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Inspiration Exemplified - Live Out The Highest Truest Expression of Yourself

6/29/2020

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By Jackie White
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Today is about inspiration. Each day should really be inspiring in some way. What inspires you? What do you see in your world that ignites a fire within you? That which inspires you likely is connected to your purpose here on Earth.

Whatever that thing may be: a beautiful art piece, a soulful song, children playing, a perfectly baked pie or the architecture of a building. All of these can be that thing that inspires you.
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The question then is, what do you do with that inspiration? If it excites you and you are drawn to whatever that thing is, then you shouldn’t waste it! Maybe you express it in something you do or make? Whatever that thing is, don’t waste another day not expressing that in your life!

It can be helpful to begin with gratitude when you are looking for inspiration. Gratitude for each day. Gratitude for another chance at this thing we call life. Just recognizing that the best gift you could get is that you get to be here today. In this day and in the days past, you have had the opportunity to live out your life. You have made the choices that have brought you here to where you are today. The great news is that you get another chance to make a choice that can direct your life in ways that inspire you most. You get to be better and do better!

Think Quick!

Here is a quick exercise for you to find what inspires you.

Quick - what inspires you? What gets you excited? What would you do for free everyday if given the chance? Write it down.

Quick - what are you good at? What do people tell you are your talents? Write them down.

Quick - throw out failure or any constraints - What do you want your legacy to be? How do you want people to remember you? Write it down.

From this list, you should start seeing some things that really speak to your heart. You should see inspiration, excitement and likely your purpose in life. Those things you have written are your power base. They are powerful to you because they are in alignment with who you are and the reason you are here. Everyone has something special to give and when you express your gifts, you are not only inspiring yourself, you are inspiring others.

That’s how you find it. Inspiration. You owe it to yourself and to the rest of us to express your inspiration because we all feed on others excitement and energy when they are doing the things that feed their soul. Just imagine if everyone was following their calling and doing what inspires them? The positivity and happiness in the world would be buzzing with energy and inspiration!
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So, if you take anything from this today, please just start. Start finding ways for you to be inspired. Find ways you can express what really lights you up! A great way to get started is to get involved with SoulShine’s Ready Reset Goal program. It’s free and it is all about inspiration and getting after your dreams and goals. Let us help you find your next right step and get on the path to your inspiration and your dreams! Click here for more information:

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/A16o4j6/readyresetgoal

Shine On!
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If You Can Do More, You Should Do More. Lessons from the Front Line

6/25/2020

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By Erika Fehrenbach Prell
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If you can do more, you should do more.  This is the mantra of Bethli Zgraggen, wife, mother of 5, and family nurse practitioner, and why she felt the pull to take a travel nurse position in one of the United States Covid-19 disease hot spots on the East Coast. Most people say they want to help or wish they could, then there are the people that make it happen. Those that know this amazing woman are not surprised that she took action, leading by example for her children and all around her what it means to do more when you can.

The Unexpected Nursing Path
Bethli grew up in New Glarus, Wisconsin. Besides being home to the New Glarus Brewery, New Glarus is the Swiss capital of North America. Bethli, pronounced “bade ee”, comes from a strong Swiss heritage and actually has family that live in Switzerland. Bethli reports that she fell into nursing; her journey started and progressed naturally. Along the way, however, it became a perfect fit!

She worked as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) while getting her associate degree in nursing. She confesses she went this route because it was less expensive and had no waitlist. She began working in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Intensive Care Unit following graduation. Two years into her nursing career, she completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. She realized she wanted to continue her studies with an advanced practice nurse degree. Initially, she thought she wanted to go become a nurse anesthetist, which is a specialty in anesthesia. After working in the cardiothoracic surgery and the pediatric post-anesthesia unit, she found increased interest in learning how patients got to the point of needing surgery and how she could help from the frontline. She turned her sights on becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner. She is slowly but steadily working towards her Doctorate in Nursing. She reports she is doing this mostly for herself, as she has always had the goal of achieving a terminal degree, but also wants to show her kids that you can accomplish anything with perseverance and determination. 
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A Calling to Do More
In January of this year, Bethli started to get the sense that Covid-19 was posing a huge health threat. She thought she would be needed at UW-Madison Hospital and Clinics in Madison, where she had previously worked as an ICU nurse prior to becoming a nurse practitioner. Since it had been a while since she had worked at the bedside, she began refreshing her knowledge on ventilator setting and intravenous medications. Leading with her mantra in mind, she had the mindset that if I can help, I should help.

Like many other places around the state and nation, she experienced job-related changes as her patient load decreased significantly and switched to telehealth. She kept thinking she had other skills that she could offer in this health care crisis. In March, she started thinking about taking a travel nurse position and helping in a high need area. She had a conversation with her husband as well as her mother and sister about whether or not she should do this; all of them were supportive of this idea, particularly her husband who never hesitated in his support of her.

She didn’t want to take her skills elsewhere if Wisconsin would end up needing her so she held off for a while. As March faded into April, it became clear that Wisconsin was successfully keeping case numbers contained, and the hospitals and ICUs were not overcrowded. Bethli approached her clinic regarding her desire to take a travel position to help on the East Coast and if this would be possible. Again, she was met with nothing but support and encouragement from her employer; they came up with a plan for her to work remotely via telehealth to see her family practice patients. Bethli and Joe discussed her desire to help with their 5 children, Madeline (11), Lily (7), Isaac (5), and twin boys, Fritz and Wally (3). Initially, Madeline was hesitant and didn’t want her to go. During the discussion, however, the entire family came to the conclusion that she had to go and help. Now, Madeline has told Bethli how proud she is of her.

