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Meditation

Take Care of YOU – 5 Things You Can Do For a Better You

March 24, 2012 by MsCheevious

Ahhh.  The way to a better YOU.  We ALL need this information, trust me. Our planet is getting so stinkin’ toxic, I’m surprised we aren’t all glowing (and I don’t mean the good kind of glow that they say about brides.  I’m talking the nuclear reactor kind of glow).

To be clear, I am a student in this matter. So, under no circumstances am I claiming to be an expert in the field of health and wellness, and if you do these things and get sick, well – I’m not GOD people!  Just sayin’. But I’m still smart. So, listen up. Here’s another component of this post:

When you don’t feel well, get help, would you?

Here are some examples (not to be taken literally) of what I’m talking about when I say “don’t feel well”:

  • You’ve been feeling a little congested, and then you wake up one morning with a scratchy throat, OR
  • Your knee hurts off and on.  Not all the time, but it regularly bothers you and inhibits your from doing some of the things you like to do, OR
  • Your other knee hurts when the first one stops hurting, OR
  • You have a back ache, OR
  • Geez.  How many examples do you need?

I don’t know what it is people, but for some reason we put off seeking medical attention, or even health attention (massages, dentists, eye doctors, chiropractors, etc..).  We’ll go for weeks on end kvetching about our aches and pains, and suffer through it, but we just won’t make the call and make an appointment.

I did this recently, myself.  My back was hurting.  BAD.

I don’t get “back aches.” This was a new one for me.  I had one in the past, and went through weeks of chiropractic therapy after a car accident, so when I got my recent back ache, I was nervous.  I stopped working out for fear of further damaging my back or something else, or worse, not being able to do the workout because it hurt too much, thus wasting my time.  I wasn’t sleeping well because of the throbbing, and I took way too many prescription ibuprofen pills (which I had left-over from my surgery). Needless to say, I was doing that thing.  That thing I just talked about at the beginning.  I suffered for two weeks without making the call or making the appointment. Talk about loss of TIME.

Then I finally went in to my chiropracter and was whipped into shape (no pun intended – get it? Whip-lash? Whipped into shape by my chiropractor? Anyway.) within a matter of about two minutes. I’m not kidding. I talk about this in my related vlog “Take Care of You – Enjoy Every Day with Lisa Jey.”

And though I may not be an expert in health and wellness, I do consider myself to be an expert pamperer of myself, indulging in far too many — “indulgences” — often, and well – you get the idea.

Basically, I like to eat bonbons, and preferably hand-fed or served to me by hot, ripped men in boxer briefs.

So here’s the deal.  We are all like this.  We all procrastinate getting help with something, even to the point of inconvenience (my back ache was inconveniencing me all over the place… making working out, sleeping and so much else muddled if existent at all), so why even let it get to that point?  Let’s just take care of US, and be BETTER all around!

Mark my words, if we actually DO these five things, we’ll find ourselves much less inconvenienced, and far happier, healthier people who feel GOOD… basically BETTER.

5 Things You Can Do for a Better You

1.  Take a bath. Often. I’m not talking about the “quick bath to get cleaned up” kind of bath.  I’m talking about the “lady of leisure-luxurious lifestyle-bath salts or bath oils” kind. The kind that takes about an hour. DO IT.

2. Read something old fashioned. Sit away from the computer, in a quiet place, once a day and read something that is written by hand or typed on this stuff we call “paper”.  Anything.  Your favorite news paper (mine is the New York Observer), a stack of your old poetry or journals from years ago, a favorite magazine (one of mine is “Esquire”), even a guilty-pleasure-Harlequin Romance.  I don’t care what it is.  Just do it.

3. Get Active. Do something active at least three times a week.  Walk, park far away at the mall (so you have to walk more), take three different trips up the stairs to the same office appointment… just for the heck of it, or gee – maybe – – GO TO THE GYM?  But get active and get the endorphins going in your bod.

