Check out my new article over at BOOMBOX NETWORK!

We all have trouble with bills sometimes, so Siobhan Meyer decided to help others with this sticky issue.   He created ICan’tPayMyBill.com when  his mother fell behind on her electric bills and couldn’t find any help online.   Here is some great instruction in the process, plus connections to many of the major companies you need to contact.

I love to see this kind of initiative and helping spirit online!

I’m a sucker for a GREAT breakdown to breakthrough transformation story.  Strange what unexpected life experiences can inspire us to finally get healthy!

For Lori it had been a tough few years — to put it mildly.

In 2007, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.   The following year, she was laid off from her job.   Shortly after that her beloved husband, Phillip died suddenly of a heart attack.  It was late last year that she made a decision — 2011 would be “The Year of Lori.”

She promised herself to transform her health and her life.   She had recently seen a photo of herself — and didn’t like what she saw.  She felt determined to live as healthfully as possible, with a long-term goal in mind.   She wanted to enjoy her retirement years, something Phillip didn’t get the opportunity to do.

Difficult, painful times

When she was diagnosed with cancer, Lori and Phillip, were living in Boise, Idaho.   That’s where she had a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, followed by chemotherapy.

But, shortly after completing her treatment, there was more bad news in Boise.   In July of 2008, the technology company she’d been with for 11 years downsized, and her position was outsourced.

Losing her job led to a move south, to return to Lori’s native Texas.   After years of living away because of Phillip’s Air Force career, she was finally near her family.   And she was excited about a new work opportunity she’d found.

But this would not remain the happy homecoming she’d hoped for.   Shortly after his retirement, just months after their move, Phillip died suddenly of a heart attack.

For Lori, the emotional months that followed were the toughest she’d ever known.   She often felt overwhelmed managing her daily life without Phillip by her side.

And Lori was in great physical pain too, from a drug therapy to prevent a cancer relapse.  The side effects left her achy and drained, and completely unable to exercise. “My knees and legs hurt so bad I couldn’t make it up the stairs,” she says.

A snapshot spurs change

In 2010, on a trip to take Phillip’s ashes to their final resting place at the military cemetery in San Antonio, a family member took a photo of Lori.   Seeing herself was an eye-opener.   “You don’t realize how large you are when you don’t look at yourself in the mirror — or see pictures of yourself.”   And that image stuck with her as she thought about what she wanted to do next with her life.

Lori asked her doctors if it was possible to change her medications to make it easier for her to exercise.   And, that’s when the idea of “The Year of Lori” first started taking shape.   “I was going to lose all my weight this year and live the rest of my life as healthy as possible.”   In addition to her doctors, Lori also credits a nurse for helping her prepare for a healthier future.   ”She would call and give me pointers,” Lori says. “We talked mainly about nutrition and exercise.  It’s very helpful to have somebody keep tabs on you — and give you ideas on nutrition and other issues.”

She kicked off “The Year of Lori” with both new eating and exercise habits.   She joined Weight Watchers.   She also started working out three to four days a week, using her workplace gym. “There’s a group of ladies I work with and work out with,” she says. “I’m ten years older than most of them, so my challenge is to keep up with them.  I have to motivate myself, and motivate them in the process.”

Lori also went online for inspiration, searching out nutrition and fitness tips.   “I am a computer person,” she says. “I like all the information available online.   And, I can look at it whenever I need to.”

A promising, positive future

It’s been a life-changing year for Lori.   By late summer, she was nearing her weight-loss goal.   She’d lost more than 40 pounds and several sizes.   Her doctors were pleased with her steady and safe weight-loss pace: about 2 pounds a week.

As a result, she was able to go on a lower dose of blood pressure medication — and her cholesterol was going down, too.

Today, she has “more energy than I know what to do with!   I feel like I’m 35 again, I can jog and run.  I can go up three flights of stairs without breathing hard.”  And her transformation has helped her cope with her stress and grief — and think positively again.   “I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do!”

She’s even started dating again, but don’t ask her out for dinner.   She has her priorities.   She’ll probably suggest a hiking date instead.

BTW, I’m now down 40 pounds myself in the past six months, and quite proud of that accomplishment!   Especially in a year packed with midlife STRESS!

