A Note to my Non-Indiana Friends

Hello Friends!!!

As much as I try to tell people what is really awesome about Indiana, our politics have to go and make a mockery of my most beloved home.

However, our politics do not reflect most hoosiers I know.

As I have tried to understand SB101- RFRA, I do not study law, and therefore find the bill difficult to understand for a working class nurse. So I have read, and re-read, hoping that this bill is something different than what people were saying it is.

At first, I thought it was a joke. I thought there was no way a bill could be passed that would allow a business to refuse to serve people. I thought, why does this even matter? (I mean, if someone is giving me money for my goods & services, I am not going to care who they are or what they are doing with it, they are keeping me in business.)
But some people do care.

..and because of these people, not only is Indiana receiving a high volume of negative, national  attention, but it is also destroying prospective revenue.

Indianapolis has been on an upward slope attracting new ideas, new people, new businesses, etc.. Every time I look around, there are new shops, new breweries, new restaurants. Old houses being fixed up and new houses being built.. New bike lanes, more art, more music, more young people. More entrepreneurs, more everything. Indy is growing, proliferating..

But unfortunately for all Hoosiers, whether you believe in the bill or not, it is putting a halt on our growth. 
Businesses are literally boycotting our state.

We are losing the $40 MILLION Angie's List expansion to the EastSide and GenCon generates $50 MILLION in a single weekend.. which could be done.
..just to name two.

The most frustrating thing about this bill is to think we even need it. 

The LGBT community is not a separate community. It is everyone's community.
Gay has always been here. Trans has always been here.

.. and remember, folks...

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."
-from Origin of Species.

$2.5 Trillion

..sitting in a meeting today, I got to thinking...

2.5 Trillion $$$$$  spent on healthcare in 2009.

I can't help but want to jump out of my skin when I hear how much people spend on "healthcare."

If other prices rose as quickly as healthcare since 1948:

a dozen eggs would cost $55

a gallon of milk would cost $48

a dozen oranges would cost $134

• Eighty-four percent of all health care spending in 2006 was for the 50% of the population who have one or more chronic medical conditions.15
• The total costs of heart disease and stroke in 2010 were estimated to be $315.4 billion. Of this amount, $193.4 billion was for direct medical costs, not including costs of nursing home care.16
• The total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2012 was $245 billion, including $176 billion in direct medical costs and $69 billion in decreased productivity. Decreased productivity includes costs associated with people being absent from work, being less productive while at work, or not being able to work at all because of diabetes.18
• The total cost of arthritis and related conditions was about $128 billion in 2003. Of this amount, nearly $81 billion was for direct medical costs and $47 billion was for indirect costs associated with lost earnings.19
• Medical costs linked to obesity were estimated to be $147 billion in 2008. Annual medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those for people of normal weight in 2006.20
• For the years 2009–2012, economic cost due to smoking is estimated to be more than $289 billion a year. This cost includes at least $133 billion in direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion for lost productivity from premature death estimated from 2005 through 2009.11

These Statistics are straight from the CDC and are all preventable illnesses.

I want so badly to make change. And to educate people on disease prevention and how easy it CAN be.  SIMPLE lifestyle changes.

I have heard the objective that healthy people die too... so who cares?

Yes, healthy people die.. because that's a natural part of life.

But healthy people will live out their life feeling well, being active, and completely able bodied to do all of the things they enjoyed at 30.

Growing old does not have to mean feeling tired, having achy joints, and becoming more forgetful.

THESE ARE **NOT** NORMAL SIGNS OF AGING.

..they are signs of neglecting your health.

....so eat your friggin' vegetables.

Stop Making Excuses..

Excuses are a coping mechanism for regret.

This is not a quote I stole from the internet. This is an observation I have made in my life interacting with many people.

excuses will hold you back from so much.

If you really want to do something, you will.

And if you don't really want to, you will not.

It is a battle between what you want, and whatever habit or excuse you make for yourself that you wish to continue.

I want people to be happy.. happy and interesting.

When I talk to people and I hear them say:

 "I wish I could do this, BUT.."

 "I would totally do that if I didn't have 'X' holding me back."

"I will quit 'X' someday.."

I am talking about the excuses we make for our behaviors...

           our health habits...

                        why we don't see more of the world...

Everywhere I go, there are excuses.. and the problem lies with time.. and this false sense of having plenty of it.

EXCUSES:

"I will stop smoking tomorrow.."

........ when I already have COPD........

"I will start eating better tomorrow.."

......... when I am already suffering the consequences of unhealthy eating habits....

"I will exercise tomorrow....."

......... because tomorrow I will have way more time than today?....

"I will see the world when my kids are grown...."

........ because I will totally have the energy in 18 years to deviate from the habits I have grown accustomed to my entire life.......

How do you stop making excuses?

 Realize what your priorities are.

either you do things, or you don't.. excuses about why you can't is wasted energy.

If you set your mind to something, you can do it. 

Anything is possible.. 

Don't use excuses as a means to not do things. 

Accountability is something I love, but I see so many people struggle with it.
 People in general love putting the blame elsewhere....

...it took me years to learn how to take accountability and stop making excuses... but I did it, and it can be done.

When you start taking accountability for why you can or cannot do things, you will feel much more control over your life, which will in return, make you a much more satisfied person.

   

I am not trying to make people feel bad about decisions they make.

I am making an attempt to help people do what they really want because one day, you won't have that choice. And it is just that. A CHOICE.

I am finding more and more that most people do NOT realize that most things in life are a choice.

So name one thing you want(or want to do) MORE than anything.

               ..and now figure out how you are going to do it.

..make that your priority.

We don't have forever.. and death is certainly certain.

....so be the person you want to be.. and do all the things you want to do...

....all while loving every minute.

All you have is time.. but only a finite amount.




SO GO 'EFFING DO SOME SH*ZZZ!!!!!!!!

taken @ Acadia N.P. in Maine. 

xoxo

   -Nancy