Monthly Archives: November 2021

The importance of motivation

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We all have different goals, ambitions, dreams, and talents, which helps to keep the world and life more interesting. The one minor problem we can encounter is, we do not always understand what motivation means and or why it is crucial to be and stay motivated. Through the rest of this post, I am going to explain what exactly motivation means, reasons it is important in our life, and ways to not only get motivated but also to stay motivated.

Motivation is the determination we feel to accomplish goals and or needs. This is something we experienced that is strongly influenced by several internal factors that include

*Understanding how much you want your goal and how much the goals mean to you.

*Consider what your expectations are regarding your goal.

One of many reasons motivation is important to maintain in our life is because it offers us goals to work towards. When we are working towards a goal that means something to us, it provides us with a purpose in life. The goals we may have could help us to be a better version of ourselves and or help to improve another person’s life. As we continue to set and achieve goals, we are building up our self-confidence and making us feel better about ourselves.

By becoming and staying motivated, we will be able to determine which of our habits are negative and discover ways to eliminate them. This also us to create positive habits that enable further success. Motivation also makes dealing with challenges easier. This may help to view any challenges as an opportunity rather than a negative obstacle.

Many people are struggling with getting motivated due to depression and anxiety. The challenges we all encountered with COVID produced increased levels or frustration and higher levels of stress. The following tips, regardless of stress and frustrations may help you to get motivated.

*Determine one specific and achievable goal.

*Break your goal into simple and easy tasks, and schedule regular reminders.

*Consider ways you can include your goal into your life, how you will accomplish your goal, and put a specific timeframe on your goal.

Once you have established your goal and what your timeframe to accomplish your goal, it is important to stay on the right path. To remain on the right path for successfully achieving your goal, you can try the following tips:

*Make your goal a part of your daily routine. You could keep a diary, add reminders to your daily calendar.

*Only use positive dialogue. Instead of when you get frustrated or discouraged saying “I can’t”, try telling yourself you are going to continue trying and not giving up.

*Mindfulness can be a powerful tool to keep you calm and relaxed, even when you are surrounded by chaos.

It is easy for life to become overly chaotic and overwhelming. We have our work life to balance with our home life and the two can often conflict with each other. Honestly, life is not easy and can be incredibly exhausting, but hopefully the following tips will help to keep you motivated:

*Routinely review your goals and the progress you have made. When we can see our progression, it is an amazing motivator and will boost your self-esteem.

*Never give up and continue to set new goals for yourself. Consider what you want to accomplish in the next days, weeks, and months. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, focus on one goal at a time.

*It takes at least three months to establish new habits. Maintaining your drive towards your goals needs a routine to it will become automatic over time and be like second nature.

*Surrounding yourself with positive people can increase your abilities to reach your goals. Positive family and friends help to keep you feeling optimistic and offers increased positive self-talk!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you found the information and tips useful to accomplish a few of your goals. Do you have any goals set for this week? How about goals for the month of December, considering we are almost in December already? I would love to the chance to read what some of your goals are and how you are planning to conquer them! I hope you have a wonderful and safe day! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

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The Pain of Loss

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All losses are tragic and painful. When we endure a loss, no matter how deep the pain is, people often try saying that time heals all wounds. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? I believe that everyone is unique and processes loss in their way. No one can tell another how they should heal from a loss or how long it should take them to let go of the pain and move on.

My dear sweet and loving grandfather passed away almost nine years ago. It was not until the afternoon of September 9, 2013, I understood how one single phone call could hold the power to shatter my heart and change my life forever. It still feels like it was yesterday when I received that life-altering call that my grandfather’s battle with cancer ended and he was at peace.

Every year on my grandfather’s birthday, all I want to do is call him to wish him a happy birthday and it is heartbreaking that I cannot do that. Holidays will never feel the same without hearing the cheerfulness in his voice. I will always miss being able to call my grandfather randomly just to hear the latest family updates and any exciting news he had about his week.

Each year on the day my grandfather lost his battle with cancer and another angel was born, I relive losing him again. To this day, I cannot get through hearing the song he would sing while on a car ride without breaking down into tears. Seven Spanish Angels, by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson, will forever be special to me.