Bethli contacted a nursing recruiter on a Friday. She decided on a position in Edison, New Jersey, which is about 1 hour from New York City. She would be going to the JFK Medical Center, which was a large neuroscience rehabilitation facility that was temporarily converted to an over 80 bed intensive care unit for Covid-19 patients. Her decision was not based on case severity, on the contrary, she wanted to go where her extensive ICU skills could be utilized to the fullest. Rather, her decision fell on not having to learn a different electronic medical record; for you health care providers reading this, you will completely understand that! (For you non-health care providers, learning a new electronic record is tedious at best.) She was granted an expedited nursing license 24 hours later. She packed up and left the following Tuesday, arriving in New Jersey that same day, and started her first shift the following day.

The Frontline Experience
Bethli was thrown right into the fray. She had two orientation shifts, then was started with patient assignments. When she arrived, there were 84 critically ill, ventilated patients. She was assigned 4 ventilated patients each shift; to put in perspective, a typical patient assignment would be 2 ICU patients as critically ill as these were for 1 nurse. Bethli said she felt very welcome and appreciated by the core staff; if it wasn’t for the travel nurses, the core staff would have had a 6 to 7 patient assignment. This would have been disastrous on two fronts; the core staff would have been stressed and overworked while patient safety and outcomes would have suffered.

Bethli recalls that she had to retrain herself on how she performed her nursing duties. One of the first things was on how she reacted. For example, when a ventilator alarms, her instincts were to go and help the patient. However, in the case of Covid-19, she had to learn to suppress this instinct and take the necessary steps to protect herself with personal protective equipment first. The emphasis was for health care providers to take care of themselves first before helping the patients, otherwise, they are no help to anyone. Another big change was maximizing her efficiency. The process of getting on the personal protective equipment was so laborious that she learned to do as much as she could at one time during each patient interaction. She had to shift her mindset to doing the necessary tasks only. Nurses often bring the human experience back to the hospital experience; they bathe the patient, give back rubs, hold hands, do all the little things. These patients were so critical and a staff stretched so thin that these had to be foregone most of the time. This was very hard for the nursing staff but necessary.

Initially, Bethli reports patient outcomes were very poor. There were multiple codes and patient deaths per shift. As the weeks passed, however, outcomes improved as providers started learning successful ways to combat the illness. As the critical cases of covid decreased, the hospital started shifting back to scheduled surgical cases. Since Bethli’s intention was to help with the crisis, and the crisis was starting to wane, she cut her assignment to 7 weeks instead of 8. It was time to head home and get back to her family!
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While Mom was Away
Bethli is so proud of how her husband and kids stepped up while she was away. Between her
shifts at the hospital and duties as a family nurse practitioner via telehealth, Bethli worked close to 72 hours per week. Her East Coast colleagues couldn’t believe she was working that much. Bethli laughed at this and had two funny responses. First, this was a highly unusual time; since everything was closed and most people were quarantined, her only option was to hang out at her extended-stay hotel room. And, here’s the funny one all parents will relate to, she has 5 children ranging in age from 3 to 11; this is the best, uninterrupted sleep she has gotten in over a decade! 

When she wasn’t working, she spent time on Zoom with family and friends. She had breakfast every morning via Zoom with her kids as well as other chats during other times. She was amazed that her kids stepped up and took on more responsibility to help out while she was gone; however, she is skeptical it will continue once mom is back on the scene. It was definitely a team effort to coordinate all of this! They had the help of two sisters who had nannied for them in the past that alternated days during the week for child care, and Joe was allowed some flexibility of his schedule while he was gone. Bethli reports that she and Joe are a great team. They have been through several hard and challenging times during their marriage, including raising twins with a 1 ½ and 3 year old at home. She is grateful for her family’s support and love while she pursued this drive to help out. 
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Life Lessons from the Frontline Experience
Another principle Bethli has always lived by is life happens, things get shitty, change the narrative. This perspective to change the narrative came front and center in her life just over a year ago when her husband, Joe, was found to have a life-threatening but benign chest tumor. He underwent life-saving surgery, which really highlighted this mindset that awful things happen in life but you choose the narrative. Instead of being scared or asking “why me”, they chose to be grateful that the tumor was found and the surgery successful. This is a principle that she and Joe want their children to live by as well. From the minute Covid-19 came on the scene in full force, she made the decision to find the good in these times.

She chooses to feel fortunate for the path her life has taken, to particularly change the narrative on the unexpected things that take us by surprise in life. In her experience, these end up being the biggest blessings. A great example is she never thought she would have 5 kids but she can’t imagine life without them! She remembers when she found out she was pregnant with the twins. Being the oldest, Madeline was starting to get into all the activities...sports, Girl Scouts, gymnastics, dance. Bethli kept thinking to herself, “how will I be able to do all these things with 5 kids?!?”. Her dad gave her an awesome perspective that has served her family well; he said simply that kids do not need to do all of those things to be happy and that it is okay to slow down. She realized that having a tight family circle with a few meaningful activities was the way to go. Awesome advice!

This experience has highlighted the people that truly matter in her life. As often happens during a big life event, people showed their true colors-support came from and was absent from unexpected places. She realized the importance of taking time to maintain the relationships that add value to her life; that this was a piece missing prior to this experience. She has learned it’s important to prioritize who and what are the most important!

She is also grateful that this experience has helped focus her life purpose. Prior to her front line experience, she was starting to wonder if family practice was following her purpose and considering going back to bedside nursing. These 7 weeks gave her a glimpse back into that world. She came to the realization that she went into family practice to help people on the path to health before health becomes an issue, to focus on prevention. This is the opposite perspective and influence of a bedside nurse. She realized that most of the critically ill patients had other medical conditions, which put them at higher risk. This solidified her purpose of helping people intervene earlier in their health to prevent this path from unfolding, to be their catalyst of health change. Along with this, she is interested in exploring per diem ICU shifts a few times per month to keep her skills fresh and satiate her desire for bedside nursing.

