Inspiring Blogger Award - Thank you, Leah Oviedo!

Today I was honored to receive the "Very Inspiring Blogger Award" from someone who inspires me more than she realizes, apart from her ImpowerYou blog (that can make you say "ouch!" when you realize you may not be living up to your potential) and the books of hers that I have read (such as the one I purchased for my niece, I Am More Than Just A Girl and the one I read more recently, How Will You Create Positive Change?). Leah Oviedo, presenter of this award, has been in my life more years than I can say, and her words truly mean something, for I have seen her evolve from a cocoon into a butterfly, and know that she is truly the deserving one.


ImpowerYou.org is about empowering women of any age - but it seems to me especially the pre-teens and up, when they are most impressionable - to recognize themselves, ourselves, as more than society might have us believe. Women are different in every fathomable way, and that's okay. In fact, it should be celebrated! Beauty and goodness come from within. Empowerment comes from within. None of these things is something anyone - man or woman - can give us. It is something we bestow upon ourselves. At least, this is the message I get from Leah's blog. Please, read it for yourself, and correct me if I am wrong!

Leah asserts that she nominated me for this award "Because of your commitment to health and a better organ transplant system." I hope to live up that, and keep working toward my commitment, with the help of my readers, my friends, my family. People like Leah, and people like you. So thank you, each and every one! You have helped to make this blog and my commitment stronger and more real each time I see the number count of readers go up on this blog. Truly.

Like most blog awards this one requires each participant to follow a few rules which are posted below. Enjoy! The rules: 1-Display the Award logo on your blog. 2-Link back to the person who nominated you. 3-State 7 things about yourself. 4-Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link back to them. 5-Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award requirements.

Seven things I am:

1. Empathetic
2. Thoughtful
3. Funny
4. Kind
5. Creative
6. Accepting
7. Interested

Unfortunately, I don't know of fifteen inspiring blogs (although I'm sure they are out there), but here are some that I have found) in no particular order as they are all great blogs to follow:

1. The Collection Cup - - Articles having to do with the mind, body, and soul; connection
2. The Better Man Projects - - My vision is that “The world needs better men.
3. ImpowerYou - - empowers individuals with real life tools
4. Happsters - - Happsters are all about happiness
5. Advocacy in Action|NKF - - National Kidney Foundation
6. Happy Wives Club -- On a journey to prove love and marriage still go hand-in-hand
7. Time to Start Loving Yourself - - Images and words to inspire
8. Lori Hartwell - - After... 4 kidney transplants... being taller than I look is a state of mind
9. My Chronic Kidney Disease - - A personal blog chronicling the experiences and learnings of a person diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) 
10. Food Babe - - achieving health, happiness and ultimate wellness  

HONORING, REMEMBERING, ENCOURGING

April 19 is National Blue & Green Day. What does this mean, you ask? It's your opportunity to "give HOPE to the more than 117,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list; HONOR organ, eye and tissue donors;
REMEMBER those that died waiting for their second chance at life; and CELEBRATE the
patients who received the gift of life through transplantation."

You might not realize it at first thought, but chance are good that you know someone first or second or third hand that has had a transplant or is need of one. And there may come a day that you - yes, you - may be in need of one yourself. 

According to the Donate Life America site:

Statistics

Currently, nearly 120,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants in the United States. For specific numbers visit unos.org
65,991 Multicultural Patients*
1,760 Pediatric Patients*
28,052 Organ Transplants Performed in 2011
14,013 Organ Donors in 2012
More than 46,000 corneas were transplanted in 2012
More than 1 million tissue transplants are done each year and the surgical need for tissue has been steadily rising
*as of March 2013

 Even if you keep your body healthy and keep the toxins out, life has a way of changing your circumstances.

Please think about those wonderful, selfless people who have donated in either life or death as well as those people who have so gratefully received those needed transplants to save or greatly improve their lives and have fun on April 19th: Have a blue & green party! Make a blue & green cake! Wear blue & green!

Thank you, organ donors and families who have made it possible for myself and others like me to live our lives fully.