Almost ten months ago on February 7, 2021, my husband and I experienced an agonizing loss. Chloe was our special, sweet, loving, and beautiful cat that we had for nearly sixteen years. She was more than just a cat to us, but a LARGE part of our family. Chloe had an extraordinary soul and was full of love and personality. Throughout her life with us, she showed us unconditional love, happiness, and laughter. We have almost sixteen years of memories to hold on to and remember her fondly.

Chloe had healing powers and knew what and where I was hurting. She would lay on the area causing me pain until the pain would dissipate. Not one day goes by when I do not think about and miss Chloe. I still remember the only day she listened and followed my directions; it was when I told her she did not have to fight anymore, and she could let go. It was not but ten minutes later when she took her final breath.

I am sure everyone has heard that it is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. Maybe that is a true statement, but what do you think? This saying sounds so clique with truth mixed in. The two losses I just explained broke my heart into a million pieces and my heart still is not whole again.

A huge part of me believes that my grandfather knew his battle with cancer was coming to an end, which is why he did not want me to go visit him. Even in his final days, he had my best interest in mind. I think he did not want me to see him struggling and have that be the way I remembered him. Regardless of anything else, I regret not being able to see him one last time. I was not able to tell him how much I loved and appreciated him and say my final goodbyes.

Even though I will always miss Chloe, I am thankful we were able to let her pass in her time and comfortably at home and on my lap. She spent her entire life surrounded by nothing but love. If there were anything I could have done to prolong her life without pain or struggles, I would have gladly done so.

Thank you for visiting my site today and reading of what I am reminiscing about. Memories can be great, but also have sadness within them. I do cherish the memories I have of my late grandfather and Chloe but would give anything for one more day with both. I hope you have had a nice and safe weekend! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Better days ahead

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We have all been trying to survive life and our new norms. Countless emotions have surfaced during the last eighteen months that we have never felt before. It became easy to feel hostile because of isolation and confinement to our homes. Even to this day, we do not know if the normal life we were used to before the pandemic will ever return. It is almost impossible to remember what life was like before the pandemic or at least I can hardly remember what it used to be.

Granted, even though the pandemic made it unsafe to go out to dinner or the mall or anywhere not inside the four walls of our homes, was it ever safe? I mean think about all the violence the exists in the world. It was starting to feel like anywhere we went we went might encounter a mass shooting. Do I think guns should be outlawed? No, not outlawed but regulated much more, yes. I think a lot of the gun violence was due to mental illness and the truth is, mental health in the United States is terrible.

I know there is going to be a day when COVID is a painful and distant memory, but no idea when that will be. Even after COVID is in the past, the violence might still linger, and we should always be aware of our surroundings. Life should be a balance of good and evil because it helps us to be a lot more grateful for our life.

On a more positive note, we need to remember life is a gift and something we should cherish! Once the pandemic is over and it becomes safer to leave our homes, have you thought about what it will feel like? What are some of the things you missed during these challenging times? What are some of the simple pleasures in life you are excited to have return?

I do not mind being home most of the time, but it does get incredibly isolating especially because I work from home. I either feel like I am always at work or just never go anywhere to add happiness and excitement to life. It is crazy to think of going to a doctor’s appointment as a fun outing! I love my husband, our cats, and our house, but I do enjoy seeing the world! I think travelling is exciting because it provides insight to other cultures. Even though there are many terrible people in the world, there are many fascinating people as well.

I know I have mentioned this before, but while I am on the subject life getting back to normal, I cannot wait to visit the ocean again. The beach has always been one of the happiest places for me to be. I find the ocean to be relaxing and calming. The way the water crashes down on the beach is soothing. Considering I am someone that is a walking and talking stress case, the ocean is the only place I never feel any stress

I have had groceries delivered since the start of the pandemic, which has been amazing. I never did enjoy grocery shopping because it feels so unbearable at times. Although most of the time I do not miss grocery shopping, there have been times I did miss it because I felt helpless. I think one of the main reasons I never enjoyed grocery shopping is because crowds are overwhelming.