The final principle that Bethli believes strongly in is that do good and good things come your way. What a fantastic example of a positive mindset combining the power of the Law of Attraction! Bethli, you are an amazing example for others on taking action to make the world a better place, whether through your children whose lives you are positively molding, the patients you help in your family practice, or doing what others are not willing to do by going to the frontline of a pandemic. Keep leading by example and showing the world what kindness in action looks like!

Shine on!​


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Always Daddy’s Little Girl. Life Lessons from My Dad

6/24/2020

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By Erika Fehrenbach Prell
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There is no denying that there is a special bond between fathers and daughters. That whole “Daddy’s little girl” thing is real. Being a daughter myself, I know it first hand but am also witnessing it with Lucy and Adam. All that little stinker has to do is give her dad a huggle with a back pat, and you see how tight she has him wrapped around her little finger. (And, let’s be real, she has her grandfathers and brothers sucked in just as much.) There are so many things I could write about my dad but one event surfaced as a perfect demonstration of my dad’s love for me and that special father-daughter bond...my wedding day.

A daughter’s wedding has to be a very emotional time for a father. It’s that pinnacle moment when “Daddy’s little girl” is actually growing up, no matter her age at the time of the wedding. In the days leading up to and on that big day, my dad’s pride and love for me glowed brighter than ever before. These were not only special moments but also amazing life lessons.

The Big Ask
My then boyfriend and now husband, Adam, met with my parents for lunch to do the traditional asking for permission to marry your daughter conversation. A little background on Adam and my history; we actually “went out” in seventh grade, graduated high school together, and Adam coached my little brother’s baseball team with my dad for a few summers. Adam and I reconnected after our 5 year class reunion and started dating then. Adam knew my parents very well so it wasn’t a totally awkward conversation. 

My dad is the happy-go-lucky life of the party, always making jokes and having fun, kind of guy; he’s not an intimidating force. He rarely raises his voice or gets angry; when he does, however, everyone takes it very seriously. My dad told Adam that he appreciated him meeting with them and had only one concern. At the time, I had just started graduate school to become a nurse practitioner. My dad told Adam that school was very important to me and that my education, however far it might go, should be a priority in our future. After releasing his held breath, Adam said that would be no problem!
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The Perfect Dress
My dad is a retired photographer; I actually hail from a family of photographers, starting with my grandfather and extending to my dad, uncle, and aunt. In his career, my dad has seen a lot of weddings. In an unexpected and surprising twist, my dad had strong opinions during the wedding planning process from the venue to the invitations to the decorations to the dress.

Like many newly engaged brides, I immediately went out and bought a bunch of magazines to start on the quest for the perfect dress. I found a dress that I absolutely loved but had a hard time finding a store that had it to try on. At the fourth bridal shop appointment, bingo! They had it! At this point, I had several contenders at other boutiques but the moment I put this on, I knew it was THE DRESS. 

I’ll never forget this moment. I was standing on the pedestal, looking in the mirror with THE DRESS on when my dad walked in. He knew it was the one I had been searching for. He had me step down so he could fan out the train. He had me walk around the store. He had me turn to see how it would look with the train to the side. (Basically, making sure it would photograph perfectly.) Then, he said simply...yup, that’s THE DRESS.
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The Special Touches
Our wedding had a fall theme as it was on October 1. We decided that it would be nice to have corn stalks, pumpkins, mums, straw bales, and gourds as decorations. My dad took on this job, and he took it very seriously, picking the best in each of these categories as well as delivering to the venue and staging it. My dad does have a great eye for detail, and it looked amazing!

At the reception, my dad had a few tricks up his sleeve that we didn’t know about. My husband loves pizza; I mean, seriously loves pizza with a capital L. During his father of the bride speech, my dad starts talking about the one thing that Adam loves in the world besides me was pizza. At that moment, he had arranged for the venue to bring Adam out a pizza! Everyone appropriately laughed but it showed exactly how much my dad cared about Adam. In true Tom style, my dad closed by giving Adam the perfect gift. It was a throw pillow that said, “A man’s home is his castle until the queen arrives” and ended his speech with, “Adam, your queen has arrived”. It was absolutely perfect with one exception; after having a daughter, a new queen may have dethroned me!
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The Father-Daughter Dance
Neither my dad nor I are big criers. The joke between my husband and I is that he takes care of that for the both of us; it’s funny because it’s true. Not surprisingly, neither my dad nor I cried during the dress purchasing, the pre-wedding pictures, the walk down the aisle. We were totally riding on the high of fun and being the center of attention, and then, the father-daughter dance happened. It started out fine, and then, it was like all the moments along with all the feels came rushing in at once. The video is quite funny. The first part of the dance we are chatting and laughing, and the second part we can barely look at each other. It was very special, and very Tom and Erika.

As an aside, I am sure you have seen those really funny choreographed Father-Daughter dances, right? When they start out slow dancing, then the must changes to some dance number resulting in the bride and dad busting a move? If I had a do over, we would do that!
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When your parents become grandparents, an interesting thing happens. Since grandparents often do not have to be the disciplinarians, they get to do all the fun and show all the love without restraint. Then, hand the spoiled rotten, sugar infused child back to their parents. One thing I have realized with my parents is the doting, crazy, over-the-top love they show to my kids is really how they feel about my brother and I. But, as my mom has often said, being a parent does not mean being a friend so that has to be reined in and balanced with discipline and structure. My parents have 5 grandchildren, 4 grandsons and 1 granddaughter; the lone granddaughter being my bonus baby, Lucy. It is evident that my dad loves all of his grandchildren, but it is equally evident that Lucy has a special place in his heart. I know she reminds him of when I was little and that undeniable father-daughter bond began, and that makes my heart so happy.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! To my dad, you are the best, and I love you very much. I’m grateful to have you as my dad, and I can’t imagine what life would be like without you in it. You are the rock so many count on. The guy that gets the job done. The person we call for how to do all the things. The man that brings the F into Fun and Family. Here’s to many more awesome adventures!

