Quotes that Inspire

For the month of April I will be trying to take part in "The Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge" hosted by WEGO Health. The goal is to write a post a day for 30 days...holy cow can I do this??? If you want to challenge yourself as well, sign up here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012 and you'll be able to torture yourself start posting April 1st.

Today is day 2 of the Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge and I am still here!! For the second day of April, the task is to take a quote that inspires you and write about it. I love quotes. I have a book of inspirational quotes near me at all times. I add to them. I read them. I am inspired by them. Having to choose just one therefore is very difficult.

When I first read this task, I thought of the quote by Diabetes Dad which simply states "Don't do nothing". I love this quote. Its something that I pass on to families asking "what can I do?" I remind them that they must do what is right for them as long as it is something!

Its a great quote to get people going but I decided that if I had to write for 15 minutes, I wanted more from a quote. This led me back to my Facebook page. What quotes have inspired me enough to post them for all of my friends to see?

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it."

This is a quote that really resonates with me.  I try to be positive and believe in the best of people and situations. I try not to dwell on the negative or those who have been negative towards me. I use those experiences to grow and move forward (well I do try!).  I strongly believe in the last half of this quote.

I truly believe that there are no accidents in life. Everything happens for a reason. Every person crosses our path with a message. Its up to us to chose to pay attention and learn from those messages or not. A lot of people have crossed my path at just the right time. 

I met a woman in the hospital the day my second son was born who has become a life long friend...and so have our sons. She helped me through the bad times and laughed with me during many, many good times. 

A year or so after Diabetes entered our lives, I went online searching for other "parents of children with diabetes".  The parents I found have become friends, mentors and lifelines through the ups and downs of life no matter where on the planet they live. 

I wanted a support for my son so he would not feel alone.  In my travels online, I came across a woman who had felt the same way about her son.  She created Rufus the bear with diabetes.  Through her, I was able to send bears to numerous children in our area who also were living alone with diabetes at the time.

I learned about insulin pumps and discovered the amazing work of a woman in Nova Scotia. We talked for hours as if we had known each other a life time. She would inspire me and help me to do many other things.

Another amazing person to cross my path at just the right time was someone who I also found online. This person had spent years fighting for the rights of those suffering with mental illness. This person became my mentor and showed me how to fight...but more importantly how to win on a scale that I never imagined possible.

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. Diabetes came into our lives to show us the value of life, to bring us amazing friendships and to open doors that I never knew existed. It allowed me to change things and see things from a different view. I would make it disappear tomorrow but I would carry forward the friendships and lessons learned to my death.

These people, these chance encounters have created a variety of opportunities and thankfully I have somehow seen them and taken them.  The results have helped to create and mold who I am.  I think that they have not only made me stronger, but blessed me in ways that previously I could only imagine.