How Healthcare Works, LLC

  I was recently a guest on The Neil Haley Show.   Photo credit: spoiu23 on pixabay.com Neil Haley is a tv/radio host, author, and speaker. His podcast is nationally syndicated and has over 5 million weekly listeners. Neil likes to help others grow. Neil is compassionate and has an engaging, warm, and encouraging personality. Neil Haley is also known as "The Media Giant" and provides services for brand consulting, social media management, podcast production, website design, and media coaching.  When Neil invited me to be a guest on his podcast to talk about my book, "Bragging About You" and about How Healthcare Works, LLC, I was so excited! I was so honored and humbled to have this outstanding opportunity and to gain exposure for the book and the business. It made me feel like all of those days struggling were finally getting me somewhere. Neil asked me for some talking points. He guided the conversation and made me feel comfortable, especially since it was my first

I almost named this post, "Why I love walking." Two years ago, I started filming walking videos for the Billion Steps Challenge in January 2020. Then, COVID hit, and my walking videos became about encouraging other people to get outside, how the diffusion of molecules made the disease less likely to spread, how being outside boosted your immune response, and also increased vitamin D production. My walking videos became about my health and encouraging others to be outside because "outside was okay." If you check out  How Healthcare Works on Instagram or the How Healthcare Works YouTube channel , you can see the original walking videos from the past two years.  I originally started the walking videos in Grain Valley, Missouri. Because of the cold weather in Missouri, many days I would walk around my living room or my basement or do steps in my home just to reach a few thousand steps a day. As time went on, I needed to get more creative with the steps because I was try

The day I made the walking video, "Speak Up. Speak Out. Use Your Voice," the sun was streaming through the trees on the Greenbelt here in Idaho. I found this gorgeous spot on the trail where the water tumbled among the trees, and the sun cast slits of light among the leaves and the water. The vision was breathtaking. Like something from a movie. I held my iPhone up to record the video, something that usually comes out without much rehearsing. This time, I did at least 30 takes of a one-minute video. "What is wrong with me?" I kept asking myself. "Why can't I do this?" I knew the answer, though. I knew that my problem was, and is, that I felt for years that I couldn't speak up, speak out, or use my voice. I felt so unheard and so invalidated. I told of struggles I was going through in life, and the response was "be positive" "stop complaining" or "you are exaggerating." I tried reaching out to people I thought cared, bu

Have you ever had someone tell you that they don't want to hear about your feelings? Or maybe someone you work with told you they don't want to hear about your personal life? In response you feel embarrassed, ashamed, guilty, and rejected. You may also develop  feelings of insecurity, jealousy, or social anxiety. Maybe you decided to withdraw from that person or from people in general because you thought they just didn't care how you felt. You felt emotionally invalidated.  What is Emotional Invalidation? Simply stated, emotional invalidation is a disregard and dismissal of someone else's feelings. Examples of emotional invalidation could be telling you that you are "overreacting" or that "other people have it worse than you" or "that didn't happen" or you are "too much drama." Gaslighting is another form of emotional invalidation. When anyone tries to convince you that your feelings are not justified, or valid, that is emot

It's the end of a long day. You feel exhausted. You spent a whole day at work or at home giving more than all you had. You are glad to reach the end of the day and feel like you have nothing left to give. All you want to do is sit down and be done with your day. Nothing else.  When you do sit down, you have demands at home. A spouse wants to go out for dinner, go dancing, and go spend time with friends. Your kids need a ride to class. Your mother calls and wants you to help her plan your upcoming family reunion. The neighbor wants to talk to you because your lawn service has mowed over the property line again. You have a pile of bills to pay in your home office, and your own work to do at home. You feel like you spend 60 hours working at your actual job, and then another 50 working at home every week. When do you have time for yourself? Photo by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH One of the keys to dealing with a busy life and addressing burnout is making time for yourself. Taking time out

I usually have some soft lead-in to my pieces, but this time I'm not going to bring it in nice and easy. We aren't good at dealing with trauma among individuals in this country. People are told to "stop playing the victim" or people say "it will be okay" like those things are going to somehow make someone be better tomorrow. Like somehow telling a person to "stop playing the victim" makes them think, "Oh, yeah, you're right. I'm totally responsible for this choice, and that's why this is so hard on me." Let me lay it down. No one who was a care provider or a healthcare professional during the pandemic is playing the victim in any way. Yes, they agreed to take care of people. That was their choice. However, the pandemic, the incredible overwhelment of it all, the feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, seemingly unending pressure, harassment from communities, patients, and families -- none of that was what anyone signed up for.