In the past year, all of the significant men in my life have been sorely challenged by serious illness and other troubles.

Go view this 45 minute video to better understand what death may feel like…

Remember “trickle down” theory?  Did you know that “soaking the rich” to improve the economy is an old American tradition going back to the first federal income tax in 1913?

Get a quick tutorial on the history of changing tax rates, and how that has or has not affected our economy over at PBS.   This nine minute video is all you need to see to know that raising taxes like we did under President Clinton led to great economic growth, and Bush’s “tax relief” did not exactly fix things.

I always find Paul Solman’s economic exposes quite enlightening!

OK, I’m struggling so hard to keep in the holiday spirit and not go on a total rant here, when I happened to glance at the latest issue of AARP Magazine, which sent me right over the top!

On the cover is a photo of Meredith Vieira and her husband with the catchy title: “Stronger Together: How they find joy while coping with chronic illness.”

My response to Meredith: “Being a millionaire a few times over must be awfully helpful while finding joy OR coping with chronic illness.”

I have always enjoyed the TV personality Meredith Vieira, but my immediate gut reaction to seeing her there, telling ME how to “find joy while coping with chronic illness” is something along the lines of F*** YOU!

Here’s some background on my life right now. My husband suffers with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and has off and on for over twenty years now, since his service in the Navy back in the 1980s.   He lost his job in October while on disability, but his disability insurance company now refuses to pay us because they don’t believe he’s disabled.   Since he cannot apply for unemployment either, we are now living on thin air, plus my modest income from my writing.

This is what drives me NUTS about the mainstream media.  Much like that show OPRAH had a few years ago which supposedly dealt with midlife crisis, these celebrities live in their billionaire bubbles without a clue about what is happening in the world around them.   Chances are Meredith and my own experience of living with a husband with a chronic illness is not comparable.  I would trade with her any day!   But she is being paid big bucks to share with us how difficult her life is.

It looks to me like this next election will focus on class differences in the U.S.  

To that I say, “BRING IT ON!”

Then don’t miss my new blog specially devoted to YOU!  With over 90 posts specific to your needs, this is the place to go to begin to BELIEVE again!

If you should need a little help feeling better about yourself today, go here!

The hardest battle you will face in life is to be no one but yourself, in a world which is trying its hardest to make you like everybody else.

Just saw a fascinating show on PBS last night called America in Primetime: The Misfits.

In case you are new to this four-part series, each episode focuses on character archetypes from American television.   So far they have covered the Independent Woman and the Man of the House.   Last night they discussed the Misfit, and next week will be the Crusader.   This series tries to capture both the continuity of each archetype and how they have evolved.

I personally was completely underwhelmed with their coverage of “The Independent Woman,” just as I have been disappointed with almost every TV show from Mary Tyler Moore on about “independent women.”   Please tell me what the TV show “Rosanne”  had to do with independence, or Nurse Jackie?

OK, there were a few TV shows I did enjoy like Murphy Brown and Sex in the City, but I was left wondering at the statement at the end of this episode where they said today any woman can find samples of their own life on television.   Say what?   I enjoyed the episode about “The Man of the House” much more, because I learned about the silliness of the impossible images we project onto men in American culture.

I found last night’s episode about being a misfit to be thought-provoking and a real treat to watch!   I have rarely felt so good about not fitting in.   It reminded me of high school when they said that if you weren’t in the “IN’ crowd, you were probably a misfit.   What they didn’t tell you is, the misfits were really the more interesting characters anyway!

It’s such a shame that so many of us spend too many years of our lives asking, “How do I fit in?” when we should be asking, “How am I unique and original?”  One talking head in this episode asked the crucial question: How can you be authentic in an increasingly inauthentic world?

On my PBS station, “The Misfits” was followed by an American Experience episode about Woody Allen.  Now there’s a unique human being for you!   And according to this expose on his life, he embraced his uniqueness from the start and just went with it, no apologies, no fitting in.   One of my greatest regrets at this point in my life is how afraid I have been to completely be myself.   Luckily my own midlife crisis took care of that!

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

Learn more about the ever increasing divorce rate among Boomers HERE.