4. Get Outta Here. Get outside when the weather is nice.  This means you will have to STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER once again.  But that’s a good thing.  Even if it means driving someplace with the windows open in the car, or the top down.  Let the SUN shine down on you.  The sun actually causes us to access those endorphin thingy-ma-jigs…

5. Get GOOD sleep. If you must, take some Benadryl or something holistic like melatonin to help you, but get a GOOD night’s sleep REGULARLY. Sleep deprivation is a leading cause of illness. If you don’t take care of the sleep thing, and you get sick, don’t come crying to me.  You have been warned.

There.  That wasn’t so hard.  Now you are already on your way to a BETTER you.

PFFFAWWW.  As IF you needed to get any better.

And, if you do all these things and still get sick, or injured or an ailment?  Well then, GO SEE SOMEONE, geez.  That’s takes us right back to where we started from, now doesn’t it?

Love you people!!!!!!! Mmmmphhhhuuuhhhhh!!!

xoxo,

Ms. Cheevious

PS) Please check out and comment on my related vlog here.

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All Blog content copyright 2012, LISA JEY DAVIS aka Ms. Cheevious

Filed Under: Anti-stress, Health & Wellness, Living Life, Meditation, Pain and Suffering, Stress, Uncategorized Tagged With: Esquire Magazine, exercise, fitness, Gym, health, Injuries, lisa jey, Lisa Jey Davis, Ms. Cheevious, MsCheevious, New York Observer, Wellness

The Ties That Bind

February 16, 2012 by MsCheevious

Family Ties, that is. Yes. I said it.

And my family is important to me. Vitally important.

Some may argue the contrary.

But I have worked long and hard (my entire life, in fact) to grow and improve on who I am as a person. Out of that hard work was born a very strong protective nature for establishing and fiercely protecting healthy boundaries where relationships are concerned.

How does one establish healthy boundaries, and just what are boundaries?  I’m glad you asked.

Here is an illustration that should help.

Picture this:  My head, surrounded by a grassy yard, with a white picket fence as its boundary.

I know it’s just a sketch, but inside the fence is my green, grassy yard, which represents all the things in my life – all of the choices in my life.  I own those.

Outside of the white picket fence are things that everyone else in my world, including my siblings, kids, etc… have going on – their choices.

Sometimes a person’s choices infiltrate my yard, if I let them.  For instance, if someone makes a choice that positively or negatively affects me, a family member, my children or loved ones, I then make the CHOICE to either accept or deny that situation access to my “yard.”

When crotchety Uncle Leo says something horribly mean and hurtful to my nephew Wilfred, I can choose to bring it into my yard, making that situation one of my responsibilities, nurturing it all the way to its conclusion – OR – I can choose to not allow it into my yard, instead loving from a distance and offering unattached advice to my nephew; advice I am willing to let go of, and never worry another moment about.

The latter, you lovely men and women, is the healthiest choice.  And I’m not one of those people who’s afraid to get involved.  Who’s writing this post here?  I ALWAYS love me some juicy stuff to get involved in, that’s for certain.  It’s really because I LOVE allowing people to handle and deal with their “yard” with the tools they have in the moment more than anything. Most times it is pretty miraculous to behold what people can do.

You could ask “well, what if your best friend needs financial help?”   I can only answer it this way:  I have a few choices, but in terms of boundaries and healthy, smart choices, there are only two I consider:  1) I can opt to help that friend, loan them money, and then lord over them to pay it back, taking that loan and their financial situation into my yard as my own.  Or 2) I can work off of a decision I made long ago that I should never loan money, unless I can afford to let it go completely and leave it up to the person and their path to be responsible to pay it back, never worrying another moment.  Then if I lend the money, I let it go – totally. But whatever the choice, we must OWN it.  If I loan money and cannot forget about it, but instead, must have the money back regardless of situation, then I am inviting that situation into my yard, and now I own it.  If I’m okay with that then it’s fine.  Otherwise, it’s still a choice I made, which I must deal with.

