Know your Body

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is upon us.  There are many fundraising activities around the nation geared toward helping find a cure, helping those who have breast cancer, and educating those who don’t know about breast cancer.

I am not a breast cancer survivor, but I do know someone who died from breast cancer.  So I know the importance of understanding my body.  Catching things at an early stage can be critical to a longer, healthier life.  So take the time to know your body.  I observe the basic things:

Lumps and bumps

Soreness that last for long periods of time

New moles; Moles that grow in size or change shape

Extreme tiredness or weakness in muscles

Pain & type of pain (sharp, dull, reoccurring)

Discoloration of the skin

If any of these things become unusual or drastically change then be on alert.  Your body is telling you something and it would be a good idea to have it checked out.  It may not be the extreme case of cancer, but knowing your body will help prevent things from getting worse. 

Who knows your body better than you.  So take that extra 5 minutes after your shower and look over your body.  If 5 minutes is all it takes, it would be worth the time.

Technology freaks

As a parent you always want more for your children that you didn’t have for yourself.  I worried when the children were younger that I wouldn’t be able to achieve this goal.  But when I look about me it is easy to see that I have already reached this goal and the children haven’t even made it to college yet.

Game systems that are eons more sophisticated than my Atari.  Communication devices that connect anywhere and can reach anyone.  Knowledge at their fingertips.

And I guess all generations have gone through the laughable, archaic nature of the older generation, especially when it comes to technology.  My 9 year old uses a promethean board at school and knows how to calibrate it.  I didn’t even know what calibrate meant at 9!  This reminds me of my parents and the VCR.  I didn’t understand how it was difficult for them to grasp.  Sorry Mom and Dad. 

It’s amazing how quickly technology takes hold and spirals out of control.  Six months from now my awesome new computer can be the thing of the past when a newer, faster, smaller, easier techie toy has come out, and does the same thing.  I don’t think I can even keep up!  Or afford to.

The Jetsons would be envious of some of the things we have…Roomba can vacuum the floor when we are away, escalators, elevators and moving walkways when we don’t feel like walking, at the click of a button we can choose instant food and drinks (vending and coffee machines), restaurants in the sky, robots that help with surgery.  The most phenomenal for me is a car that parks itself!

I’m beginning to wonder…what do we need humans for? Oh wait, someone’s got to create the next techie toy.