The phrase "one day at a time" is often associated with those in recovery from drugs or alcohol. However, it can also be applied to any situation where one re-discovers the preciousness of life.

How would you live day to day if you found out that you had an inoperable condition which could take your life at any moment? That is exactly what happened to Carol, known as Stazjia on Squidoo. In "I Had a Mini-Stroke and What Happened After," she shares her very personal story. Besides highlighting very helpful information about the signs and symptoms of strokes, she also explains how she felt and her subsequent thought process when told that her condition was inoperable. Carol's first thought was that she couldn't die before the Olympics came to London in 2012!

Since her stroke, Carol has come to terms with her situation and taken some practical steps in the event that she has another stroke, for example, moving into a sheltered flat (complete with alarm cords) with a manager on site. She deals with limitations such as fatigue and short-term memory loss. All in all, she tries to keep life as normal as possible, focusing on doing the things she loves, like writing. To quote Carol, "It is possible to live contentedly and meaningfully. Perhaps the important things are to find something you want to do and to achieve a level of calm without lying to yourself about your condition."

Carol is an inspiration to me and many others. One way I know this for sure is when I look at the comments on her page. They are powerful and show how well she has connected with others by writing about her experience. And you will see that she has responded to almost every comment. Thank you, Carol, for sharing your story and I wish for you front row seats at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Visit: I Had a Mini-Stroke and What Happened After

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I've grown in wisdom as a parent over the years, but I certainly had only a fraction of that wisdom when I started having kids! I don't regret anything – - I did some things really well and other things not so well – - but it sure would have been nice to have my current wisdom when I started out!

That's why I was so impressed with Felicity Luckey. She's a woman of great wisdom. And she has that wisdom early on in her parenting journey.

Her lens, 100 Things I Want to Teach My Son, starts out with a significant statement. Felicity writes, "This is my list of the things that I believe will teach him to make the best possible choices for himself, and help him to live a happy, healthy, successful life."

The key word here is "himself."

And that's a wise and brave statement.

The statement is followed by a quote from Kahlil Gibran: "You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts."

How often, as parents, do we significantly influence our kid's thinking in order to protect them or pass on what we think is right in a situation? We do it with good intentions and it might seem like the safest course of action, but is it the wisest? Does it allow our kids to be able to make their own choices and develop their own thoughts?

Felicity goes on to share some powerful quotes that speak of the things she wants to teach her son. Something hugely important is, "I believe in you" (Blaise Pascal).

Wow.

How empowering are those words? I believe in you. They speak volumes about the value of a person . . . about the trust that we place in that person to make the choice that's right for them. How desperately do people want and need to hear those words?

Powerful stuff.

Actually, the entire lens is that powerful. Through quotes from unique sources, video and her own words, Felicity inspires people to take a look at what they want to pass on to their kids and encourages us to gain parenting wisdom from one another. So, it's even great for people who don't have kids. After all, "It takes a village to raise a child."

What would you add to your list of things to teach your kids?

Visit: 100 Things I Want to Teach My Son

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As a fitness instructor I help senior citizens stay active in their daily lives with exercise, stretches and sometimes laughter. My brother helps senior citizens when their daily activity has become too difficult to handle. We have both seen, too often, how difficult life can become for senior citizens who loose their ability to stay active or take care of themselves, as they grow older.

Sometimes, when daily activity has become too painful or too difficult to handle something as simple as innovative clothing designed to make life easier can make a huge difference in a person’s life. Fortunately, Discover the uses of Adaptive clothing, by Rewards4life, shows us the benefits of adaptive clothing, clothing made for individuals with specific needs (young or old). The article is informative, well written and organized. The introduction draws you in with words like "dignity," "pride," "stress and pain free". Even the pictures are attractive and heartwarming.

The rest of the page offers helpful information, situations and issues in which using adaptive clothing would make life easier and more dignified for the people that wear them, as well as the caregivers who must look after them. For example, we learn why adaptive clothing with a zipper in the back would help keep a patient with Dementia from disrobing or undressing himself in public. We learn why adaptive clothing with Velcro would be more suitable for someone who has joint pain and cannot button, zip, or tie her clothes because of this pain.

I would like to see more heart-warming pictures added to it as well as more pictures of the adaptive clothing up close. A video of the clothing in use would also be helpful. As with any article I would like to see green alternatives, such as organic adaptive clothing. Besides that, the entire work serves a good purpose, to inform the public of products that can make difficult living not as difficult and a lot more freeing. Thumbs up!

You can give it a thumbs up too, leave feedback and share the link to it with family and friends.

Visit: Discover the uses of Adaptive clothing

Could you imagine not being able to change your life if, for some reason, you weren't happy with it? I couldn't. Although it's not something that I've ever thought of consciously. I mean, who has?

"Oh, I think I might try a period of depression right about now. If I don't happen to like it, or it doesn't go the way I want it, I can always change it back again."

The ability to do that would be so good!

What is good to know is that there are ways to correct the mistakes you have made, or error in judgements with the help of others in your life or by the use of literature. This is what Five Books That Changed My Life by Val_Bonney is all about. She has taken the five books that has changed her life for the better and created a very revealing squidoo lens about it. I say revealing because the title and subject matter of each book says everything about what this wonderful lady has gone through in her life and how overcoming them has helped her to 'become a better person'.

Like her good self, self help books weren't something I ever rushed out to read let alone buy; I think for a lot of the older generation, these kinds of books don't even, or shouldn't, exist. But, for many of us, who lack the certain skills or knowledge to get us out of a predicament, they can be a life saver.

I, for one, love this lens for the honesty and openness that is written within it. I certainly won't be discounting the option of consulting the odd life guide in the near future ever again.

So, have you changed your life recently? If so, how did you make the changes? What helped you?

Visit: Five Books That Changed My Life

There comes a time in all of our lives when it is time to retire and take life a little easier. Yes, it seems even a valiant Knight who has devoted his life to protecting the castle and kingdom from trolls, griffins, bears, and dragons has to decide when his last working day is. He must face the reality of not being as agile as he once was and prepare to polish the shield one last time and hang up his trusty sword.

We begin to realize that our minds might still be sharp but the old body just can't move like it used to. It is difficult to think about passing the torch over to someone younger than we, someone who hasn't honed the same skills that we have. But, alas, the day comes for all of us even a storybook character who has fought many a brave battle defending his people and keeping them safe on the pages of a book. Enter one Sir Toby Jingle who is making this same decision for himself in a story for children by Wallace Tripp.

We learn about Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey into retirement from 4u2c in a most wonderfully decorated article reviewing the book that was a favorite to read to her own children when they were growing up. The illustrations by Tripp are just divine and her telling of the story just makes you want to grab the book and find a child to read it to!

Oh shoot, who am I trying to kid…I want to read this book myself, child on my lap or not! That is the wonderful thing about being a Grandma, I can revisit books that I read to my girls and find ones that I somehow missed like Sir Toby. I'll let you in on a little secret, promise not to tell anyone? I get just as much of a kick out of these books for children as the children do! Getting to cuddle up on the sofa and read to the granddaughters is just my little trick in getting to enjoy the book one more time.

I think you will agree with me once you have read the article about this book…you will want to share it with a child in your life too.

Visit Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey

Image Credit: Knights & Dragons Cards by FunGraphix

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