Recently, some members of my family tried to throw the shackles on me, my white picket fence, and my yard too.  They asked me (and some other siblings) to OWN their choices, and help them out of an unfortunate situation.  Sorry.  Couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.  I did not have the resources to help, and I would not have helped if I did because it was a repeated situation we had already dealt with. We siblings had lovingly warned them that something like their unfortunate situation would happen down the road, should they not heed our advice. We each offered suggestions as to how the situation could be handled to avoid coming to an unwanted conclusion, but to no avail.

I found myself in that all-too-familiar situation of being “the bad guy” as this unwelcome truth was communicated to these family members.  They were not very happy to hear that we siblings wouldn’t own their situations and rescue them from themselves.

Am I wrong to not take these types of things on as my own?  Are Family Ties meant to be Binding in the true sense of the word?  And aside from boundaries, is it wrong for me to not want to cover anyone’s ass (yes, even the asses of my siblings) when they make unhealthy, underhanded, lazy, or irresponsible choices (or how about just plain friggin’ STUPID choices)?

What say you?  Let’s hear it…

Love you people!!! Mmmmmpphhhhuuuhhhh!!!

xoxo,

Ms. Cheevious

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Filed Under: Family, Friends, Friendship, Health & Wellness, Living Life, Meditation, Uncategorized

Make 2012 Your Golden Year

January 1, 2012 by MsCheevious

I received this wayyyy back on December 14th — last year — I just love saying that, even though it was only a couple of weeks ago. I subscribe to Daily OM, but rarely have the time to read their emails, even though there are some great nuggets in each. I’m sure that is true of each of you – my readers – as well. It would not surprise me to hear that, although you know you are going to chuckle, be inspired, or encouraged in one of my emails, there just is not enough time in your Rockin-and-Rollin’ lives to read or watch all of my posts. You probably wonder where I get the time. Well, we all have our to-do-lists. HA!

I hope you WILL take the time to read this, from the Daily Om, December 14, 2011. YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS IT. I find that every single one of us makes promises that somehow slip through the cracks.  We do it in the form of phrases like “I’m going to (insert a promise to do something for a friend or loved one)” or “I’ll call you next week” or even the casual, but still flaky if they don’t happen, “Let’s catch up soon” or “Let’s have lunch!”

The post is so packed full of truth.  It’s also encouraging – and reminds us to be authentic. Let’s all work toward authenticity in 2012, shall we?

As Good as Your Word
Promises

We forget how powerful our words are and when [we] make promises it is up to us to make sure we keep our words sacred.

Ever since human beings could speak to one another, they have been making promises and keeping them or not keeping them. Those who keep their promises are regarded as people of integrity, while those who don’t keep their promises are regarded as people who at best can’t be taken seriously and at worst can’t be trusted. Sometimes we forget how powerful our words are, and we use them haphazardly or unconsciously, creating expectations that are never fulfilled, leaving disappointment and distrust in our wake.

On an even deeper level, there are promises we may have made to ourselves that we don’t remember because they have slipped into our unconscious. An early heartache may have been followed by a promise never to trust love again. Without realizing it, we may be fulfilling that promise and wondering why our love life looks so grim….Upon realizing that we have made a promise we no longer wish to be beholden to, we can perform a ritual of requesting release from that bond. In doing so, we clear ourselves of outmoded connections and patterns, returning ourselves to a clean slate. Then we can resolve to remember that our word is sacred and to be very conscious of any promises we make to ourselves or to others.

We may ask to be released from any promises made to ourselves or others …consciously or unconsciously, that are holding us back from fulfilling our greatest good. We may ask that love, light, and healing be sent to any souls who have suffered from our inability to be true to our word, including ourselves. We can ask for the wisdom to do our best and from this point forward to be true to our word, promising only what we truly intend to deliver. The resulting clear conscience and liberated energy will illustrate this truth: We are only as good as our word.

