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Memorial Day – Remember and Honor the Fallen

5/23/2019

In honor of all of those who have served our country and paid the ultimate price and for those left behind. I dedicate this message to you.

I ask you to take a moment - remember & honor those who paid for our freedom.

Please educate you and your family what this long weekend really means.

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor. Remember and honor the fallen. Remember and honor who’s been left behind to carry on. Memorial day is not about the three-day weekend, blowout sales, parties, and BBQs.

Memorial Day is about those service men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice, dying while serving in the military, and protecting our country, freedom and our rights.

Other Military Days of Observance

Armed Services Day -Third Saturday in May - the day to honor those who serve in our military currently. Today approximately 1.29 million or .5% of Americans serving in active duty military. Click here to learn about the demographics of the current US military.
Veterans Day - November 11 - the day to honor those who have served in our US Military. As of 2014 there were reported to be 22 million veterans in the U.S

May 5, 1868, Decoration Day, as Memorial Day, was originally called was established as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971.

Take a moment to remember and thank those that served and died in their service while you enjoy your three-day weekend, shopping, a parade, a party, or BBQ.

How to honor the fallen heroes

Fly the American Flag - click here to learn how to properly display the flag.
- Half-staff from sunrise to noon and then full staff noon to sunset.
Volunteer and/or attend a Memorial Day ceremony, festival, fair, or concert.
Place American Flags on each grave in national cemeteries.
Observe a moment of silence
- The National Moment of Silence occurs at 3pm local time on Memorial Day.
Visit a Memorial - find the visiting Vietnam Walls or other memorials.
Donate to veterans and military support groups. For a list see resources below.
Wear a red poppy
- The wearing of the poppy dates to 1918 and is called The Flanders Field Memorial Poppy in honor of those who died in World War I.

Imagine you’ve lost someone and now you’ve been called to attend a service or celebration to honor your loved one and other fallen. I can only imagine how this feels. I encourage you to allow and embrace the grieving process during Memorial Day.

For the grieving this can be a poignant and challenging time. Their loved one is no longer here and they are missed. Honoring them is a part of the grieving process. Embrace grieving that loss, however it may show up. The grieving process is a just that a process and it takes time. No one is ever over it, or gets better. The grief journey is deeply personal and takes its own path.Support those around you and allow grief to happen. However it looks. Embrace it and know its part of the journey.

See below for free resources and information on Memorial Day and Veterans Services.

I remember and honor all of those who have served before us and paid that ultimate price of death while serving in our military. I remember and honor the surviving families that carry on with out their loved one. Know you are loved & not forgotten!

I remember, honor and embrace you - with love and peace,

Teresa Q. Bitner - M.Ed., PMP, ACC - Resiliency, Change and Loss Specialist
Partnering with those who have been knocked down my life and want to build resiliency and move forward and live a bold life.

[email protected]
www.boldfulfilledlifecoach.com

Author of Soul Love: How A Dog Taught Me to Breathe Again

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Memorial Day & Veterans Resources

Memorial Day Specific Information, History, Ways to Honor

Information, resources, quotes - http://militarybenefits.info/memorial-day/
History Channel - http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history
Fast Facts - https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/us/memorial-day-fast-facts/index.html
Poem - "BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD"

Veteran, Soldier, Family and Widow Support

Stand Beside Them - Coaching for Veterans (Free & I am on the coaching bench)- http://www.standbesidethem.org/
Charities Supporting Soldiers and Their Families:
http://www.ausa.org/resources/familyprograms/resources/InternetResources/Pages/CharitiesSupportingSoldiersandtheirFamilies.aspx
Society of Military Widows - http://www.militarywidows.org/home.aspx
American Widow Project - http://americanwidowproject.org/
Folds of honor - https://www.foldsofhonor.org/
Torn in Half Resources - http://torninhalf.com/resources/
Teresa's Resources - https://www.boldfulfilledlifecoach.com/resources.html

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5 Life lessons from writing and publishing Soul Love: How A Dog Taught Me to Breathe Again

5/17/2019

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It’s been a year since the launch party for Soul Love: How A Dog Taught Me to Breath Again. I’ve spent time reflecting the good, bad and the ugly of the year of living the author and published book life. I thought I’d share a bit of his journey to wisdom that builds resiliency.