Shine on!
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The Secret to Life and How It Can Change Your World

6/22/2020

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By Jackie White
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Want to know a secret? A secret that can change your world? THE secret to life? If you know and practice this one secret, you can make your dreams come true.

If you have struggled with achieving your goals or if you have struggled with keeping a positive attitude in life, then learning this secret will help you rechart your course in life for success.

Does knowing this secret pique your interest? Are you intrigued to think that knowing this one secret could change your life? If so, I ask you to hear me out and read through this blog until the end. Once you do, then make your mind up on whether you might want to follow the way of this secret.

Are you in? Great! Here it is...The secret is something called the Law of Attraction. Hold on, don’t bow out on me yet! You may have heard of it before but maybe not understood what it really means.

What it doesn’t mean is that there is magic in the air, and you just wish for what you want and poof! It appears. Nope, that’s not it.
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Instead, it is a very logical way of thinking that streamlines what you attract into your life. It also falls under processes of thought such as positive thinking/psychology, the power of the subconscious mind or manifestation. It is all one in the same. All of these ideas can be summed up as “all that we are is a result of what we have thought”. This quote is from Buddha and it’s words are wisdom for the ages.

Think About It:

When you think and focus on something you are sending out a signal to the Universe and to yourself that whatever it is you are thinking about will come to pass. In other words, when you believe in yourself you can achieve far more than if you felt you were not worthy or competent.

Employing the Law of Attraction is the difference between having a goal and making that goal come to fruition. It is the difference of living a life fraught with negativity and living a life where good things are in abundance.

When You Believe You Receive;

The Law of Attraction is a law of the Universe that states we attract into our lives whatever we are focusing on. Another way to look at it is we focus on being positive and keep our goals to the forefront of our minds, then we are looking for ways to achieve rather than fail. When people have an internal dialogue that is positive they can manifest positive things happening in their lives.
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Another way to look at the Law of Attraction is to consider your focus. If you focus on something intently, like a goal of eating better, You will very likely have that thought in the forefront of your mind and your energy will be motivated to support your desire to eat healthier.

Several books have been written about this secret to life. In fact, there is a book by the same name called The Secret by Rhonda Bryne explains what exactly the secret is. Norman Vincent Peale also spoke of this very same secret in his book The Power of Positive Thinking. Another classic book called The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murray are all accounts of how you can manifest what you want in your life by changing your mindset.
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​The next step is action. You cannot simply believe something into existence without action. That is the part of the Law of Attraction many people miss. Regular action against what you desire will build the momentum needed to allow for your goal to manifest.  When you say yes to something in your life, you attract more of that into your life.

Now, to kick that up a notch, consider this next important law of the Universe and that is the Law of Inspired Action. The “inspired” portion of the Law of Inspired Action refers to what you feel is really important to you. Do you have a calling or a purpose that is pulling you to act upon a dream or a goal? If you do, then that will propel your ability to manifest that goal into existence. That inspiration will make your actions feel exciting and almost in a flow like state. You will feel aligned to who you are meant to be in life. 

Consider these examples of utilizing the Law of Attraction with and without the Law of Inspired Action. Both of these examples are attracting your desires to come true because you are believing in them and focusing on them, but one will propel you forward faster and with more joy than the other.

Action against a Goal: Regular efforts that you make towards a goal. It may feel forced, robotic or draining, but you are getting the job done.

Inspired Action against a Goal: Regular efforts that you make towards a goal. It may feel exciting, joyful and energizing.You can’t wait to do more!

How you can manifest your desires in life begins with a vision. There are many ways you  can do that, but the 3 most effective ways to utilize the Law of Attraction to your favor are through meditation, vision boards and journaling.

  1. Meditate - Meditating daily for a few minutes will quiet your mind and help you focus on those things that are important to you
  2. Vision Board: Visualizing what you want to see in your life is an important part of the Law of Attraction and manifesting your desires.
  3. Manifest Journal: A Manifest Journal is where you write down or script how you want your life to go in the format that it has already happened.
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The reason why these pieces are important to think through, visualize and put into your life’s script as if they have already happened actually tricks your brain into believing that what you are saying and illustrating have already come true. By doing this, it helps the Law of Attraction to align those desires with reality. 

Join SoulShine this month in our Ready Reset Goal Challenge or if you already have, kick it up a notch by utilizing the Law of Attraction! Grab your Manifestation Journal pages here:

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/ukTVg2B/manifestationjournal

Remember, believe and focus on that which you desire and the Law of Attraction will help you manifest your goals and dreams!

Shine On!
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Life Lessons from a Dad That Told Bad Jokes...The Story of Jack Hare

6/19/2020

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By Jackie White
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I believe everyone is here for a reason. We have a purpose here and everyone imparts lessons to all of us. As we approach Father’s Day, I think of my own dad. His jolly soul lifted others around him. He was light hearted and it wasn’t often he was cross. He truly enjoyed life, and I believe his example in having fun in life was the reason he was here. I reflect back today on the lessons I learned from my dad, Jack Hare and on some of his really bad jokes that made us all laugh.​

Life Lessons

1. Have Fun: Let’s get right to it, my dad was about having fun. He would turn his glasses upside down, get on the floor and play with the babies kind of dad. Babies loved him! They probably could understand Dad’s attitude of fun! If you ever need a corny joke, he had it. How about painfully silly pun? He had them. If you ever needed a laugh, a party, a drink, he was the go to guy.

What’s a Zookey? A Key to the Zoo (Duh!)

2. Life is too short don't waste it: Dad was not a wallflower. He was in it and he was taking advantage of what life had to offer! He lived life large and loud and with only a few regrets.