Isn’t that the truth? Now, take some time to think about you… your patterns, habits, casual communication techniques… and evaluate them.  If you feel you should brush up on your “AUTHENTICITY” skills, and be more true to your word, I challenge you to do just that.  Eliminate those habits and patterns from your life that keep you from being “REAL”.  Don’t gauge your behavior on that of others.  Your foot print is your own.  You must own it, as your foot print remains when you are long gone.

But here is the good news.  With every new year comes a brand new start.  Anyone can do this.  That includes you!!

Wiping the Slate Clean for a New Year - 2012

Have a ROCKIN’ and ROLLIN’ New Year everyone! I know you movers and shakers are rarin’ to dive into this year and make it rain.  So be it!  Dive in baby!

Tune in again for something FUN and some good laughs!  PROMISE!

Love you People!!!! Mmmmmppphhhuuuhhhh!!!!

xoxo,

Ms. Cheevious

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Blog content copyright 2011, LISA JEY DAVIS a.k.a. Ms. Cheevious


Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Living Life, Meditation, Uncategorized Tagged With: Authenticity, Be True to Your Word, Daily OM, Keeping Your Word

Life is a Theatre – Invite Your Audience Carefully

December 19, 2011 by MsCheevious

The following is posted because of the very special request of a very special member of our Ms. Cheevious Community.  It’s someone who knows me and has been to my home, to see this very clip posted on my refrigerator.  I wish I could say I wrote the wise words below, but I did not.  A wonderfully insightful and wise therapist gave this to me when I was going through my divorce and rebuilding my life.  I expressed the desire to make wise decisions, because as a “giver” I had grown up with a bad habit of filling in the gaps for many, if not all, of my relationships.  I out-gave most everyone I knew, and I realized that things were out of balance.  I wanted to rebuild in a healthy way, and this is what she gave to me. I found it to be so “spot-on” and profound, well, after my dear friend suggested I post it, I agreed.

The author is anonymous, though I’d love to meet him or her, as these words are golden to me — often — and can be a source of strength for us all, especially as we come into this wonderful time of year – The Holidays.  It’s a time when we “givers” find it very difficult not to over-give, and it’s also a very fragile and emotional time for some, as relationships can be so sticky and sensitive.  I think we all should post this on our refrigerators, put a copy in our brief cases, note books, journals, whatever.  But without further adieu, let’s dive in:

Life is a Theatre – Invite Your Audience Carefully

Not everyone is healthy enough to have a front row seat in our lives.
There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of, or at least minimize, your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships and friendships.

Observe the relationships around you.  Pay attention.  Which ones lift and which ones lean?  Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on the path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill?

When you leave certain people do you feel better or feel worse?

Which ones always have drama or don’t really understand, know or appreciate you?

The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the fton row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.

If you cannot “change” the people around you, change the people you’re around.

Here it is as an image as well.  Enjoy.

Life is a Theatre - Invite Your Audience Carefully

Know that regardless of the lack of attention you may be receiving from those you love, you are not the first, you are not alone, and there are many, many others sharing your experience underneath the very same great big sky.  We have all been there, if we are not there now, and on behalf of all of them, us, we…  I’m sending my love, warmth and grand applause for the you that walks this earth. Someone in your world notices.  Put them in your front row.

Love you people!!!!!  Mmmmmppphhhuuuhhhh!!!!

xoxo,

Ms. Cheevious

———————-

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Blog content copyright 2011, LISA JEY DAVIS a.k.a. Ms. Cheevious

Filed Under: Friends, Friendship, Holidays, Living Life, Meditation, Pain and Suffering, Relationships, Stress, Uncategorized Tagged With: Invite Your Audience Carefully, Life is a Theatre

Holy El Dia de Gracias Batman! It’s Thanksgiving!

November 21, 2011 by MsCheevious

.

Whaaaaaa????

Where’d my Back-to-School season go with all the stupid Old Navy commercials?

Is it too late to pick a cool-ass Halloween costume?

How about an Angry Bird? lol

Come onnnnnn… REALLY?

