RISE4WAR -- Focusing on Wellness, Awareness and Recovery

RISE4WAR -- Focusing on Wellness, Awareness and Recovery http://www.thebody.com/content/66416/rise4war--focusing-on-wellness-awareness-and-recov.html A blog by Reggie Smith at TheBody.com. http://www.thebody.com/images/blog/reggie_biobox.gif Reggie and Dionne Smith http://www.thebody.com/content/66416/rise4war--focusing-on-wellness-awareness-and-recov.html 115 145 The Blessing of Desperation: My Journey to Reduce Stress After My HIV Diagnosis http://www.thebody.com/content/78779/the-blessing-of-desperation-my-journey-to-reduce-s.html The journey of my life was dramatically altered when I was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1988. There was so much that we did not know about HIV then. What we knew for sure was that people were dying in grotesque fashion, at an alarming and epidemic rate. It was not abnormal to expect that my fate would be the same -- that it would not take long for me to suffer and die. I was so afraid that my life was ending that it caused me a great deal of stress. As it turns out, stress is a killer too, and it works well with HIV to accomplish the goal of sickness and death. I could not turn back time and keep from contracting HIV, but managing my own stress was and is something I can control.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/78779/the-blessing-of-desperation-my-journey-to-reduce-s.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Tue, 15 Nov 2016 19:12:00 GMT Which Black Lives Matter? 2015 U.S. Conference on AIDS Informs, Inspires and Reminds http://www.thebody.com/content/76697/which-black-lives-matter-2015-us-conference-on-aid.html This year's annual United States Conference on AIDS was held in September in Washington, D.C. The focus was on the social determinants that have proven to be the stubborn factors that continue to contribute to the steady rate of new infections. There is much to celebrate about how science has developed medicines that are helping to control the progression of HIV in those who have been diagnosed as being carriers of the retrovirus. There is still a great deal of work needed to be done to improve prevention efforts, deploy educational strategies, and diminish or extinguish the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/76697/which-black-lives-matter-2015-us-conference-on-aid.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Wed, 18 Nov 2015 06:02:00 GMT Truth, Reconciliation and Healing for Heteromagnetics http://www.thebody.com/content/76325/truth-reconciliation-and-healing-for-heteromagneti.html My wife Dionne and I have lived with AIDS since 1984. I am HIV+, she is not. We have experienced the kind of suffering that families affected by HIV go through. We talk to people all of the time about the different circumstances and emotions that heterosexuals have to negotiate while either living with, or protecting themselves from, HIV.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/76325/truth-reconciliation-and-healing-for-heteromagneti.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Mon, 24 Aug 2015 18:36:00 GMT You Can Live With HIV, But What Happens When You Do? http://www.thebody.com/content/76183/you-can-live-with-hiv-but-what-happens-when-you-do.html I found out that I was HIV positive when my wife and I were tested when we became pregnant with our youngest son. We had been having unprotected sex for four years, in spite of my history with IV drug use. I had been blessed to be clean and sober for the four years we were together prior to our getting pregnant, but denial prevented us from believing that I could possibly be positive. I was elated when my wife's test came back negative. Through God's grace, she remains HIV negative. I thought her diagnosis was a good sign for her and our child, and possibly me too, but my luck was not as good. My test revealed that I was HIV positive.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/76183/you-can-live-with-hiv-but-what-happens-when-you-do.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Thu, 23 Jul 2015 13:32:00 GMT Monogamy for Life Can Be Tough; Taking Meds for Life Is Hard Too http://www.thebody.com/content/75009/monogamy-for-life-can-be-tough-taking-meds-for-lif.html I started having sex in elementary school most days on the back staircase during lunch. Afterwards, my little girlfriend and I played punch ball in the schoolyard with our classmates. When I turned 14, I met my next childhood sweetheart. Soon after, she and I joined the birds, bees, and more appropriately, rabbits in doing what came natural. As a teen, premature ejaculation took work to overcome. I really wanted to please my mate, so we put in lots of work. Sex has always been fun and something I wanted to share with many, but from little girls to grown women one thing seem to be a constant; women and girls usually want to be the "only" one, and men usually want more than one. God sure has a sense of humor, doesn't "He"?

