Yeah, my son told me he started smoking. Where did he learn this? His Uncle Kyle. And he said something about respecting his authoritay.

I was watching a show on the Travel Channel yesterday. Three friends were meeting in Costa Rica for an adventurous weekend. Two of them were celebrating their 5th years breast cancer-free, which they had been diagnosed with around age 24. They were giving their perspective about being cancer survivors and one of them said that while she was undergoing chemo she didn’t think she’d be here 5 years later to celebrate her birthday. "It’s like winning the lottery. But it’s not money… it’s life." It really made me think about how lucky I am to be here, alive, with all my mental faculties and senses intact, breathing, walking, healthy. Every passing minute should be savored. Do we really have to experience the tragedy of loss to appreciate these things? I think it frequently happens that way. But I try to remind myself to be grateful of these most precious gifts that we often take for granted. It’s much too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day stresses of the world and forget the simple but most important blessings we have received. Every time I am impatient or irritated, anxious or dismayed, I will try instead to enjoy breathing or seeing or just being pain-free, and find beauty around me. Something else that the lady said was that cancer is not an invader; it’s a traitor, your own body selling you out. It says, "You didn’t take care of me and now I’m going to kill you." Another reason to be kind to yourself! Our bodies and minds are affected by everything that we take in, so consume not just food that will nourish and support you but ideas that will do so as well. Live righteously, be alive now, don’t put off until tomorrow what you could do today, and enjoy those whom you love; they won’t be around forever either.