5 Life lessons from writing and publishing

1. Positive outlook is central to success

Example: Viewing a virtually empty book signing with few sales as a learning opportunity. Of course, that’s after the – augh – I suck, tearful sad/mad crummy tide passes. Especially after you’ve done everything you’re “supposed” to - book in advance, advertise, partner with the place, social media, press release, get RSVP’s. etc.
What did I learn? – You can do everything “right” according to others and still not have the outcome expected. Extra lessons - Not the right place for my type of product, ask more questions about the foot traffic, rain effects in person events, and more.
Pay off – future book signings were a hit and almost overwhelming in the number of signed books and sales!

2. Flexibility is an asset

Examples: Arriving for a book signing and uh-oh there no table for me – after I confirmed it. Or someone else is there in MY space!
What did I learn? – it’s perfectly okay to procure my own table, borrow/share space and be kind while you flex around the venue and people.
Pay off – venue perks, freebies and meeting new people, who often moved or at least apologized since they had “taken” MY space. (Like I owned the space anyway…lol).

3. Planning is key - with flexibility built in

With no plan there is no action.
This is true for me and my business. If I don’t have a plan I’m less focused and less is accomplished. I have to have a plan & actions.
Example: Fall plan changed to taking time off to care for myself due to illness. During this time sales dropped and business almost ceased. No action or plan.
What did I learn? - Health is #1 without it, nothing is worth it.
Pay off – I learned new ways to stay active in social media (new plan & flexibility) and work with my auto immune disease vs. fight it. Self-care is key.

4. Persistence pays off

Example A. When trying desperately to schedule book signings and the answer was no or worse – NOTHING.
Example B. Writing is hard work, my grammar needs a lot work, I don’t want to think about this much less write about it. I don’t know what I’m doing …
What did I learn? - It often times has nothing to do with you and people are busy. Keep asking and pursuing what you want. You may just get a yes.
Keep writing, just write, research, ask for help, take classes, join a critique group(s), keep at it and make a serious plan with weekly/daily actions.
Pay off A.– book signings in Florida happened when I thought it was hopeless. Here’s an article with those details on persistence...
Pay off B. The book was finished, edited, I met new friends through the critique process. I published it with help and professionals by my side. See below for the best pay off

5. Trust and Let Go
Give it to the Universe/God/Divine to do the work and bless the world.

Soul Love has gone out and blessed more people in unique ways that I ever imagined.
Example: Powerful personal conversations, tears, testimonies, reviews and personal emails my readers have shared with me. I’m so blessed by you.
What did I learn? - When I trust and let go the most amazing things happen. They are easy and joyful. I stopped worrying and driving myself nuts with the what if’s and negative head chatter.
Pay off: Knowing the hard work, travel, expenses and emotional drain of writing was 200% worth the effort.
Knowing that I followed what God/Divine/Universe kept urging me to do was needed by so many with their own stories.

May you these 5 life lessons bless you.

Positive outlook is central to success
Flexibility is an asset
Planning with flexibility in mind
Persistence pays off
Trust and let Go

Which resonate with you? I’d love to know your thoughts. Looking for support.

Teresa Q. Bitner - PMP, ACC - Resiliency, Change and Loss Coach
Partnering with those who have been knocked down my life and want to build resiliency and move forward and live a bold life.

[email protected]
www.boldfulfilledlifecoach.com
Author of Soul Love: How A Dog Taught Me to Breathe Again

PS. Last week to get Soul Love: How A Dog Taught Me to Breathe Again for 30% off.
(offer valid until May 24th, 2019)

To get a signed paperback 30% off: Go to to this page
Scroll down to Order a paperback copy from Teresa. The discount is already included in the Add to Cart Button.

To get 30% off eBook format from Amazon.  Click here

Help me celebrate and share with those you love who’ve lost someone or may need some understanding. Let's spread hope and inspiration!