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/75009/monogamy-for-life-can-be-tough-taking-meds-for-lif.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Wed, 24 Sep 2014 17:19:00 GMT Money Can't Buy You Time, but HIV Makes Life More Precious http://www.thebody.com/content/73958/money-cant-buy-you-time-but-hiv-makes-life-more-pr.html Have you ever been faced with your own mortality? When I was at the end of active addiction to heroin, I thought I wanted to die and wanted time to stop. When I was diagnosed with AIDS, I thought I was going to die and didn't want time to end. In either case, life was being measured in time.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73958/money-cant-buy-you-time-but-hiv-makes-life-more-pr.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Mon, 3 Mar 2014 12:02:00 GMT Heterosexuals Die Behind HIV Lies; They're More Volunteers Than Victims http://www.thebody.com/content/73874/heterosexuals-die-behind-hiv-lies-theyre-more-volu.html Just so you know, HIV is not a gay disease, nor is it a gift. Those are two of the biggest lies that people want to believe so that they can continue to have raw sex without having to ask or answer any hard questions. The allure of sex is so strong, that most of us, no matter what we say publicly, will gamble with our lives for the chance to "lose our minds" for a little while. Many men don't last long during sex and orgasms are brief, while many women are faking them. For many heterosexuals, the risk is high and the reward is tenuous.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73874/heterosexuals-die-behind-hiv-lies-theyre-more-volu.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Mon, 17 Feb 2014 23:21:00 GMT Two Sick People in Bed: Relationship or Hospital? http://www.thebody.com/content/73729/two-sick-people-in-bed-relationship-or-hospital.html Whether you are HIV positive or not, our sexual relationships often say something about who we are as people. No matter what kind of sex you like, our emotional history plays a big part in how we are looking to satisfy our sexual desires. It often seems like hurt people, hurt people. If two people in a relationship harbor resentments, have fears of rejection or abandonment, or have unmet desires (spoken or unspoken), there is fertile ground for the relationship to get "infected" and get sick -- figuratively and literally.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73729/two-sick-people-in-bed-relationship-or-hospital.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Mon, 27 Jan 2014 19:51:00 GMT Empathy Is Easier, After It Happens to You http://www.thebody.com/content/73628/empathy-is-easier-after-it-happens-to-you.html When I was first diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, I did not know what to do. I was blessed to be listening to WLIB in New York, and heard a wonderful doctor named Barbara Justice talk about the possible treatments she had for HIV, and the potential for low-dose alpha interferon to be a successful treatment. With a strange combination of faith and desperation, I sought out Dr. Justice and she became my primary care physician. We developed a doctor-patient relationship that was based on her desire to cure or heal me, and my willingness to participate in my own survival.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73628/empathy-is-easier-after-it-happens-to-you.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Thu, 9 Jan 2014 20:56:00 GMT Quality Over Quantity; Everything Is Temporary http://www.thebody.com/content/73547/quality-over-quantity-everything-is-temporary.html When I was a child growing up on the Southside of Jamaica, Queens (SSJQ), I pretty much got along with everybody I came in contact with. It was a rough enough neighborhood, especially looking from the outside in. Being a pretty good athlete helped me to be accepted by my peers. In my heart, I was fearful of confrontation, so I'm glad to not have had to do a lot of fighting.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73547/quality-over-quantity-everything-is-temporary.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Fri, 20 Dec 2013 10:03:00 GMT When in Rome, Speak With the Romans http://www.thebody.com/content/72821/when-in-rome-speak-with-the-romans.html I had a great experience while at the United States Conference on AIDS in New Orleans. I have been participating in the conferences for the past few years of this annual gathering. This year I went with a minimum of expectations and/or questions. The focus this year was on how the HIV epidemic is disproportionately affecting the Southeast, and understanding the effects of the so called "treatment cascade" -- a study of how people access and maintain treatment for HIV. With the access to care being a major issue, and the Affordable Care Act changing the lives of many, I hoped to get a sense of how to help make sure more people get the information necessary to make this transition.