So… do you mean to tell me that in, like, three or four days, we’ll all be cooking over hot stoves, or paying large checks at fancy restaurants, or serving the homeless at the local soup kitchen for that long-anticipated (but ALREADY HERE) day of Thanks????

HOLY EL DIA DE GRACIAS, BATMAN! I’m not ready!

But…. but…. but…. well….

OKAYYYYYY.

I’ll just dive on in.

If you haven’t picked up on this yet, one of the things I absolutely love to do is write. One of my favorite things to write about is what I am truly thankful for. I try to do this over Thanksgiving each year. It’s generally in the form of an email to my closest friends and family. This year I’m doing it here and now for you all, because, well, I think we can all use a good dose of perspective. I hope my perspective helps to improve or solidify yours. Perhaps it will inspire you to share this with others that could benefit from some perspective as well. Nevertheless, it is my gift to us all (myself included).

As I look back on this year, I can summarize it in only one word:

Hope.

It’s true. I’m sure words like”Scandal,” “Bankruptcy,” “Uprising” among others ring much truer for many of you, and were more expected, but for me, the word is HOPE. And, HOPE, my dears, is a word I choose because it is in stark contrast to the two or three years prior to this. Those years could be summarized for me as some of the darkest, most “interesting” years to say the least. And when I think of the word “interesting,” in this context, I think of “texture”. My life was chock-full-of “texture” between 2008 and late 2010. I could heave a butt-load of “texture”, right about now. I’ve had my fill.

BUT, November of last year (2010) up to now sparked the return of Hope to the canvass of my life. YAYYYYYY!

“Hope” sorta took a vacation during those extremely difficult years just prior. Here’s just some of what went on in what I’ve dubbed as the “ugly skin era” (you’ll see why in a bit) – and this is where the perspective part comes in:

In the spring of 2008, I went through the breakup of a three year relationship. This, I was not entirely devastated over. I loved and truly cherished the man I was with, but I also credited that relationship with the loss of my younger son (and there were many other reasons for the breakup). My son (then barely 12) begged and pleaded to live with his dad when he and my significant other could not get along. I had always promised my son he could live with his dad if he still wanted to at 12, but by 2008 we were in year one of that situation. I finally ended the relationship with that partner, and moved back to Los Angeles from Colorado (where I’d been living an “adventure” for three years). I had hoped my son, who was about to start high school, would gleefully jump back on board and come to live with me again. It was not to be. He’d formed lasting friendships and wanted to ride out his high school years with those friends. I couldn’t blame him. I’d purchased a lovely two bedroom condo in L.A. to accommodate the possibility, but I understood his need to stay settled, but this was devastating. It was a painful sting that still remains (one of life’s little gifts that keeps on giving).

Later that year, due to poor economic conditions, I lost my largest business account (over $250k/year), along with the means to viably support myself, sans that account.

I did what any responsible person would do. I looked for a job. I re-crafted my resume to suite at minimum five hundred different job opportunities, sent it out, along with individualized and personalized letters to each. Out of that period of eighteen months, I had three interviews. Me. The person who prided herself in landing the jobs (plural) of her dreams, whenever she put her mind to it. This time, it was not to be so. I was either over qualified, under-educated or just a bit out of their desired age-range. And in every single case, the same position I was applying for, which was paying pennies on the dollar compared to what I’d earned in decades past, had received hundreds of over qualified, Ivy-League educated applicants. The competition was fierce, and while I muddled through looking for options, I took whatever work I could get.

In early 2008, (just prior to the housing market creating a financial and economic implosion all around us), my mother suffered a major stroke. She struggled to try to reconnect her neural pathways, with limited health insurance, and no long term care coverage.

A little segue here for impact:

My mom was Italian. If you know Italians, you know they love their food. Every spice, consistency, flavor. It’s an art to them. My mom was no exception. She loved to cook, and when we grew up everything mom created in the kitchen was incredible and delicious. Even her “Swiss Steak.”