Oh and Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

3. Be Fashionable: Before I was born, photos of Dad showed him to be a pretty hip 1950’s/60’s dude. He wore suits and ties to work and I remember these great black and white spats. The ultimate in cool! Then came the 70’s and he moved on to the God-Awful leisure suits, but he was stylin’! I admired that my Dad always could wear pink and pull it off. Shoot, I thought he looked so awesome that when I was in high school, I began wearing all his cool old clothes (thin ties and sport jacket with big shoulders). 

What is a Honeymoon Salad Called: Lettuce Alone

4. Just Dance! This was dad. When there was an opportunity to dance, he was cuttin’ a rug! One of my favorite memories was the day he decided he would dance like a Pip (remember Gladys Knight and the Pips?). He was doing his Pip dance and thought he’d try to do the splits. He tipped over and hit his head on the coffee table. Listen, I didn’t say he was Fred Astaire, but sometimes, the spirit of something far outweighs technique! (Kind of like my singing!)

How Do You Make A Tissue Dance? Put a Little Boogie in it!

5. Be Yourself! There is only one of you ever in the world, so don’t try to be someone else. Dad was really good at making sure that I knew it was important to be proud of just who I am. He seemed happy with himself and for me, that looked like a good way to live.

Make it a Priority to Have Fun!

6. Vegas Baby: If you haven’t figured this one out yet, Dad was a firm believer in enjoying life and he did! Las Vegas was his Happy Place and we frequented there quite often! Number 7 and the crap tables, good food, the shows and sitting by the pool! We traveled the US in our motorhome visiting friends and family everywhere! Dad loved it all! 


What's the name of the Nevada City where all the dentists live? Floss Vegas

7. Be Creative: If you forget someone’s name, just call them George: Dad could never remember my friend’s names, so he got creative and defaulted to calling everyone George. I always thought that was a good strategy, but what I really appreciated was that he always took time to goof around and talk to my friends when they came over. It made us all feel important.

Laugh and Have Fun with Everyone!

8. Be Friendly: Dad was friendly with everyone. He was the ambassador of chit chat. He could chat it up with anyone and he loved meeting new people. We would go camping and it wasn’t long and the neighbors next door were our new best friends!​

Make Sure to Have Fun!

9. No Need for Roughing It: Just to be clear, we never roughed anything! We camped in an RV. There was no sleeping on the ground! And, hey, if it is cold outside, crank up the heat, and if it’s hot outside, blast the air conditioner! Yes, I admit, the apple doesn’t fall from the tree on this one!

Knock Knock - Who’s There? Rv, Rv Who? RV There Yet?

10. Be Generous (but not too much): Dad was generous with everybody. It’s such a good quality, but I also saw how he might have been too generous on occasions. I learned there is a balance between those two extremes. That’s a good lesson to learn.

And Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

11. Love Your Wife: I always knew Dad loved Mom. That was so good for me to see that. I knew Mom and Dad would always be together. Stability and love were the foundation I saw to be important.

How do you make Holy Water? Boil the Hell Out of it!

12. Love And Be Proud of Your Kids: Dad was always proud of his kids. Were we all perfect? Nope, but he still loved us and was proud to be our dad. ​​

The Morale of the Story is to Just Have Fun!

I was blessed to have Jack Hare as my dad. He made me laugh and I knew he loved me. I do believe he was here to bring a smile to people’s faces and for them to have fun. He accomplished that goal in my opinion. Of course, the biggest lesson I learned from my dad was to have fun. I most definitely subscribe to his “Have Fun Philosophy” and I hope that after reading this you may consider the ways you can find more fun in your life too! And, hey, at least you have a few new jokes to try out!

Happy Father’s Day, Have fun and Shine On!
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Recess is the New Exercise(An Example of the Power of Mindset and Habit)

6/18/2020

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By Erika Fehrenbach Prell
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All right, DreamChasers, I have a confession to make. I have a bad attitude when it comes to exercise. It is one area that I struggle keeping my mindset in the positive and possible. I find myself thinking of exercise as a commitment, a task to complete, a “have to” and not a “get to”. My inner monologue, and perhaps my actual voice, is pretty whiney about it, too. It is no coincidence that this negative and fixed mindset ruins my efforts at making exercise a permanent habit in my life.

I have to ask, does anyone else feel this way? Or is it just me?

During my failures, I have found some strategies that help, particularly the more fun and variety I can bring into exercising, the better. Switching things up, especially when I start to feel dread or boredom, is crucial for me to continue my quest to make exercise just what I do, which is just another way to describe a habit. But, that dang exercise continues to slip back into obligation and “have to”; I haven’t quite hit on the perfect way to maintain my positive mindset.

That is, until recently. An unexpected blessing from the stressing of virtual learning may have given me the key. Per the usual, it was so very, very simple. When you need a new belief, you need a new story to tell yourself. The story of exercise being a “have to” is so deeply ingrained in my brain that a new story was needed to change my belief! Because sharing is caring, I want to share my new phrase for exercise with you in case you are in this same struggle cycle.
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Cue the drumroll...ta da da daaaa!!! Exercise is out, recess is in! That’s right, I now refer to exercise as recess, and it has been a difference maker! This was totally an accident. During a warm spring day during virtual learning, I told my kids, who were getting a little squirrely, that they had 10 minutes to get ready because we were going outside for recess. We went outside for our first of many daily walks, weather permitting. These have been joyful, full of interesting discussions, cool discoveries, and snapping colorful pictures using Liam’s InstaMax polaroid camera. As an aside, a polaroid camera has been a good life lesson to learn the value of taking that one special photo that you can’t just delete. 

