Motivation Archives - Page 12 of 18

Diabetes Awareness Month Will Come Again Next Year and I Until a Cure, I Still Have Diabetes

November 30, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

Another year of a month of blue awareness comes to a close. It’s been a challenging month, but not because of diabetes. For me it’s because of the new president of the USA and because of the difficult challenge the native people at Standing Rock are facing. Our overall dependence on fossil fuel has made … Read more

Thanksgiving, thankfulness & surviving diabetes

November 22, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

It’s a few days before Thanksgiving and I am thinking about what I’m thankful for, maybe you can relate. Are you considering what you are thankful for? There’s lots I am thankful for: my amazing circle of friends, my snuggly loving dog Echo, my overall good health, to name the top items. I’m also profoundly … Read more

World Diabetes Day 2016 & The New USA President

November 14, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

Monday, November 14th, 2016 is World Diabetes Day. And it’s six days after finding out who the new president of the USA will be starting on January 20th, 2017. I am a radical liberal and have been since I was 14 years old. I’ve been arrested seven times in non-violent civil disobedience protests. I am … Read more

Tips to Stay Motivated for Weight Loss with Diabetes

November 7, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

I told you last week that I started a 3-month journey of weight loss and increased fitness with diabetes. I successfully have logged my food intake for 8 days and I have joined the YWCA Maintain Your Weight program. I have lowered my basal rate by almost 15% and I am keeping my blood sugars … Read more

Poem of Magic: Cancer #Previvor Finds Her People

October 26, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

Note from Mari: This is a blog post written by Michelle Scharber Banks. Michelle was a volunteer at P.ink Day MSP 2015 and again for 2016. In addition, she got her transformative, healing tattoo this year. Here is Michelle’s beautiful story & a poem she wrote, in her own words: After the Tattoo I’ve been … Read more

12 Years of Surviving Breast Cancer: YES! #DoingIt

October 20, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

Breathe deep. Plant my feet firmly on this beautiful Earth. Feel my heart open. Allow grief, loss, relief, gratitude, to one by one wash through my being. Today, October 20th, marks the 12th anniversary of my first breast cancer diagnosis. I am still alive. I am healthier than I have perhaps ever been. My attitude … Read more

Odyssey West Adventure, Camping with 50 7th & 8th Graders!

September 21, 2016September 21, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

At the end of the school year last year, I was invited to join the Adolescent 1 (A1) Odyssey trip that headed West starting the 3^rd day of school. I agreed to jump on the Odyssey train, not really knowing what I was signing up to do. I love working at Great River School, the Montessori/International Baccalaureate 1^st grade through 12^th grade school at which I substitute teach and help out in other odd ways. I used to take groups of teenagers on all sorts of overnight adventures, so tent camping for 7 nights with 50 7^th and 8^th graders didn’t seem like that big of a jump in my experience wheel.

How to Reduce Stress and Live Authentically while Renewing Life

August 31, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

On August 17th, it was officially Break The Silence Day in Minneapolis, MN, as declared by the City Council. As many of you know if you’ve been paying close attention to my various posts and blogs, what I posted on Facebook wasn’t a big surprise. On my Facebook page I said: Today, 8/17, is #BreakTheSilence … Read more

The Shadow Is Calling You

July 13, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

Do you have a shadow? Are you wondering, “What is a shadow?” I’m not talking about your body shape that appears on the concrete when the sun hits you in a certain way. The shadow I’m talking about is what Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung called the “unknown dark side of the personality.”

I want to talk about shadows because the violence and the terrorism and the difficulties of life in the United States, where I live, are reaching a critical point. As a result of my sadness and grief and anger, I found myself thinking and wondering, what can I do? How can I help? Talking about shadows made sense as something I could offer.

Tour de Cure Twin Cities 2016: Cycling, Walking & Smiling to #STOPDIABETES

June 7, 2016June 7, 2016 by Mari Ruddy

Saturday, June 4^th was intended to be the day that I rode my bike 100 miles alongside a few of my friends at the Tour de Cure Twin Cities. I’d trained for 16 weeks and then, when I was out walking my dog as I explained in my last blog; I fell and broke my ankle. No bike ride for me on June 4^th, not with my leg in the air boot.