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72821/when-in-rome-speak-with-the-romans.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Thu, 26 Sep 2013 17:04:00 GMT Free Your Mind, and Your Ass Will Follow http://www.thebody.com/content/72818/free-your-mind-and-your-ass-will-follow.html In preparation for this year's United States Conference on AIDS, I met and spoke at length with some very special people who were hampered by fear about not being able to meet their perceived needs for treating their diagnosed HIV. America has cut funding, people have outlasted the usefulness of some medications, and stigma causes some into lies or self-imposed emotional exile. It seems that once again, the synchronicity of life has attracted a few persons and situations to me who were vessels for the information my soul longs to have answered. Ultimately, I was being confronted with the same question Neo had to answer when Morpheus presented it -- would I take the red pill or the blue pill. Being a human diagnosed with HIV myself, like so many others, I have had to decide whether to remain lost in the distraction and illusion of the Matrix, or seek to know myself beyond the construct of the system of control?

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72818/free-your-mind-and-your-ass-will-follow.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Wed, 25 Sep 2013 08:00:00 GMT Is It Homophobia or "Heterophobia"? Tell Them That It's Human Nature. http://www.thebody.com/content/71597/is-it-homophobia-or-heterophobia-tell-them-that-it.html Biologically speaking, we all have one thing in common. No matter what your sexual predilection may be, we all have been born as a result of an egg from a woman and sperm from a man. I am not homophobic and I don't think we should judge others by their sexual preference. Our mind uses judgment as a means to separate us from each other, but we are all connected by our humanity. Stigma around HIV is partially based in heterosexuals' fear of being identified as gay. As a heterosexual black man, people of other sexual persuasions have hit on me, but no one has convinced me to try anything I didn't want to. Of course there was that time I danced with that (good looking) drag queen at the club, but that could happen to anybody, right?

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/71597/is-it-homophobia-or-heterophobia-tell-them-that-it.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Fri, 24 May 2013 15:44:00 GMT Our Secrets Keep Us Sick http://www.thebody.com/content/71259/our-secrets-keep-us-sick.html Growing older does not always translate into developing emotional maturity. I know that I learned how to interact with people in a way that avoided conflict. I did not want to hurt anyone else's feelings because I knew how it felt, and I also feared retaliation and then escalation. So I learned how to tell people only what I wanted them to know, and more often than not, I told them what I thought they wanted to hear. I'm a Libra, so I thought I was just being diplomatic, but it turns out I was actually living more like a spy! As a spy, I operated under the assumption that most people don't want (or need) the truth. In fact, most people can't handle the truth!

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]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/71259/our-secrets-keep-us-sick.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:05:00 GMT HIV Is Not a Gift. HIV Is an Opportunity. http://www.thebody.com/content/70625/hiv-is-not-a-gift-hiv-is-an-opportunity.html In my travels, I have heard that some people, as a result of their economic situation, have actually wanted to and tried hard to contract HIV so that they would be eligible for the social services that would not ordinarily be afforded them if they were not HIV positive. In that regard they refer to HIV as "the gift."

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/70625/hiv-is-not-a-gift-hiv-is-an-opportunity.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:09:00 GMT The Black Church, HIV and Love http://www.thebody.com/content/69251/the-black-church-hiv-and-love.html The church is a great place to spread love. So why has fear and ignorance kept many, but not all churches from using their influence to speak to the hearts and minds of their parishioners about the spiritual, mental, and emotional effects of the AIDS plague?