Another thing is I am beyond tired of wearing masks anytime I do get to leave the house. I know they are necessary to stop the spread of the virus, but they are extremely uncomfortable and suffocating.

I look forward to the day when the pandemic is behind us because life is too short to live in fear. I do wish this was all in the past now, but until it is I will continue to do what is necessary to keep myself and family safe. I hope the way things have been for the past eighteen months has taught people to be understanding and kind to others because even though we might not know it, everyone is going through something in life. People tend to behave in negative ways when they are struggling, but if they are shown a little compassion, they may lighten up and be kinder. It often takes a simple smile to make someone’s bad day brighter.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you had a lovely and safe holiday! I do look forward to reading your comments, which I promise to respond to as quickly as I can. One important thing learned over the past few months is, we are all going through the same challenges and need to work together to make it to better days! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Thankful today and always

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There are 365 days in every year, but only one day that is dedicated for everyone to show how and what they thankful they are. Why does there have to be a day to be thankful? Why can we not try to express how thankful we are the other 364 days during the year? We all have many things we should be thankful for but have come to expect things to stay the way they are and that our loved ones are always going to be there. The sad truth is things never stay the same and people do not live forever.

Some people that have not had to experience loss and have not had to go without people they cherish, or other things needed for survival for too long that it is to imagine being without. The only constants in life are that things are always changing, tragedy is relentless, and hits hard, and tomorrow is not a guarantee. No one knows when their time on this earth will end, which is why I have always believed we should live each day as if it were our last.

Unfortunately, there are too many families that lost someone they cared about and will never get a chance to tell them how much they meant to them. These families missed their opportunity to say their goodbyes to someone they cared deeply for due to a deadly virus or senseless and unnecessary violence, or reckless driving that ended in a tragic accident. I have already mentioned my views on the virus numerous times, so I think everyone knows how I feel and even if you disagree, there are ways to help end COVID. The violence that occurs is nothing new but is something that needs to stop because everyone is a human being with a beating heart.

During the last eighteen months, people around the world have experienced tremendous amounts of hardships and loss that no one could have anticipated. I think that all of this should serve us with a lesson to never take anything or anyone for granted. I know that life gets chaotic and exhausting, but we can all try a little harder and care a little deeper, so no one ever must question how we feel about them. Instead of showing our thanks only once a year, we should practice giving thanks daily.

Take some time to think about these questions for a few minutes, what are you the most thankful for in your life? Is there a person in your life that you cannot fathom being without? Is there anyone in your life that you have not spoken to in a while, but do care for? Besides a person, what else are you thankful for? Most important, remember that life is short and there is not a rewind or pause button.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site and read this post. I hope this post will help you to find ways to be and show how thankful you are daily. I am looking forward to reading your comments and will respond to all comments as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes! I hope you and your family have a lovely and safe holiday!

Always, Alyssa

Motivational Monday

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The weekend went so fast and we are once again on Monday. Is it not amazing how fast the two-day weekend flies by? I do hope you had a nice and safe weekend. Unfortunately, ready or not the new week is happening. I guess the positive way to view things is that we are being given a chance to make the best of the week and anything we were not able to accomplish last week we can try again! It is never easy to accept the weekend being over, but this does happen every week and we handle it the best we can.

As we start a week with a holiday towards the end of the week, we all need to try to stay optimistic and motivated. Letting go of the weekend and getting back to our normal schedule, finding motivation is never easy. I do hope the quote I am sharing will help keep you focused on the good and motivated to accomplish anything we set our minds to. We can all admit that life is not easy and many things are thrown our way at random times. We all find ways to get through anything we encounter because we are strong and determined! Strength is much deeper than how much you can lift and more about what we can withstand during our life!