It was midway through one of these recess breaks that it hit me...recess is the epitome of fun! Hear me out a second. What comes to mind when you think of recess? For me, I think of swinging, playing kickball, four square, fifteen minutes of total freedom and fun with a capital F before settling back into schoolwork. If you haven’t observed a recess break in a while, it appears as complete chaos at first glance but there is one thing in common with all these busy little bees running around the playground...fun while exercising. Here’s the kicker...no kid ever considers recess time exercise, right? It’s straight up fun, even when the exertion is evident by hot, sweaty faces and long lines at the water fountain...or is it a bubbler? 

That’s when it hit me...the difference maker ah-ha moment! I proudly proclaimed for all the world to hear that from now on, exercise would only be referred to as recess. Since this was mid-quarantine, my proclamation only extended to my 3 kids and husband but that did not lessen my enthusiasm! The minute I catch myself thinking exercise, I immediately replace it with “recess time”! This simple little phrase brings all the happiness, joy, and fun from recesses gone by flooding into my brain resulting in, get this, excitement to go get my move on. 

I am a self-proclaimed science nerd. That flood of happiness is a real, physiologic reaction going on inside my body. Thinking about the fun and joyful time that recess brought releases the mood-elevating chemicals in your body called endorphins into your bloodstream. This is literally like happiness flowing throughout your system! This, DreamChasers, is why exercise is out and recess is in; it makes it so much more enjoyable, not to mention easier, to stick with my commitment to exercise when I am already in the fun zone. 
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This is an awesome example of combining the power of a mindset reset and habits. As a quick refresher, habits are automatic behaviors that the brain develops to be more efficient. When your brain notices a repetitive series of behaviors, it can develop into a habit. This allows you to do the behavior on autopilot, which then allows the brain freedom to do something else. When used to your advantage, habits are a powerful strategy and tool to use to achieve your goals and dreams in life, DreamChasers. The key to using them, however, is you need to understand how they work. Once you have that understanding, watch out! Check out this past blog that dives into this topic: What’s the Deal with Habit? How Habits Work and How to Apply this Knowledge for Lasting Change in Your Life

https://www.findyoursoulshine.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-habit-how-habits-work-and-how-to-apply-this-knowledge-for-lasting-change-in-your-life

My ultimate goal of exercising is to make it a habit in my life. I don’t dread it or feel obligated; I enjoy it, and it’s part of who I am. It’s something that I just do, more of a “why wouldn’t I exercise”. DreamChaser, as you dive into the self-discovery and personal growth pool, you will find that it all starts with your mindset; you can only achieve what you believe. Some beliefs are easier to change than others, and the ones that will make the biggest impact on your life take the biggest effort. That has been this mindset and attitude towards exercise for me, but, wow has it been different since I stopped exercising and started participating in recess! Keep failing and trying again at those dreams and goals, DreamChasers. The struggle is real at times but it will be worth it! 

In the meantime, I have no idea if pink is the new black but recess is the new exercise. Whether you struggle with exercise or love it, try out the mindset reset that exercise is recess and see how that makes you feel. Correct your inner monologue when the word exercise pops into your mind or comes out your mouth and replace it with recess. It has been almost 2 months since I switched this vocabulary. Getting my move on consistently has never been easier or more fun. And, that is what living your best life is all about!

Shine on!
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Here's the Deal About Wasting Time…And How to Stop It!

6/15/2020

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By Erika Fehrenbach Prell
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I am sure you know all about wasting time, but have you ever heard of the idea of time expansion? (And, no, I am not talking about something from Back to the Future or astrophysics.) I am talking about when you use or set aside a larger amount of time than needed to complete the task. Time expansion is the ultimate in time wasting. A few examples might help illustrate this better.

My younger son, Liam, is a professional time expander for spreading out how long it takes to finish something. This kid can eat meals leisurely; I am talking about taking an hour or more to finish a meal. The rest of us will be moving on with our day, and there sits Liam, casually eating his breakfast without a care in the world. On the flip side, if we have a place to be like school or practice, he can eat the same meal in a normal time of 15-20 minutes. I remember my husband taking the boys to a fast food restaurant for a quick dinner before baseball last summer. Expecting that Liam would not be done in time, he warned him that they had 15 minutes to eat. To his surprise, Liam finished with plenty of time to spare. Adam asked Liam why he didn’t eat that fast all the time. In true Liam fashion, he responded with, “we aren’t always late for baseball”. Gotta love that kid’s outlook on life!

A great example for overestimating time that comes to mind for me is when you have a deadline for completing a project, like a semester-long assignment in college. Who actually took the whole semester to do it? If you were like me, and most other college kids, you saw that semester-long deadline and thought, “Ahhh...I have plenty of time”, and put it on the back burner. Then, with two weeks left of the semester, you pulled it out from the back of your syllabus and frantically got it done just in time. This wasn’t really a project needing 4 months; it was really a 2 week project, right? 
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Why is this idea of time expansion a big deal? It’s a sneaky little saboteur of your goals, DreamChasers! Time expansion causes you to waste precious time! And, in the case of overestimating time, you might delay getting started or put off starting something because it will take too long to complete it. How frustrating! Both are roadblocks in the way of you living the life you really want and deserve!

As both examples illustrate, there is an anecdote to time expansion that is equally powerful. Focus and intention. When the deadline is upon you, you no longer have the luxury of pondering and distractions; you are down to the wire and need to get it done efficiently and effectively. Push comes to shove, you have the ability to double down, take action, and execute. Afterwards, you may even say to yourself, “that wasn’t so hard...what was I waiting for?!?”. 

Time expansion is a pertinent topic right now. It’s June, DreamChasers. June. That means we are almost halfway through 2020. With the way 2020 has been going, you may be ready to close this chapter now. You may have totally forgotten those goals and dreams and plans you had for 2020, or this slap in the face we didn’t see coming with the pandemic may have derailed your plan. You might think you don’t have enough time to get those goals done! Give yourself grace that you lost focus and got off track. 
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Feeling better?