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69251/the-black-church-hiv-and-love.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Mon, 1 Oct 2012 13:25:00 GMT That's the Way of the World http://www.thebody.com/content/69157/thats-the-way-of-the-world.html So, my daughter just had twins!! What a blessing it is to be alive to see the miracles of life that are happening with my children. My oldest son just had my first grandson last year. If you had bet the odds 25 years ago when I was diagnosed with AIDS, that I would be here to see these amazing events, you would probably be to the good! It's great to see my personal lineage continuing to propagate.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69157/thats-the-way-of-the-world.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:10:00 GMT It's Time to RISE4WAR! http://www.thebody.com/content/69057/its-time-to-rise4war.html Having lived with AIDS for over 25 years, I have had many different experiences that I believe we all should benefit from. My wife has been with me the whole time, and she remains HIV negative. We have raised four children and now have four grandchildren, with twins on the way! We educate about the HIV science and the emotional part of this disease, which often goes overlooked.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/69057/its-time-to-rise4war.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:50:00 GMT Twelve Steps to Positive Attitudes http://www.thebody.com/content/68971/twelve-steps-to-positive-attitudes.html I have personally benefited from using the principles of this 12-step program for those of us who acknowledge that we are affected by HIV. I say "those of us who have acknowledged" because most, if not all of us, have been affected by HIV. Not everyone has come to terms with it, or has identified just how they are affected. Let's explore some of the scenarios with which YOU may be included in this demographic first, and then discuss whether this program may be right for you.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/68971/twelve-steps-to-positive-attitudes.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Mon, 3 Sep 2012 10:05:00 GMT It Takes a Fool to Learn That Love Don't Love Nobody http://www.thebody.com/content/68851/it-takes-a-fool-to-learn-that-love-dont-love-nobod.html As a heterosexual black man, I think it is time we had a talk about why more Black men are not talking publicly about living with HIV, protecting our women and families from HIV, and how to overcome the stigma of HIV. It is time to Rise for WAR!! I'll go first.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/68851/it-takes-a-fool-to-learn-that-love-dont-love-nobod.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:26:00 GMT Hope Is Cure for HIV http://www.thebody.com/content/68756/hope-is-cure-for-hiv.html A cure for HIV now seems more feasible because the world can visualize it. Although it is probably more appropriate to call what has happened in the person of Timothy Brown a "sustained virological response", like we do with Hep C, the fact that a human being seems to have been cleared of the HIV retrovirus is indeed promising. That is especially true for those who have had a hard time believing that it would ever be possible. Many of us, including myself, have had to make ourselves believe that a cure is possible and that healing is available to those who seek it.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/68756/hope-is-cure-for-hiv.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:16:00 GMT HIV at 50 + "Turning the Tide Together" http://www.thebody.com/content/68302/hiv-at-50--turning-the-tide-together.html The theme "Turning The Tide Together" speaks to the idea that at this point in the evolution of our conscious existence with HIV, we have progressed to the point on multiple levels of energy where we can overcome AIDS if we act in concert for the greater good. Considering where we started in this battle with HIV 30 years ago, when death seemed like a certainty, and fear won the day, we have come a very long way!! The mere fact that people are daring to not only dream, but speak of a day when at least the clinical diagnosis of AIDS (where immune system is depressed and HIV is present) can be eradicated, and at best -- a "CURE" or vaccine is possible, is exciting!!

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/68302/hiv-at-50--turning-the-tide-together.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:26:00 GMT Living Just a Little, Laughing Just a Little (Ain't Easy) http://www.thebody.com/content/67554/living-just-a-little-laughing-just-a-little-aint-e.html I am tired of taking meds!! I know that is not the politically correct position to take, but if you have been taking meds for a long period of time, as I have, you might just get tired of taking medications every day too!! Adherence means having to be disciplined enough to take medications EVERY day, in some cases two or three times a day. That is not an easy thing to do, even if it is the difference between good and bad health, or as we have been told and have sometimes experienced, the difference between life and death.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67554/living-just-a-little-laughing-just-a-little-aint-e.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:29:00 GMT Just Don't Want to Be Lonely http://www.thebody.com/content/67266/just-dont-want-to-be-lonely.html I was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988 when there was little or no hope for a long life, so maybe you can understand why it took me so long to decide to disclose that I was carrying the HIV virus. If you can possibly comprehend or remember how crazy the fear and stigma were in 1985, then you know it was appropriate for me not to tell anyone. Had I done so, it would probably have meant that I and my family would have been treated like lepers by many.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67266/just-dont-want-to-be-lonely.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Wed, 23 May 2012 10:37:00 GMT Love Times Love http://www.thebody.com/content/66415/love-times-love.html Giving honor to God in gratitude for this now moment, and acknowledging the presence of those spirits who have crossed over to the other side of life in order to guide and protect us, I introduce myself to you. My name is Reggie Smith. I am an author, Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, radio/tv personality, recovering addict, and a passionate, informed advocate for living well with HIV and hepatitis C (hep C). My wife, Dionne, and I know that we are greater than AIDS because we have been living well with HIV and hep C since 1985. I was diagnosed with HIV and hep C in 1988 when we got pregnant with our youngest son. Through God's grace and mercy Dionne remains HIV negative to this day, and we are still married. She is my hero.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66415/love-times-love.html participate@RISE4war.com (Reggie Smith) Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:04:00 GMT