P.P.S. Download your free book discussion questions - click here - a great book club resource. I'd love to know what you and your group thought about the book.

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Three Things I Learned from My Mother about Resilience - Kerry Stevens

5/7/2019

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Wishing you and your's a blessed Mother's Day. I’m honored to introduce Kerry Stevens as my featured guest blogger. Kerry and I met and worked together in high tech many years ago. We ran into each other at a Writer’s League of Texas class. We discovered we were both writing memoirs and in search of critique groups to hone our writing skills. He spearheaded a critique group that was one of the best values to my growth as an author. Kerry’s book about his mother is a tribute and filled with life’s lessons. It’s been an honor and pleasure to work with him and may this piece on resilience bless you. Thank you, Kerry!

Three Things I Learned from My Mother about Resilience

My mother’s life could be defined by loss. As a child, she lost her father. As an adult, she lost a child of her own. When she lost the family farm, her life’s dream became a nightmare. This was just the beginning.

My late mother was a strong woman who embraced life on her own terms, bringing both blessings and tears. But even in the darkest of nights, when fear and anguish could be crushing, she found ways to survive and thrive.

As Mother’s Day approaches, I’m reflecting on her life and three things she taught me about resilience.

First, I learned to nurture my whole self – my mind, body, and soul – because strength flows from wholeness. My mother was a voracious reader, pondering even the tiniest of life’s questions. Reading brought knowledge and confidence. She gained physical energy through self-care, enjoying foot and body massage to heal illness, and growing nutritious organic foods. To fuel her soul, she studied the Bible, engaged in music and art, and dug her hands deeply into the warm soil of her colorful flower gardens.

The second lesson she imparted was to choose resilience. My mother had no control when her father abandoned the family, and she did nothing to bring about a tumor which took her breast. Although she was often forced into life’s tragedies, she chose how to respond. When she lost her favorite job as a columnist because she spent her time helping me recover from a childhood accident, she turned her personal disappointment into an endearing fictional story about the struggles of a boy my age. While recovering from emergency open heart surgery as an aging senior, she chose not to think about her deteriorating body, but of all the new places she wished to visit when she recovered.

Lastly, my mother never forgot that spring always follows winter. She knew that life came in seasons. Though the sweetness of her marriage turned bitter in the summer of life, she didn’t spit it out. She chose to hang on, not out of desperation, but out of hope. For her, it paid off with decades of joy in her sixty-year union. She lived life to the fullest, always looking forward to the next new thing, and seldom backward to what may have bogged her down. Even in her last days, with winter quickly closing in, she lived fearlessly in faith on the cusp of a new spring.

I recognize that every mother is different. Circumstances are different. But there is wisdom to learn from a life well-lived. I’ve learned to care for my whole self, to choose to look past the warts of life, and to never forget that where’s there’s life there’s hope.

Kerry L Stevens is the lead author of “Forever Herself: A Son’s Memoir of a Remarkable Woman”. The book is about his late mother, Berthella Stevens, a Renaissance woman out of place in her Northern Indiana farming community in the 1960s. She was prolific writer who died without achieving a lifetime dream of publishing a book. Now, Kerry fulfills her dream, telling her remarkable story through the seasons of her life.

More info is available at KerryLStevens.com.

Thank you again Kerry for your book and illumination into the resilience of mothers. Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mothers in any form, human, fur babies, mother from another, step, or just mothering those who need a mom. You are special and loved.

Resiliency Resources

Teresa Q. Bitner - M.Ed., PMP, ACC - Resiliency, Change and Loss Specialist
Partnering with those who've been knocked down my life and want to build resiliency and move forward and live a bold life.

[email protected]
www.boldfulfilledlifecoach.com

Author of: Soul Love: How A Dog Taught Me to Breathe Again 30% off both paperback & eBook through May, 2019!

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Memorial Day – Remember and Honor the Fallen

5 Life lessons from writing and publishing Soul Love: How A Dog Taught Me to Breathe Again

Three Things I Learned from My Mother about Resilience - Kerry Stevens

Teresa Bitner

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