It’s tough love time. There is a fine line between grace and excuses. There’s so much time left this year to reset those goals and knock it out of the park! Stop using 2020 as the reason you couldn’t hit those goals and get started living the life you have always dreamed. Perhaps this year’s events were the hard reset you needed to get your life on track - give you time back from “all the things”, re-evaluate your priorities, and restructure your life the way YOU want it with better alignment. You have the opportunity to choose this time to be a blessing or a stressing. Shift that mindset to blessing, and you may look back in the near future and see that 2020 was the spark you needed to start on the path to the life you have always dreamed of living.

Let’s kick time expansion to the curb and double down on your goals and dreams, DreamChaser. The time is now, not next week, next month, or next year. NOW. I am willing to bet with focus and intention you can accomplish more in the back half of 2020 than you thought was possible. That’s the challenge I want you to join me in; lets bet on ourselves, double down our efforts, and kick the sh#t out of the time we have left this year!

Start by getting your focus back! The best way is to make a list of things you want to accomplish or do. (Guess what these are? Goals!) This list is your compass and will help you zero your efforts and time on the things that are important to you. Intention is making purposeful choices and taking purposeful action that moves you towards these goals. It's really that simple!

This will take effort and work. But as we get going and grab a few wins, momentum will be created that we can build on and ride to the end. All it’s going to take is focus and intention held together with commitment. You are worth it. Your goals and dreams are worth it. The life you are dreaming of is waiting for you. Going after your goals and dreams might be hard at times but it will be worth it. If there is one thing 2020 has taught so far, it is that you can do hard things. Double down and get it done!

Shine on!

P.S. If you are looking for more guidance in goal setting, check out the Ready, Reset, Goal Program we have been doing on Facebook this past month! It will give you a plan to put doubling down on your goals into action!

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/A16o4j6/readyresetgoal


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It's A Small World After All  - Navigating Ourselves in This New Life Through the Wisdom and Songs of Disney

6/11/2020

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By Jackie White
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We are on the crest of life changing right in front of our very eyes. We need to learn to live in this place and what better way to imagine what it’s going to be like than turning to the pinnacle of imagination and that is our friends at Disney. Let’s take a look at how we can begin to cope with all the change in the world today through wise and wonderful songs of Disney.
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So, to begin, we start with Aladdin and realize this is A Whole New World, that we live in. We might not have a magic carpet to fly on but we can look at the world in a positive way and see the new fantastic point of view! It’s a dazzling place we never knew. We are in A Whole New World.

We might feel some resistance to this new place and want to go back to the way things used to be, but we just have to Let it Go. Let it Go! Can’t hold it back anymore...Seriously, we have to really lean into this one because we can’t change anything that has happened. We have to tell ourselves that “the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all”.  We have to march forward and just Let it Go! The past is in the past! We will rise like the break of dawn! Come on guys, we can do this!
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​Can you feel the crescendo? What is a crescendo? No worries! Ah, yes, and that reminds me, let’s have an attitude of managing our worries positively. You know, like Hakuna Matata, means no worries! It’s problem-free philosophy!  So you say, maybe that’s taking it too far? Ok, let’s bring it back to simplifying the situation a bit. 

When we begin to go out into the world we might only want to Look for the Bare Necessities
The simple bare necessities. You will want to forget about your worries and your strife. That’s ok, just go for the Bare Necessities! There, that’s a good balance.
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Ultimately, we will be going back to work and this, too, may cause some anticipation. If you are feeling a little anxious, you can always Whistle While you Work. But remember what Mary Poppins said
 "In every job that must be done, There is an element of fun, You find the fun and snap! The job's a game and every task you undertake, becomes a piece of cake A lark! A spree! It's very clear to see that A Spoonful of Sugar helps the medicine go down and in a most delightful way!"  So, we aren’t advocating you become addicted to sugar here, just a hint to look for the good in everything, even in your work. It will be soon enough as the day ends and we skip our way out the door singing Heigh Ho Heigh Ho it's home from work we go!
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I think one thing we all look forward to is seeing our friends again. How are we going to handle that? Listen, I realize this isn’t a tale as old as time, but it is true as it can be. You might not have barely seen your friends, but then somebody bends...unexpectedly. Just a little change, small to say the least, both a little scared and neither one prepared. It’s like the Beauty and the Beast. Ok, maybe it’s really not like Beauty and the Beast, but it is a little scary, and no one is really prepared on how to handle social interactions anymore. I can tell you one thing is for sure, we will all figure it out. 

So what can we do in the meantime? You could look up in the evening sky to find a twinkling star. It might help because When You Wish Upon a Star it makes no difference who you are, Anything your heart desires will come to you. Maybe if we all do that , we will realize it’s A Small World after all. It’s that it’s a world of laughter,  a world of tears, it’s a world of hopes and a world of fears. But there's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware that it's a Small World after all. This pandemic has made us all very well aware of this, hasn’t it? It truly is a Small World after all.
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Listen, I had to put that one in here. Am I the only person who still enjoys that ride at Disney? I love those dolls from all the countries...ah, I digress.
So, in truth, this ride we have been on exemplifies The Circle of Life. It's the wheel of fortune, and it's the leap of faith, It's the band of hope 'til we find our place. Know that the path is unwinding and together even through uncertainty, we will find our place...and you know what? That is ok.

There is a lot of wisdom to be had from the wonderful world of Disney. Let’s all move forward with a song in our heart and make wherever you are the Happiest Place on Earth.

Shine On!
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Creating Memories Worth Remembering Takes Effort: The Summer Bucket List is the Key

6/8/2020

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By Erika Fehrenbach Prell
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Summer is upon us, DreamChasers! And, if you are like my family, this summer isn’t looking like our typical summers due to this whole pandemic situation. To say it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions is putting it mildly! Disappointment as things are canceled like trips and fairs to uncertainty as the fate of baseball and sports remains unknown to excitement as we have control over the majority of our schedule for the first time in a long time. That is where I choose to shift my focus...on what I can control. I encourage you to do the same!