In December of 2008, before my financial stability took its toll, I flew home for Christmas to cook a lasagna feast for my family. They’d been struggling to keep the family business afloat, the family home up and running, and our mother’s health and wellness up to par. They were exhausted, and they deserved a little treat. That’s where I came in. Our mom came over to the house Christmas day (from the nursing home), and visited with us, while the aroma of garlic and tomatoes filled the air… she smiled even as the hot garlic bread was coming out of the oven. She would NOT enjoy this feast, because she was still unable to swallow after her stroke, and was on a feeding tube.

It was no wonder then, with the next holiday season, she’d had enough. It was just before Thanksgiving. All attempts to integrate swallowing resulted in food in the lungs and recurring bouts with Pneumonia. She was hospitalized with one such bout. After seeing others on her floor receive their Thanksgiving meals of turkey and mashed potatoes, I think mom just hit that breaking point. When the nurse came in to put liquid into her feeding tube, my mother reportedly asked her, “Is this all there is?” (meaning, am I remanded to a feeding tube forever?) When the nurse, said “Yes, honey… for now, it is…” My mom made the decision and informed us all that she was done fighting. She died on December 3rd of that year.

Mom was one of my very best friends. I could call her at any moment, and say something random like “Hey! So… remember that time we were watching that movie and it had the guy and the girl dancing…” I would go on, and my mom would jump right in to try to help me figure out the name of that movie, it’s leading man, or the name of the song he sang. She and I laughed together over the phone, or had those random conversations so regularly, I still find myself wanting to pick up the phone anytime I can’t remember whether Bing Crosby sang “that” song in “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”

I won’t go on and on and boar you with every detail of every loss. I’ve written tributes to both my mother (part 1 and part 2) and my beautiful sister Mimi Sherwood Larimore, who died the following year from a long battle with Ovarian Cancer. She left me as the sister I was closest to… my “connection” to the elders above her in our large family… and she was so much more. The sister that made everyone laugh out loud so that they cried. So much more. But her death (more so than our mom’s, who chose when she would go, and had lived a full, long life) caused that WAKE UP and GET WITH IT realization of what is truly important. What true priorities are – and how precious life is. It created in me that desire and push to reconnect the dots with my older sisters and brothers and form loving lasting bonds with them as well.

So to summarize, here is a snapshot of the two years prior to this recent year of glorious, unadulterated HOPE:

  1. Break up of a three year relationship & move back to CA
  2. Son chooses to stay with dad (out of state)
  3. Business implodes
  4. Job Search Returns Nada (no unemployment available for “self employed” so now what?)
  5. Mom Dies
  6. Sister Dies
  7. Fellow single mom, whom I help out with a place to live, basically robs me, and never pays what she owes..
  8. Financial decline leads to condo mortgage going into default (the first time EVER in all my years, even as a struggling single parent).

And this, my dear lovely men and women, brings us to this current year of HOPE.

BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE HOPE.

I say hope, and it is true, but the past year was also when I chose to sell my home at a significant loss (that financial fallout is not yet over…). I also discovered I have the BRCA2 Gene Mutation for Breast & Ovarian Cancer, and will undergo aggressive procedures to eradicate my risk of those cancers very soon. Ahhh, hope. The fuel for KINGS & QUEENS.

Why am I telling you all of this? And why on earth am I re-living these moments right here in black and white for all to read just before Thanksginving… The holiday for which we are to reflect on all we are grateful for? One could easily think I am an attention whore – and – well – DUH but this has nothing to do with that. If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably begun to see the bigger purpose. As I said before – I think perspective is important. And many times I myself get consumed with the seeming insurmountable amounts of crap and negative situations that surround us. I want us all to realize that, despite how difficult the circumstances… we humans are resilient. With a little perspective, (and hope) we can change our lives.

Also, it is incomparably cathartic to recount the losses from a place outside of that loss. So pardon me while I go on and on in order to reach catharsis. LOL!

