open and run an orphanage and home for unwed mothers hundreds of miles away.

7. What limiting belief about money did you let go of-  on your entrepreneurial journey.

That money (or material things) were intrinsically entwined with happiness. Yes, money can make your life easier and reduces stress that comes from not having it, and struggling. But once you have the basics, the idea that more is always better is hugely limiting. In fact, it can have the opposite effect on happiness. I could make a lot more money if I had a corporate job – but I wouldn’t be nearly as happy. Doing what I love, day in and day out, being able to truly follow my passion and integrate who I am with what I do, is the most important aspect of happiness to me. If I can get paid enough doing that to live a simple lifestyle, to pay my bills and have a few little comforts, I am so much happier than doing something I hate, but getting paid a lot more. Often times, when we are in that vicious cycle, we NEED that extra money in order to buy things to try and make ourselves feel better about the fact that we’re miserable.

8. What do you do on a regular basis for a healthy/strong mind,body and spirit connection?

I do a lot of yoga, about 3 or 4 times a week, as well as a few dance and pilates classes as well. I also try to eat very healthy, organic and locally grown food as much as possible. It really makes a difference in how I feel.

8. Is there something you want to share that was not asked?

I would like people to know that even though the topic is serious and the stories often heartbreaking, it is not a depressing book or subject! These kids, and their stories, are incredible and awe-inspiring, hopeful and inspirational. In my journeys over the last three years into the orphanages, slums, clinics and streets of India I have become immersed in dozens of children’s lives. Their hope and resilience amazed me time and time again; the ability of their spirits to overcome crippling challenges inspired me. Even in the most deprived circumstances they are still kids – they laugh and play, they develop strong bonds and relationships to create family where none exists; and most of all they have an enormous amount of love to give. The issues are tough, what has happened to a lot of these kids makes you want to cry – but the bottom line of their stories is a very strong, hopeful voice.

You can connect with Shelley at the links below.

Facebook

Twitter

Shelley Seale

mail@shelleyseale.com

Purchase her book

Shelley, I want to thank you for sharing your heart felt  information with my readers and me.  I hope someone will be inspired to take action for their own cause.

I wish you success with your cause -  bettering the lives of  our children.

As always, I appreciate your visit. What do you think of Shelley and her cause?  Do you have a cause that you are passionate about?  Please share – my readers and I would like to get to know you. Like what you’ve read? Please subscribe in the RSS feed (upper right) and each new post will be delivered to your in box.

After reading an article by James E Rouse, ND of optimum wellness, I had a shift in my thinking regarding resolutions.  He suggested that we should focus on what we want more of,  instead of what we want to “fix.” What a concept!

My friend, Anne,  has been living  in her new town home for approximately ten months and was always complaining about what she did not like.  Her favorite complaint – that her town home was like a cage – there was no view – there was nothing to look at except her neighbors’ front doors.

I visited Anne a few weeks ago and she showed me her beautiful home. The last stop on the tour was her bedroom. The curtains were drawn – I drew the curtains back and I was amazed to see the most beautiful moon light sky. I called Anne and showed her the night sky and she stood there in amazement – granted she had not lived very long in the town home and most nights she came home very late but Anne did what so many of us do – we become so transfixed by what we do not have, we overlook, what we already have.

Lets “resolve to evolve.” Give thanks for your triumphs, be they great or small. Don’t be like my friend Anne – looking at life through dissatisfied lens. What do you want more of in your life? Instead of losing weight, focus on being fit. Give more value to your customers/clients and more money will come. Love your self, give love and love will come to you.

Shift your thinking and make a list of the things you want more of, not the things you want to fix. Celebrate your life and resolve to evolve!!!

Other Resources:
Ezine Article
Blogher
New Pittsburg Courier Online
Find Articles

Thought Stimulator: Before you can like and love another, you must like and love yourself. ~ Eileen Lebowitz

I appreciate your visit.  What do you want more of in your life? Please share! If you like what you’ve read, please subscribe in the RSS feed (upper right) and each new post will be delivered to your in box.