Facing Your Fears
Sometimes you’re faced with your biggest fears, and sometimes you’re faced with fears you didn’t know you had. You can try to run and hide, but they’ll still cross your path any way your turn. Then you need to just turn around and face them. You may not always have a shining armour to protect you, but you’ll definitely be a winner no matter how many wounds you end up getting in a battle.
On a day when I saw the doctor about the lump in my breast that I just found, I was immediately sent for a biopsy. Standing outside the doctor’s office that cold February afternoon, for a minute there, I thought of turning around and going home. I can’t tell you exactly how many different emotions were running through my head, all I wanted to just be in my bed and fall asleep and not to think about it, at least for a while, put it aside, run from it, for now…
And then something else inside me, my own spirit and probably my Guardian Angels watching over me, propelled me into action and on a mission that ultimately saved me and brought to the point where I am today, healthy and looking forward to the future. Only now I know that any kind of procrastination may have put me in a much worse prognosis and outcome category. So potentially that was “make it or break it” point. And I made it work!
Facing your fears is never easy, it’s hard to make that first step towards whatever it is that terrifies you, but once you do, you get that elated feeling of having crossed over to the side where fears become accomplishments, and you no longer have to hesitate and back down if presented with the challenge again.
If undergoing some medical testing or a procedure has always been one of your fears, because you’re afraid of what might be found, face your fear and make that first step. It may literary save your life! Knowing the facts, no matter how difficult they may be, is always so much better than remaining in a dark. Knowing it is conquering the fear and taking steps towards recovery if necessary, pushing it aside is continuing a cycle of constant terrors that may at the end haunt you down and kill you.
Be very brave and make that first step, see you doctor today! Your own spirit will thank you for that!
To learn more about breast cancer risk factors, screening and diagnosis, please visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/screening.htm
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/screening/breast/Patient/page1
http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/
http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedfiles/content_binaries/806-372a.pdf
What’s Cooking This Week
Cooking some spicy dishes has always been one of the challenging areas for me, just because I don’t particularly enjoy eating spicy foods. A little “zing” in your mouth is usually OK with me, but feeling like you’re eating uranium is generally not on a list of my favorite things. To the contrary, my son loves everything spicy, so satisfying us both is often a tricky road that I’m still learning to navigate. This recipe was a perfect compromise featuring some sweet and spicy undertones and hitting all the right notes for us both.
Pink Series: Recipe # 2
Grilled Pork Chops with Blackberry-Ginger Sauce
4-5 pork chops
2 small containers of blackberries
1/4 cup of honey (more if you want a sweeter sauce)
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 Tbspoon of balsamic vinegar
1/2 Tbspoon of freshly minced ginger
1 minced chili pepper
1 tspoon each dried oregano and paprika
3-4 rosemary sprigs
salt, pepper, olive oil
Drizzle each pork chop with some salt, pepper, oregano, paprika, rosemary and olive oil, set them aside to marinate for about 15-20 minutes.
In a mean while make the blackberry sauce. Smash the berries and mix them with the rest of the ingredients, transfer to a sauce pot and cook for about 10 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken. Set it aside to cool off.
Grill pork chops according to your specifications.
Serve immediately pouring some sauce on top. The dish is simple, but the flavors are definitely complex, serving it alongside just a salad seems enough to appreciate it.
Enjoy!