Some of the casualties of these cancellations, however, are all those glorious things to occupy the time of my children like summer school, sports camps, and even the local swimming pool. I am sure I am not the only parent thinking, “what am I going to do with these kids to keep them off of screen all summer?!?”. The struggle is real. 

Then, it came to me! I remembered something that I literally just wrote about as a lesson from my mom (check out the full blog here (https://www.findyoursoulshine.com/blog/life-lessons-to-adapt-from-my-nominee-for-the-worlds-best-mom). Creating memories worth remembering takes effort! If I am being real, summer is typically an easy time to rely on all the things already going on to be the catalyst for creating memories, requiring mostly coordination of schedule. The blank slate summer of 2020 is a perfect opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade, DreamChasers, and the key to this memory creating is the summer bucket list!
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​I am sure you are familiar with the idea of a bucket list. It is typically a list of all the things you want to experience in your life; they may range from travel to learning an instrument to earning your degree. (As a quick aside, this list is unfortunately synonymous with “someday” and can, therefore, be put on the back burner. Here at SoulShine Life Connections we encourage you to work on checking those boxes now but that’s for another day!). The summer bucket list is along that idea except focused on things you want to do in the next few months. Like the traditional bucket list, the content of the summer bucket list is only limited by your imagination!

To get you started, here is the start of our summer bucket list this year; these are ideas that have either never made it on our list or has never been checked off because we were too busy with baseball and other things:

  1. Hit the bike trails and explore your city (and, maybe, attempt to find the best ice cream cone around!)
  2. Pack a picnic and hike some trails 
  3. Photo scavenger hunt 
  4. Paddle away on a canoe or kayak 
  5. Get your balance on with a stand up paddleboard
  6. Hit the beach and build a sand castle
  7. Cast the afternoon away fishing
  8. Catch a movie outdoors at a drive-in theater (or, create one in your backyard, if you are crafty!)
  9. Roast marshmallows and make a S’more (don’t have a firepit? Melt in the microwave or bake in the oven.)
  10. Get out the hose and have a water fight
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Write your list, make it fun! Plan your time to check items off your bucket list. You will be on your way to creating a fun summer full of memories worth remembering...and worth the effort you put into them!

Shine on!

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Are Your Soooo Tired of Hearing About Quarantining? Then this blog is for you!

6/4/2020

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By Jackie White
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Hey what are you waiting for? You have lived through a pandemic. A real honest to God moment in history and have lived to tell! So that begs the question, why are you sitting on the sidelines of life? I mean, you aren’t planning on going back to the way things used to be - are you? 

I realize not all of the BP (Before Pandemic) was bad, terrible or horrible. There was a lot of good stuff! But, what about that crap you have been putting up with? What about the running ragged? What about those bad habits like sugar and couch surfing? What about continuing to put those dreams on the back burner? Geeze - you don’t want to return those things! This is your opportunity to break free!
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Come here, stand on the edge and take a deep breath. Breathe in all the possibilities life has to offer. Whoo! That smells like joy and happiness! What if you just decided now is the time to really start living life? What if you took a step off into the unknown? It might be scary, but dang, it might be the oxygen you need to breathe life into your life! And, seriously, you just lived through the complete unknown of a pandemic! You are tougher than you even thought!

I am so excited for you! You can do this! You can start big or small, but one way to really start taking in all life has to offer is trying something new! I mean, look at all the change you have just endured. You had to live life differently for the past few weeks and maybe months. You did it! You may have even established some better habits! So, if you could do something different then, what could you try now? I am going out on a limb here and saying that you can and should follow what your heart is telling you to do. Just try.

You can start with itty bitty changes. What would the old you resist doing? Maybe the new you can step out a bit more! You could join a club or learn to play a new sport like frisbee golf, or how about a new haircut? God knows we all need haircuts! Once you do a little bit of trying, move it up to the next level of challenge. Maybe you have been wanting a new job, a new town to live in or a new healthy lifestyle. Good! You have your sights set on the prize!
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Life is Short - Start Living It!
So are you getting an idea on what’s at stake here? Your life and the quality of it. Take advantage of this time to hit the reset button and reestablish what your life is all about. It’s a fresh start! It’s life AP (After Pandemic). It’s a new found freedom! A new found appreciation of the freedoms you are afforded. 

Take time to review what your dreams are and look at why you have been ignoring them. What is on your bucket list? It is never too early to start checking those boxes! Life goes by fast! Especially after our experience of being locked down by the pandemic, we need to make sure not to take things for granted. Simple things like having coffee with a friend or taking a walk through a state park or eating at a local restaurant are important priorities. Let’s make sure we soak those things in too!
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A Toast to You!
Let’s raise a glass and toast to a newly energized commitment to living life to the fullest! DreamChaser, here’s to you!

Shine On!
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    Authors

    ​​​​​​​​​​Erika Fehrenbach Prell is passionate about inspiring and educating, others on their path to complete wellness-mind,body, and soul. This desire led Erika to the helping profession of nursing, and she obtained her Master's Degree as a Nurse Practitioner in 2007. Erika specialized in cardiac surgery, largely influenced by her personal experience with heart disease. While she loved working with this population, her heart's desire has always been to impact lives on a larger scale and from a proactive, not reactive, place. The universe answered when her path crossed with Jackie and SoulShine was born.  Erika finally feels she is walking in her purpose and is excited for this journey to unfold.

    J
    ackie White has been writing about life and its ups and downs for many years. With a degree in Industrial Psychology and a life-long student of personal development she is intrigued by how each individual chooses to live their life. Jackie feels strongly that truly living your best life is imperative to attaining peace and fulfillment. SoulShine was borne of her desire to inspire and teach others to live their best life. This is her mission and her dream.



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