Home, Sweet Home Office!

While I enjoy working from home, the changes in my routine are still, at times, causing havoc on my thyroid health. I know my TSH is “in range”, but that doesn’t equate to feelings of health and well-being bliss. Honestly, it ticks me off. It’s upsetting. So, my reset involves a few different nuances this year.

Candid Conversations 

I did a lab visit and reviewed my numbers, including Vitamin D too, with my endocrinologist. I was honest and candid about how I was feeling to ensure my current plan for managing my thyroid health is on point, so we could tweak it together. I also talked to my chiropractor about how I was feeling. My doctor recommended increasing my fluids; you’d be surprised how much water you actually need to stay adequately hydrated versus how much you have been thought you need. Standards have changed. Our bodies are all different. We have different needs. 

Movement Goal

Whatever you choose to do to get moving, exposure to sunlight and feel better is your choice. Just make it a goal and meet it. I started Barre563 again and it gets me moving and communicating with others in a small group, which breaks up my workdays! My goal was to get out of the house on workdays a few times a week, for my mental well-being, and my nurse practitioner helped me get back to it. I’m telling you, it takes a team, she too was someone I went to for a very candid conversation when I was feeling not so sparkly. I love her!

Check-in

Checking in on your strong friends, weak friends, family members, coworkers, team members, and check-in with yourself! It’s a mindset. Some people are on top of it. Others simply don’t do it because they say they are busy with family, but hey, think of a time when someone reached out to you when you least expected it and needed it. Be better. Be open. Be kind. I think that the more you grow and the more you become comfortable with your personal self, you will see yourself become more empathetic towards others. That is a beautiful thing.

I gotta run. Be well!

Shemeka 

New Day, New Attitude

Today is a new day. It is a good day. You may be well into your day, if you’re a morning person, or perhaps sitting at the airport like I am (ORD), awaiting a flight, or if you are in a different part of the world from me. Regardless, my point being, you can chose not only your adventure, but your attitude. You can own, your feelings. You can chose to do you and feel better about the choices you make in your life, one day at a time. 

One of the largest lessons I’ve learned with managing my hypothyroidism, in addition to living my life, after my encounters with multiple benign tumors over the years, is that I definitely have to take advantage of the opportunity to chose my attitude daily. What this means for me, is that I chose to be a positive person, energy, spirit and force, daily. My choice takes a hell of a lot of work. I just make this shit look easy!

Today, in my daily practice of positive thoughts and actions (and caffeine consumption), I wish that for every negative comment someone thinks or says about another, two positive comments and actions cancel them out. I wish that people pass less judgment on others, if any. I hope that the heatwave subsides so those that are burning up can cool off, and those being hit by tropical storms weather them well. May my thyroid healthy friends and family members take some time this summer to revisit their daily and weekly habits, rituals. I recently had to hit the reset button, y’all! I feel great!!

I leave you with this question: What do you miss? 

Find it, create it, seek it and if heathy and not absolutely gluttonous - treasure it! We went thru a lot last year, and we continue to adapt, adjust, change, evolve and grow. 

Be well,

Shemeka

2020...Buh-Bye

2020, what more can I say? A hell of a lot more than I have chosen to, and I’ll spare you many details and keep this as short and concise as I possibly can. 

I’m still hanging on to my crown as the queen of positivity, because everyday, friends, I choose my attitude. I have no time for BS and negative energy, but I did shed some tears this year, limited association with friends (some not due to social distancing) as the world was struck by a pandemic, friends lost family members and jobs, and parents gave commencement speeches and homeschooled their children. This shit is all super sad. Working from home, watching the news, canceling flights...SMH.

Our lives literally changed. I’m still shook. I’d be lying if I said this had no impact on me. I left my partner, rediscovered a part of my inner self, increased my vitamin D levels (woot) and got a promotion. My life slowed completely down. Completely! For every negative there is a positive. People always have shared learnings from their toughest experiences and moments in life. Have you ever noticed that?

I started the year off in the Alps, followed by a business trip in Germany, with high hopes for the year overall. Plans were delayed and canceled once I returned home, things happened continually that were completely out of my control and comfort zone. So, I started focusing on what was urgent and important, then I flipped the script and pushed the reset button. It works when I’m focusing on my thyroid health regimen, so why not apply my principles to my life during a pandemic?! 

I read a lot of books! Oh, check out Mark Pilja’s, The Hashimoto’s Handbook. Mark reached out to me during this time. It really made my heart happy. His book is a great resource. He took the opportunity to provide a resource to all. He talks about our immune system, which everyone now is enthralled with, and discusses how it reacts to foreign pathogens. He dives in a little deeper to discuss chronic inflammation too. It is intriguing! He also covers, in brief for those of you thinking about new year’s resolutions, tackling weight from a sensitivities perspective! Love it! Food lists, ways to unwind and manage anxiety - he provides what we all can benefit from - thyroid health issues or not! Please read! He is @healthjuvenate on Instagram. Thank you, Mark!

Virtual Happy Hours continue to be had, books continue to be read, and masks continue to be worn, in my world. I am blessed, well and thankful for 2020. But I would be lying if I didn’t say, I’m beyond ready for 2021. I’m just keeping it real!

Be well!

Shemeka

Aha Learning Moment @ SUNY

I really found this course and experience taking Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning to be enlightening on the tech front. The exposure it has given me to all the different resources, via the EmTechWIKI, is incredible. I enjoyed the collaboration, and found the Communication & Collaboration and Creativity modules to be my favorites. With regards to my lifelong learning goals and the program,  I feel as though this program has given me direction, a newfound affinity for exploring new tools and collaboration, during a pandemic, virtually.

My aha moment, key takeaway, was during the exercise for Communication & Collaboration and Creativity, when I realized the course modules were so entrenched in a multitude of technology from audio, to collaboration, to visual, and that I would be able to use and incorporate my LinkedIn profile and blog into my coursework = ePortfolios. Your ePortfolio can be creative, collaborative, descriptive, have a splash of color: It is what you make it! I will continue to create, develop and learn.

Lifelong Learner Reflections

Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning, a course I am currently enrolled in, is giving me the opportunity to reflect on this. For my entire life I have taken classes, from childhood development classes as a toddler to primary education, to undergraduate and graduate studies, in addition to developmental training courses during my career years. Why? Because I have an affinity for learning. I have a growth mindset. I am an instructional developer.  I love to not only teach others, but I love to be a part of the learning process. Not only do a feel a sense of accomplishment in learning, personally, but when I can engage others and share dialogue with them, and add to the conversation, that is when I have truly benefited from the knowledge that I have gained, and expanded upon.

I am a lifelong learner.

The Blog

Let’s Share Dialogue is a purse full of thoughts, inspiration, and pieces of me. 

21 Days of Mindful Eating with Healthline

It’s time to share a little health bite with you. Before my friend’s wedding, I did 21 Days of Mindful Eating with Healthline. It was a perfect way to press the reset button and focus on a new avenue of self-care. Sign up for a mindful and intentional start to your day for the next three weeks. Your body will thank you for it! 

If you want a shorter commitment, no worries, because Healthline’s got you covered! Check me out on Facebook to find out how!

https://m.facebook.com/shemekarsumrall/

Be well,

Shemeka 💛