This is the week of Thanksgiving, which hopefully we can all celebrate in a safe and happy way. It seems things are a lot safer this year than they were last year with COVID spreading wildly. Many people have been vaccinated and or had COVID already, so hopefully the spread will not continue. Y’all know how concerned I have been about the virus and that I have had three vaccines, so I am fully vaccinated. Of course, I thought after the first two vaccines I was fully vaccinated but the antibodies test said different.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site today. I hope you found deeper meaning to the quote that I shared with you today and I look forward to reading your comments, which I promise to respond to as quickly as I can. Most people are probably happy for a shorter work week, but I have always said the shorter weeks feel twice as long. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Different types of Anger

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Anger is an emotion that can touch anyone and everyone at some point in their life. This emotion can intrude on the mind and hearts of even the kindest of people and take control of their life. If not properly dealt with can become one of the unhealthiest types of emotions and destroy relationships. Even though it is toxic, anger is a normal reaction of hostility when there is a threat that another has intentionally or unintentionally wronged you.

There are many different types of anger that I am going to explain through this post. My hope is this can help to identify that type of anger you are experiencing, and it will provide an understanding of the source of your anger, and that will lead to learning ways to not only control the anger but manage it as well.

Out of all the different types of anger, assertive anger is thought to be a productive and healthier way of expression. Instead of avoiding the conversation and being susceptible to outbursts, assertive anger expresses frustrations to discover a positive change or resolution. This could be someone starting a conversation by saying, “I feel angry when or because…” This allows a person to explain their anger in a way that provides positive change instead of creating more negativity.

Destructive anger is a very unhealthy way of experiencing anger and comes with various negative impacts. This falls on the extreme side of behavioral anger. Destructive anger can appear as verbal or physical actions being used to hurt another person. A person might throw or break things that are valuable to the person they are angry with. This type of anger can negatively influence many areas of the person’s life and possibly destroy social connections and relationships.

Behavioral anger can become dangerous and be expressed with violence. This type of anger can lead to destructive anger and be common in men that already have anger issues. Behavioral anger is unpredictable and reckless, which can end with legal consequences. This type of anger can be displayed by intimidating behaviors, throwing, or breaking things, or attacking a person.

Chronic anger tends to be directed towards other people, situations, and yourself. This type of anger can have a profound impact on one’s self-esteem and while not always visible can create a lot of damage. Chronic anger resembles a continual, low amount of anger, resentment, irritation, and exasperation. Depending on how an individual experiences anger, it may be difficult to process and communicate your needs, which can negatively affect your health, levels of stress, and relationships.

Overwhelmed anger can build up over time, especially if you do not find ways to express your feelings. This anger is unpredictable and over time directly and negatively affects your mental health. Overwhelmed anger may show itself once you hit a breaking point, you lose your ability to cope, and the stress becomes too much to handle. This may look like a sudden snap of irritation and resentment that follows a long person of time repressing feelings.

Passive-aggressive anger is one of the most common and avoidable types of anger. The person experiencing this type of anger will express their negative feelings indirectly, instead of discussing them openly. This can be both mentally and physically draining, especially until you can address the way you are feeling. Passive-aggressive anger may also include repressing emotions and waiting to avoid conflicts. Even though the person feels angry and resentful, they will act neutral, pleasant, and happy. This type of anger can be displayed verbally or physically in ways such as silent treatment or sarcasm.

Retaliatory anger is a typical and instinctual reaction when someone feels they are being attacked. This is strongly manipulated by the desire for revenge after being hurt. This type of anger is consciously directed towards the person that wronged you and the need to gain control after an incident occurred. Retaliatory anger can force discomfort and outrage to escalate in relationships, which will only create more problems.

Silent anger is a non-verbal way to experience anger. This can be an internal and external experience. The internal way can be when anger manifests with non-communicated bitterness, resentment, and irritation. This can cause a tremendous amount of stress and tension. Externally, the anger may be displayed with closed off body language and facial expressions. Even though the anger has not been expressed verbally, people may be able to read your body language and know you are angry.

Thank you for visiting my site today. After reading about the different types of anger, were you able to decipher the type or types of anger you encounter? When you experience anger, how do you get it under better control. To be completely honest, I try to avoid feelings of anger, but then they do fester and make things so much more intense. I guess I would fall somewhere between silent and passive-aggressive anger. I hope the last few hours of the weekend are relaxing and help you to be ready for the new week starting tomorrow. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Ways to handle challenging family at the holidays

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The holiday season is approaching us at what feels like supersonic speed. The holidays can induce many kinds of feelings for everyone. When I was younger, I loved the holidays because they were filled with joy and visiting with family. As I have gotten older the holidays are not as exciting as they once were. It may have something to do with the way holidays were the past two years or the dread of challenging family and friends. It is only natural to not always agree with our family because everyone has their opinions and that does not always line up with our family.