Yet, after reading of All. That. Loss… especially with my uncanny mad-skill for the dramatic, my reasons for hope may seem extremely simplistic, or too practical to you. They are exceptionally real to me, however, and run very deep.

Here are a few of the simple reasons that this past year is dubbed the year of HOPE:

  1. November of 2010, I had, for the first time in months, a PR client who could actually pay what I asked, and who ended up being a gold mine (in comparison) of client referrals. I ended up with two other clients as a result of that one client. This great connection sparked the first glimmer of Hope and kicked off my full year of Hope.
  2. I actually began to see some traction for job searches and my outreach in that regard. This time, I had paying clients, and was in the familiar and comfortable position of being “choosy.”
  3. I sold my condo at a significant loss, but had access to cash that had been tied up. This enabled me to:
    1. take care of much needed and long overdue repairs on my car
    2. get some medical attention for my body (the BRCA2 Gene discovery, as well as the upcoming procedures, notwithstanding),
    3. purchase much needed equipment for my FUTURE – so I could take my business into a new direction – video / television production. I bought an iMac, a MacBook, a Canon camera and lighting kit, as well as all the editing software we could want or need.
    4. pay for a self-publishing package so I can FINALLY get that AWARD WINNING (Best Unpublished Manuscript at NY Book Festival, 2007) BOOK PUBLISHED! YAY!
  4. I was invited to produce my first set of television shows (online), and associate produce my first Award Show. Two bucket list items, realized.
  5. I fulfilled the desire to honor my sister and her suffering with some sort of story… My BRCA2 gene mutation emboldened me, but I wanted people to know about this horrific feminine cancer somehow. I didn’t quite understand how, but when I was diagnosed, I decided I would share my story. I started video taping everything about my upcoming surgeries, the tests required, the procedure. My hope is to produce a documentary that tells the real story of genetic testing for Breast & Ovarian cancer. I could be a ticking time bomb, or I could live until I’m a hundred, but I want the true story to be told. The loss of my condo, my brand new video taping equipment, my gene mutation (mutants rule!)… all of it happened for a reason, and I plan to seize the moment… the opportunity. I have also agreed to be on an episode of The Doctors that will tell some of the story, and educate people about the testing and procedures available. Ahhhh. Hope.

Like an onion, I’ve been peeled and stripped of what I refer to as the outer, ugly skin — you know… that dried up paper thin layer of skin on the outside?

I didn’t think my layers were ugly. My sister and my mom certainly weren’t. They weren’t even part of my skin. It was MY skin. It was ME that changed. That’s what I get for having the intention to always GROW. WHATEVER… I think I’m pretty grown now! But no, I thought my “skin” was pretty great. I wanted to keep that skin and those layers. When I struggled and cried, and had sleepless nights, my psyche was consumed with the longing of “Can’t I just put some fancy cream on that layer, or take a pill, or read a REALLY GREAT self help book and get the same result?” and “Why is so MUCH happening to me, and why does it never seem to let up?” I’m still HERE though. So all that crap can STICK IT. I’m not going anywhere, and it’s not going to bring me down.

But NOW! Well! Though I’m an ONION (ha ha), I am at the freshest, most VIBRANT point. I am renewed. I’ve let go of so much (and there are no surprises or mistakes). I’ve been stripped of things I thought I truly REQUIRED, and yet, I am still here. I am STILL laughing. Sometimes I think, like a mad-woman, I laugh, but still…

I continue to enjoy love (with my man M.C. Nugget, my two sons, my girlfriends, my sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews). Just watch any of my ridiculously silly, but funny videos, or read any of my blogs or ramblings about life and love. I STILL enjoy EVERY single moment. In truly LIVING each moment, and allowing life to teach me what it will, I am either learning, loving, or laughing (sometimes more than one at a time), in each and every situation.

