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Introduction Text The first time someone told me I was brave was in September of 2011. I had just told my exercise class that I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and would be having some difficulty dealing with triggers and just trying to live my life as normally as possible. I thanked them for sticking with me and tried to give them an idea of what to expect so if I did have an attack during class they would understand what was happening and what to do. After that class one lady came to me with tears in her eyes. Taking hold of my hands, she said, "You are the bravest person I know. Your courage to get through this is so inspiring." One by one they came to me with words of encouragement, hugs, and promises of Prayer. The following week they handed me an envelope of cash to pay for my therapy. I didn't count it. I gave it to my counselor and told her to let me know when I should start paying. God is good. at my last session 18 months later, she gave me change. I've been called brave or some synonym of brave many times since. Synonyms Expand (from Dictionary.com) 1. bold, intrepid, daring, dauntless, heroic. Brave, courageous, valiant, fearless, gallant refer to confident bearing in the face of difficulties or dangers. Brave is the most comprehensive: it is especially used of that confident fortitude or daring that actively faces and endures anything threatening. Courageous implies a higher or nobler kind of bravery, especially as resulting from an inborn quality of mind or spirit that faces or endures perils or difficulties without fear and even with enthusiasm. Valiant implies a correspondence between an inner courageousness and external deeds, particularly of physical strength or endurance. Fearless implies unflinching spirit and coolness in the face of danger. Gallant implies a chivalrous, impetuous, or dashing bravery. Interestingly, on my birthday in November, someone mentioned to me in passing that I am brave. A few days later, I did one of those silly word tests on facebook and this was my result "Brave is engraved on my heart" So I've chosen Brave as "My One Word" for 2017. I don't think I'm brave. I think the circumstances in my life have made me strong enough to do what I have to do to survive..... Eventually. I say eventually because I've often had to overcome obstacles which caused me to experience fear and defeat before finding that strong or brave place within myself to fight through those hindrances. Talk about non-scale victories? My life is a non-scale victory! I am a walking miracle. More than once! My plan for 2017 is this; Do everything as unto the Lord. I pray daily and ask the Holy Spirit to convict me if I am eating the wrong foods and not exercising enough. 2017 is the year of my miraculous weight loss! 2/5/2017 ************************************************************************* I guess Words has been my one word since 2012 because that is how long it's been since I updated my Spark Page. It's ok because I love words and still try to learn at least one new word a day. I did choose a new one word for 2015, but I've forgotten what it was. As I was thinking about my goals for the 5% Summer Challenge I realized that I am hardly ever consistent when I set a goal. Soooo, We've all heard of Christmas in July, I'm having New Year in July and choosing Consistency as My One Word for the remainder of 2015. Definition; steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.: If I don't consistently do those things I know to help me progressively move toward my goals, I am not holding myself accountable. My only goal for the Summer Challenge is to remain consistent throughout the 8 weeks with exercise and all the Living the Good Life activities. Going into week 4, so far so good! Update 2013 I have chosen "WORDS" as my one word for 2013! Words was also my one word in 2012. 2012: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.... A truly paradoxical year.... LOL so many words, so little time. Follows are my random ponderings about Words What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words. Proverbs 18:21 But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. James 3:8 Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. James 1:19 "Sticks and stones will break my bones , but words will never hurt me!" I've often wondered if that was the first lie I learned to tell myself, when I was 5 or 6 years old on the schoolyard playground. For some reason a classmate decided she didn't like me and took particular pleasure in humiliating me in front of as many of the other children as she could gather to "her side". I repeated that phrase over and over to myself while trying to block out the taunts and name calling. I can still see her leading the "charge" with nearly every other child on the playground lined up behind her, running down the hill while I tried in vain to find a hiding place. 25 years later I would often see that childhood nemesis while shopping at the local mall. She never failed to laughingly remind me of that time in our young lives. I never laughed with her. Instead I felt small, intimidated and humiliated all over again. Words do hurt! Words wound us deep within ourselves, and leave an imprint of that wound which waits to be healed. We are mostly unaware of those wounds until they begin to fester and cause us difficulty and pain in our daily lives. It takes 7 to 10 positives to cancel out one negative! Words, thoughts, incidents, memories....negativity beats us down and makes us feel less. The lesser we feel the more difficult it is to look at the positive side of things. You know that negative feeling that comes over you when your feelings get hurt? Sinking butterfly feeling in the pit of your stomach? Coldness starting in the head as the blood drains? Weakness in your arms and watery knees? My ex used to say it's over and done with forget it and move on? If only it were as easily done as said. It's not always the words that are said, but the tone of voice, or the context. Many times it's a simple misunderstanding of a word or phrase that was intended to uplift and motivate. As a co-leader of a team with members from all over the world I've been the mediator in more than a few of this type of misunderstanding. I come from a PA Dutch background. Vee talk goot even if we don't speak well. We say I seen something instead of I saw something, prolly instead of probably, figger instead of figure. There are times when I'm in hurry I will write the way I speak. I am often misunderstood, and have hurt peoples feelings because of it. I love words, learning new ones and their meanings. I'm going to subscribe to a word of the day for the New Year. I hope the year will be one of learning new things both intellectually and about myself. This shall be my daily prayer Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3 Lord let my words bring health and comfort to all!

This is the same as the day I joined SP. I still hate setting goals, but I am doing better. Goal #1... WATER Goal #2... Planning and tracking It's easy to set goals but difficult to attain them, so I stopped setting them a long time ago. Spark goal setting is a challenge in itself for me, but i am determined to set one small goal at a time, and when I reach that I will set another.

Eat to live.

I live in small town Central PA. I work in a Social Services setting where I deal with people every day. I am retired from 9-5 living but enjoy running my small business in alternative wellness.



Add a Link (((Hugs))) CULighter, Ceri Central PA EST Visit my Blog on Word Press<link>ceriuslyceri.blog/</link> Weigh-In Leader Shooting Stars 5% Spring Challenge Find me on Facebook <link>www.facebook.com/ceriwatkinsalabasterjar/</link> For as a man, (woman), thinketh in his, (her), heart, so is he,(she). Proverbs 23:7 "Every step is valuable, every breath is life" My personal Mantra
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