In this post, I am going to share with you a few ways that may help with the anxiety of family, friends, COVID, travel, and anything else that could be weighing on our minds. Family is important and we do not get to choose our family is but should try to eliminate any potential arguments that might come to the surface. We only have one family, so making the most of it is the best option.

1. Take control of your expectations: Many times, keeping expectations low helps avoid disappointment or resentment. Consider what your expectations are for those you feel the least comfortable with. Start by trying to observe others and not reacting at the moment. If we try changing others instead of accepting them it can create higher levels of defensiveness and reluctance. If at any moment your emotions become overloaded, excuse yourself and walk away for a few minutes for a short break to release those negative emotions. I have always found it to be easier to walk away when tensions become too high, and a conversation goes in a circle without an end in sight.

2. Plan ahead of time: Remember past family holidays and any patterns that occurred. Expect that unhealthy patterns are going to occur again and have a plan in place to avoid or prevent them from controlling and ruining your holiday.

3. Modify your mindset: We can decide to worry about things that could happen, which will cause unnecessary or think ahead of time how to reduce this type of stress. Instead of getting caught up in the negative traits of family, recall and focus on the positive traits, our family members have in them.

4. Defend your truth and integrity: A family holiday get-together can cause people to feel like they are walking on eggshells. There are several ways to navigate the circumstance when we know what our reactions will be and how others will react. A few standards to engage in during stressful exchanges are to state your experience, defend your truths, and calm yourself. It may be helpful to make note of your emotions, reiterate the faces, and appreciate your peace.

5. Discover common ground: The holidays provide joys of family get-togethers and create fond memories to admire. However, holidays can also include disputes with family. Regardless of those difficult family members, it is more important to focus on what matters the most instead of insignificant matters. It can be hard to find common ground, so try being slow to speak and quick to listen. You can gain more from listening than jumping in to say what you are thinking.

6. Avoid situations and people when possible: We all have at least one family member that wants to invade into our business, questions our every decision, and reminds us of the negative things in our life. Often, this is because misery loves company. The three most important things to remember are: you know more than anyone else what is best for you. Hold onto advice offered that is valuable and kindly ignore what is not valuable. Warmly divert the conversation by asking questions about how they are doing. Alter the atmosphere with positive language and awareness of being together.

7. Keep yourself grounded: Although the holidays can be a delightful time spent with family, they can also generate anxiety especially when there is an exasperating family member. When dealing with this type of person, it is crucial to provide yourself with gentle self-care to help keep you grounded. Avoiding hot topics such as politics and religion that can cause disagreements will be important. When topics known to cause a difference of opinion being, changing the subject to a common interest will help deter the disagreement from getting out of hand.

8. Form and maintain boundaries: Understand what topics or behaviors are unacceptable or reasonably out of bounds and state them upfront, so there is no confusion or question. Some people will know ways to bait you into a conversation causing conflict, NEVER take the bait! Immediately put a hard stop to the conversation. Determine how much time you are going to spend with family and politely say your goodbyes when it is time.

9. Always be on the same page as your significant other: Be open and honest about concerns and expectations of holiday gatherings. Discuss openly ways to handle potential conflicts. Preparing ahead of time and remaining a united front will help control the stress. Determine a signal word to let your partner know you are ready to leave or when stress has increased too much and have an exit plan.

10. Know your mind and body: Keep alcohol intake to a low amount because it can create issues with logical decision-making and escalate emotions. When overdone, alcohol can increase stress and fatigue causing more opportunity for an argument to irrupt. Alcohol in moderation normally does not cause too many issues, but it is important to know your limitation. Trust your instincts and pace yourself with conversation as well.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope this information will be useful to you during the upcoming holidays. Not all families are incredibly close and there is friction in some. It is not always easy and not all the tips in this post will be helpful to everyone, so if there are other ideas you have that helped you and you are willing to share, please do. I hope you had a nice and safe weekend! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Fight off Pandemic Fatigue

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For almost two years, we have been forced to face a deadly pandemic. This was something no one could have imagined happening, but it did. This situation has plagued every inch of the world and left no area untouched. While the pandemic caused a great deal of uncertainly, sadness, loss, stress, learning ways to adapt to our new “normal”, and feelings of isolation.