This is the essence of HOPE, my friends. And this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the gift of HOPE. As I’ve just recently been blessed with one of those rare, goose bumpy moments when I relived the THRILL I have in life… of living so close to the beach, of the vibrancy and health and LOVING LIFE attitude in Southern California… of living with such a percocious band of beach lovers all around me… of being able to ride my beach cruiser to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and sip on a cup of joe, and see other people SMILING AGAIN, after struggling through their OWN rugged terrain of recent years. That very second was magical… and I am so thankful.

My perspective may seem like NOTHING compared to some of the trials you or your loved ones have faced in recent years. But regardless, I’m glad you are here.

Have an incredibly full and very warm and happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy each bite. Be sure to bite off more than you can chew! I know I will!

Stay tuned for next week’s post – another episode of MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN MOMENTS. This time I turn a regular ole happy hour into a lesson on Branding. OY. And, I haven’t forgotten to tell you the story of the WHIPPETS and Ms. Cheevious’ friends. One more time: OY.

Love you people!!!

Mmmmmphhhhuuuuhhhh!

xoxo,

Ms. Cheevious

———————-

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Register to receive these posts via email!
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Blog content copyright 2011, LISA JEY DAVIS a.k.a. Ms. Cheevious

Filed Under: Anti-stress, Cancer, Death and Dying, Holidays, Living Life, Meditation, Uncategorized Tagged With: Holidays, Meditation, Thanksgiving

A Happy Accident

October 19, 2011 by MsCheevious

.

I am in favor of living a life “on purpose” & determining to live authentically.  I have made a pact with myself to forge ahead despite all obstacles. In doing so, suddenly, happiness is part of the fabric of me…  a Happy Accident…

With that in mind, and in true Ms. Cheevious fashion, I’m taking my cues from a cool Buzznet blog I saw recently by @KeltieColleen, who  did a post entitled “Things You Need to Know About Life.”  I thought, ‘hmmm.  love that.  but there is so much more to life than merely the warnings, the “take heeds” and things that won’t work in life… so I’m going to post it from the positive and Ms. Cheevious perspective.”

So that is what today’s post is about.  Make it so #1.  Do these things.  BELIEVE these things and make them a part of YOU.  Happiness will follow. (Oh.  And if you are a MAN, BOY, DUDE… Just insert YOU in the place of “women”.  Some of these apply to either sex, but when they say “women” well, it’s because they don’t write these kinds of posts for men.  The kind of “inspirational” images I found for men – well, they are for another blog at another time. HA!)

Like NIKE says, “JUST DO IT.” ‘Nuff said.

I admit, I’ve grown a wee bit weary of the hundreds of posts on Facebook that have suddenly crept up on my news feed.  Posts just like this with one poignant phrase after another… but reduced to graphically pleasing images.  BUT.  And of course, there IS a BUT…  sometimes there really is a place for  quips and sayings.  Their is no easier way to remind ourselves of the truth: That we are not as “bad” or “weak” or “frail” or “ignorant” or “unfashionable” as we think.  Sometimes our thoughts need a shot in the arm… or a big giant “graphically pleasing” BILLBOARD, blinking and buzzing in front of us… to remind us of who we really are.

Get outta here now and have a HAPPY, FANTASTIC day!

Stay tuned for the story of the WHIPPETS and Ms. Cheevious’ friends.  OY.

Love you people!!!

Mmmmmphhhhuuuuhhhh!

xoxo,

Ms. Cheevious

———————-

Don’t Be Shy! Leave a Reply!

Register to receive these posts via email!
Go to the Ms. Cheevious Home page, and enter your email address where it asks for it, then click subscribe. It’s that easy!

Follow me on Twitter. “LIKE” me on Facebook.

CHECK OUT MY NEW FACEBOOK PAGE APP! You have to “allow” it if it’s your first time there in Facebook!

Subscribe to me on Youtube. (Then please also “like” and “favorite” my videos! YAY!)

You can also follow my man M.C. Nugget on Twitter

Blog content copyright 2011, LISA JEY DAVIS a.k.a. Ms. Cheevious

Filed Under: Anti-stress, Blogroll, Health & Wellness, Living Life, Meditation, Stress, Uncategorized

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