Empathy in Action: Transform Your Perspective

<p>Altruism. What is it and why is it a necessary part of animal societies? I have taught courses that included animal behavior during most of my teaching career. You’d be surprised at the altruism that takes place in non-human, animal societies. Vampire bats share food (yes, blood) with each other, vervet monkeys shriek alarm calls to warn other monkeys of danger, and honey bees [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Lady at Social Security Office: &#8220;Since it&#8217;s been more than two years since your divorce, you&#8217;ll need to provide additional identification to change your name. You need a document with your maiden name and your date of birth.&#8221; Cindy: &#8220;How about her birth certificate?&#8221; Lady: &#8220;No Ma&#8217;am, that only proves she was born, it can&#8217;t be used as identification.&#8221; [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Last week, I took Cindy to see Wicked for her birthday. We got the tickets a couple of months ago, and it was a surprise for Cindy. Keeping it a secret was difficult, but I just avoided any talk of the theatre, the City, musicals, or The Wizard of Oz! Our theatre-going group included my [&hellip;]</p>

<p>After last week&#8217;s &#8220;Karma&#8221; post, one of the comments (thanks Bryant!) said that I have great karma because I have persevered and that I am living my life, teaching, and raising kids. Everyone goes through tough times in life, and maybe it&#8217;s better not to think of &#8220;karma&#8221; as something that comes back to you, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I don&#8217;t believe on karma, but I do believe in ghosts. If I believed in karma, I would wonder what the hell I did to deserve this. It is said that as long as you&#8217;ve got your health, you have got everything. Well, what if I don&#8217;t have my health, then what have I got? When I get really [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I went to the DMV today to try to get my driver&#8217;s license renewed. Simple, right? For me, it&#8217;s more complicated than brain surgery! My adventure with the DMV began last October (2009) when I misplaced my license and had to get a duplicate. The form asked if I had had any medical conditions occur in the past five years. Since my abnormalities [&hellip;]</p>

<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not the years, honey, it&#8217;s the mileage.&#8221; This classic line by Indiana Jones is going through my mind a lot this week, as I have a birthday looming. I&#8217;m going to be, I dunno, forty-something. On paper, it&#8217;s really not that old, but, seriously, there isn&#8217;t a part of my body that doesn&#8217;t feel old. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>In honor of Mother&#8217;s Day, I am posting the dedication that appears in my book, When Life Throws You Lemons&#8230;Make Cranberry Juice! Dedication One evening, I had my son call a friend of mine to come over because I needed some TLC. He obliged, after asking me what TLC was.  Throughout my life, my mother, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I went to the Mazda Dealer today to get my car fixed. Before you say, &#8220;WHY WOULD YOU GO TO THE DEALER TO GET YOUR CAR FIXED?&#8221;, the work in question was still covered under warranty. I went there because the mechanics at my local gas station (whom I trust) told me that my exhaust manifold was leaking. I [&hellip;]</p>

<p>&#8220;Most moms say they would die for their kids; my mom loves me enough to live.&#8221; I included this heart-wrenching quote from my daughter in two presentations I gave recently. I knew that some members of my audience were potential future health professionals, and I wanted them to get a glimpse of the emotional side [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The area known as the cove was filled with blood. It looked like a scene from The Ten Commandments! I just finished watching The Cove, the Academy-Award-winning documentary about a dolphin slaughter in a small fishing village in Japan. As a life-long dolphin lover, I was, of course, horrified by the images before me. One [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I went for one of my regular visits to my optometrist. I see special ophthalmologists too, due to the damage to my cornea that occurred in the hospital, but I wanted my long-time optometrist to be in charge of my overall eye care. During the examination another doctor sat in to observe. I asked if [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Saturday was the 30th annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Conference at Skyline College. EYH is a yearly conference for 6th-12th grade girls with the goal of exposing girls to viable careers using math or science. Every year since 1980, women come to Skyline&#8217;s campus on the third Saturday in March to engage young girls in hands-on [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Last week, Chip thought it would be fun to put a tight rubber band around my ankles–-and then make me walk! Walking was soon deemed “too easy,” so Chip had me take steps diagonally and sidestep! When Chip described the activity to me, the word “impossible” flashed through my mind, along with a few others [&hellip;]</p>

One day last week I had an MRI and another day last week I tested for my red belt in karate. I began taking karate with my children about two years before my surgery. It was a fun activity to do with my kids, and it occupied my mind as I was going through my [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Video games. Stimulating toys for little boys or valuable therapy tools? We bought a Nintendo Wii game system shortly after I came home from the hospital. The Wii system is different from traditional video games. Instead of sitting on the couch, exercising the all-important thumb muscles, the Wii system detects the position of the hand-held [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I returned to the lecture arena this month with Biology 675, an honors colloquium that supplements traditional Biology courses. Upon successful completion of Biology 675, students earn honors units for Biology 675 (1 unit) in addition to their concurrently-enrolled Biology course. The topic of Biology 675 varies, depending on the instructor. The last time I [&hellip;]</p>

“That’s a big tumor, Shari,” echoed through my head as I packed for my short stay in the hospital.  The doctors told me that, even though it was large, the removal of this benign brain tumor (an acoustic neuroma) was something they did all the time, and that I had an excellent prognosis.  They said [&hellip;]</p>

In writing my best-seller, When Life Throws You Lemons…Make Cranberry Juice!, and in living life in my skin the past few years, I have learned a lot about determination. Not determination to succeed, but determination to try. I know, I know–Yoda said “Do or do not; there is no try.” I use that on my [&hellip;]</p>

Welcome to my blog. I wrote a book about my struggles following the removal of a benign brain tumor. I&#8217;m using this blog to continue to share my challenges and victories. I&#8217;d love to hear your stories too! My book is called &#8220;When Life Throws You Lemons&#8230;Make Cranberry Juice!&#8221; My sarcastic twist on the famous [&hellip;]</p>