The pandemic lift has allowed many to work from home, which is a benefit. Others might be learning how to stay on task working from home while helping their children with remote learning. The pandemic has brought on good changes but has also shown the true colors of so many. This part has not been pretty but has been a rude awakening.

Since the pandemic started most have experienced a type of fatigue we did not know existed. Through the rest of this post, I am going to explain three types of fatigue and a few ways we can counteract fatigue.

TYPES OF PANDEMIC FATIGUE:

1. Decision Fatigue- No one ever had to think about if it was safe to go out to dinner at their favorite restaurant before the pandemic. Unfortunately, now we must think about this as it is a life-or-death situation because it can be. We need to decide if it is safe to sit inside or safer to sit outside or if it is at all safe. Constantly worrying that the decisions we make will be wrong and cause illness or worst-case scenario death. The sad truth is our everyday choices are weighing on us and wearing us out.

2. Physical Fatigue- The many challenges we have encountered with the pandemic may be affecting our physical health in various ways. First off, the stress we are feeling could be causing falling asleep difficult or keeping us up at night. It is possible to feel overly stressed and our typical healthy coping mechanisms are not helping reduce the stress. This may force people to turn to less healthy coping mechanisms, such as overeating, alcohol, or other substances that we think make us feel better.

3. Compassion Fatigue- Our first responders and medical professionals are on the front line and witness the awful issues with the pandemic every day. These people are seeing people struggle and take their last breath daily. Some of these people are saying their goodbyes to loved ones on a computer screen, which can be heartbreaking. However, you do not need to be someone on the front line to experience this circumstance. We all see these cases on the news, and it can tug on the heartstrings because knowing someone lost someone, they love is extremely sad.

Even though it may feel impossible to not feel the threats of pandemic fatigue, there are several ways to find stability thought so much instability. During these challenging times it is crucial to take care of your body and soul, and even find some forms of optimism.

1. Ensure your basic needs are being met: Combating pandemic fatigue requires maintaining proper nutrition, sleep habits, good hygiene, and mild exercise. Of course, this does not mean you need to dive into a new healthy habit immediately. What this can mean is going to bed five or so minutes earlier, taking a short walk at lunch, or simply doing light stretching during the day.

2. Discover mindfulness exercise that works: Mindfulness exercises can be a useful tool in overcoming pandemic fatigue. This can be practiced in many ways and what works for some people, might not help another in the same way. It might be beneficial to write down some mindfulness exercises you would like to try until you find the perfect one for you! A few ideas are Five-minute guided meditation, mindful pause, or reciting your favorite song. Experiment with different techniques and you will find the right one but be sure to stick with the one that works the best.

3. Enjoy Stability when you can: Review your daily routine and determine what is not negotiable and must be done. Understand what needs to be done no matter what happens and what does not and eliminate what is not important. The must be done could be going to bed at the same time every night, eating meals at a certain time, or exercising the same routine at the same time on specific days. Do not forget to make some of the “important/must do” things that bring you a sense of joy.

4. Set boundaries with social media and the news: I am sure I am not the only one that followed new COVID cases and deaths during the beginning of the pandemic. Even now as the cases of COVID are decreasing, I still tend to look up the latest information about new cases and vaccinations. This can be very exhausting and frustrating, so setting boundaries is one of the healthiest things to do. Both the news and social media are full of negativity and can cause even more pandemic fatigue.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I had taken a break from writing about anything to do with the pandemic, but I thought this information could be useful to some of you. I would love to know what you think and if you have anything else to add. I hope your week went well and you are looking forward to the weekend. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

~Sundance Update~

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What does it mean to love? Love is an intense feeling of affection for someone else. Do you think you can love too much or not enough? I do not think it is possible to love someone too much, but it is possible to not love enough. The person we love will not be around forever and not showing love for them when they are still with us, is something that is tragic and will be regretted. When we do not show love, we feel for another person it shows a lack of appreciation for them and that is a sad situation.

