I Lost Everything...And Got it All Back (How We Survived America's Opioid Crisis)
Five years ago, I didn’t have a future. I had an addict for a husband, chaos for a life, food stamps for groceries, and three small...
THE RISE AGAIN BLOG
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Train Yourself to Expect the Best
Can you expect the best, even in the worst? Can you expect the best all the time? Is it possible to retrain yourself from a “glass half...
How to Create “A Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams”
Have you ever faced a challenge or a series of hard knocks that left you feeling like, “When will it ever end?” Are you facing an illness...
To the Boy Who Crashed His Car Today
It’s OK. It’s just a car. You’re alive. You’re alive. You’re alive. Don’t you see how nothing else matters but that, really?! Your...
One Tool That Can Change Your Life
It’s not, “If you can see it, then you’ll believe it.” It’s, “If you can believe it, then you’ll see it.” ~Wayne Dyer THE MOST POWERFUL...
I Lost Everything…And Got It All Back: We Survived America’s Opioid Crisis
Five years ago, I didn’t have a future. I had an addict for a husband, chaos for a life, food stamps for groceries, and three small...
“It’s All About How You See Yourself”
When you were younger, how did you picture yourself now? What was the vision you had of the person you’d be now? If you stop & think...
Rising Strong, Rising Again, & Raising Each Other
This is why I write. This is why I do what I do, why I share openly and honestly about every struggle I go through. Because for too long,...
Men, Don’t Just “Move On” Please
Photo credit: NBC Last night I was watching Chicago Fire, an episode where one of the main characters, Hermann, goes into a burning...
Yes, You’re a Mess & We Need You Anyway
I like to only show up as my best self. I prefer to only show up when I feel nearly-perfect. Perfectly dressed, perfectly poised,...
I’m Not that Type of Girl…Am I?
I told them, “No.” I’m not the type of girl who needs a heart monitor for 30 days. Am I? I am healthy, fit and strong. I tell myself that...
Out of Survival Mode into…ON FIRE!
I have lived in survival mode for most of the last decade, since the recession came and swept away my pride and savings, and the death...
An Extraordinary Life Makeover, That Started With a “Chainsmokers” Show
Back in September, I had a major relapse of seizures. I’d gone 110 days without any seizures over the summer (summer is always kinder to...
Where Have I Been All Your Life?! :)
WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL YOUR LIFE? This year (and last year, too!) has been a crazy one for me. My sixteen-year-old nephew passed away...
I Hereby Grant Myself Permission to Be Shitty
Six weeks ago, I started seeing an amazing new doctor who finally diagnosed this mystery illness that has made me so sick the last two...
The Brave & Brokenhearted Club: Are You In?
I want to start a new club. Who wants to join? Everyone? Great!!!!! It’s called The Brave and Brokenhearted Club. Think you belong in it?...
On the Edge of a New Era (in Which We FEEL)
Girls cry, we get labeled drama queens, over-dramatic, over sensitive. Boys cry, they’re not tough enough. They’re weak. They’re...
The Smackdowns & Getting-Back-Up-Agains: Ronda Rousey & Me
Some days everything just feels so hard. When the sleep deprivation and the toddler tantrums and the chronic illness and anxiety and all...
To the Mama Silently Fighting…
To the Mama who is fighting silently… To the Mama who is suffering in silence…who wakes up every day feeling already weighed down by a...
The Answer to Everything Is…
It’s been a hard week here. It started out with calling 911 on Sunday because the baby was choking on something she picked up off the...