 Do you think loving a pet so much it hurts when they are sick is loving them too much? I do not think it is possible to love a person or animal too much because not loving is not living fully. Is it possible to love an animal more than a human? Absolutely! Animals are sweet and innocent. They do not judge or hold grudges and they love unconditionally, which does not seem like it is something most humans are capable of. Animals rely on us to take care of them, by keeping them safe, fed, hydrated, comfortable, and loved.

I am writing about this today because since Saturday afternoon, Sundance has not been feeling well. As I mentioned in a previous post, Sundance has asthma and normally does well on the medication he was prescribed. It is the same as when a human has asthma, he has an emergency inhaler to use when he has an asthma attack. The inhaler is the same kind humans use but has a special adapter to go around his mouth to ensure he breaths in the albuterol. When I have explained this to people I used to work with, they found it funny and laughed, but it is not a laughing matter. The inhaler is a matter of life and death for him. I know how much he hates having to do the inhaler, I would rather him be upset with me for a few minutes than the alternative and have him stop breathing.

I would like to share some simple and basic information about asthma, in hopes it will help you or someone you know. Unfortunately, approximately 300 million people around the world live with asthma. The number of people with asthma increases by 50% each year. Asthma can be a serious and terrifying medical issue to deal with. Several things that can trigger asthma to flare up and cause an attack include tobacco smoke, outdoor air pollution, dust mites, pests, animals, mold, cleaning products, strong fragrances, etc. Another issue, which is what I think is causing Sundance to have issues is when the temperatures are colder outside, creating increased dry air.

It did not seem long after we made a slight change in Sundance’s medication regimen, he started displaying breathing issues. His doctor has thought for a while we should “try” reducing the steroid because of the potential harm it could do with organs and I was concerned it was weakening his immune system causing him to continuously get sick, we determined we could only give him the steroid once a day instead of twice a day.

It was only a week ago when we made a change in Sundance’s medication regimen by reducing his steroid slightly and it was not long after the change, he began displaying breathing issues. It has been several days of worrying about our poor cat and it has now been decided to go back to the regimen he was on previously. I did make this decision on Saturday but did contact his doctor on Monday morning and she agreed with me.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared today and the asthma information was useful for you or someone you know that lives with asthma. I will continue to keep you updated as to what happens next with Sundance and I would appreciate it if you would keep him in your thoughts. I love our cats more than words could ever explain and would do anything necessary for any of them. I would love the opportunity to read what you think about anything I have shared, and I will respond to all comments as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa

Motivational Monday

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Whether we are ready or not, it is Monday again. I do not think anyone is ever 100% ready for Monday morning because the weekends are too short. Although, my weekend was not much of a weekend at all because of our cat, Sundance having issues with his asthma. At least I can hope, this week will not be anywhere near as stressful as the weekend was because that would be awful. I had intended to work on a few posts this weekend, but unfortunately, I was not able to do so. On a more positive note, tomorrow is another day so, I will try again to complete at least one of those posts.

How was your weekend? I do not know about you, but the time change always confuses my poor mind. It causes me to either feel behind or too soon and hardly do I feel like it is the correct time. The time change that happened over the weekend normally gives us an extra hour of sleep, but I do not feel rested at all. That might have something to do with worrying about our cat and not getting near enough sleep.

Considering Monday is unavoidable, we must try to find a way to start the week in a positive mindset and be motivated! Many of us experience pain daily and have come to terms with this. I am hoping the quote I am sharing with y’all will provide you with a little motivation that will start your week in the best way it can be and that your week will only improve as each day passes until the weekend returns again! I think we can all agree that pain is not fun to live with, but maybe it does make us stronger to handle everything else that life has in store for us!

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you found the quote I shared motivating and it helps you find comfort in the week ahead of us. I do look forward to reading your comments on how your weekend went, the quote, and how feel about time change. I promise to respond to all comments as quickly as I can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa