How Healthcare Works, LLC

 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH I have an unpopular opinion to express: I like mornings. Even as a kid, I woke up early — really early. Not 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. Early before the crack of dawn. People would say, “Why are you up in the middle of the night?” But waking up between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. always felt natural to me. Growing up in small-town Iowa, I rode the bus to school every day. Even though we lived closest to town on our route, we were the first stop at 7:00 a.m. So my dad started waking me up at 5:00. It was a whole routine. I was slightly conscious as I heard him downstairs throwing wood into the furnace. I could smell the wood embers drifting through the house as the backup furnace turned off. I would stay in bed until he opened my door and said it was time to get up. His words the night before — “ 5:00 comes awful early ” — always rested in my mind as I tried to wake up. I finally dragged myself out of bed to take a long, hot shower. I fixed my hair in our three-way ba...

 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH There are so many small things that shape our lives—for better and for worse. Today, I want to focus on the little acts of service that other people do that make my life just a bit easier. You know the saying, “It’s not easy being green?” That’s how I feel most days. This week, I was accidentally caught in two different pictures at my day job. The first was in an Instagram video someone was filming. I walked right through it at the end of the day, carrying my big pink purse, wearing a grey sweater that hit right at the widest part of my hips, and somehow looking 50–60 pounds heavier than I actually am. I’ve always believed that when someone doesn’t like you, they portray you negatively—even in photos. When someone takes an unflattering picture of me, I call it a hideograph . And that first image was definitely pushing the hideograph scale. A few days later, we had a team lunch, and again I was caught on camera. But this time, the picture actually look...

The holiday season is here — and for many of us, that means long to-do lists, family gatherings, and the pressure to make everything perfect . But you don’t have to feel drained before the celebrations even begin. Here are five practical strategies to help you stay energized and calm this Thanksgiving week . 1. Take Micro-Breaks Even 5–10 minutes of quiet time can recharge your mind. Step outside, stretch, or just breathe. These mini-breaks make a bigger difference than you might think. 2. Keep Expectations Realistic The holidays don’t have to be flawless. Focus on connection and self-care, not perfection. 3. Prioritize Energy Sleep, hydration, and quick healthy snacks help you maintain focus and mood throughout the day. 4. Share the Load Let family or friends help with cooking, decorating, or errands. Delegating doesn’t make you weak — it keeps the holiday fun. 5. Pause for Gratitude Take a moment before meals or gatherings to notice something positive. Even brief mindfulnes...

by Jeaneette R. Harrison, MPH The other day, someone texted me and said I was “doing great.” I know they meant well, but when you’re barely able to cover your basic bills and working in a job far below your qualifications, it doesn’t feel like “great.” A lot of the challenges I’m facing now stem from years of people minimizing my needs, making assumptions about what I “deserved,” and encouraging others to withhold even basic support. For a long time, I didn’t realize how deeply that affected me. When I moved to Idaho, I met someone who finally showed me something different—what genuine friendship looks like. This person treated me with kindness, consistency, and respect. They helped me begin to understand that it’s normal for people to do kind things for one another. That friendship was the first time I truly saw that needing help isn’t a flaw, and accepting help doesn’t make you weak. It’s simply part of being human. Notably, that person did not attend my undergraduate institution. H...

by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH As I’m writing this post, I have dinner cooking on the stove. What’s on the menu tonight? Carne asada tacos. My pre-dinner snack was Skinny Pop. I’m a self-proclaimed foodie, having lived in Kansas City and traveled extensively throughout the country. It’s funny to think about now, because I was an extremely picky eater as a child. As an adult, every time I traveled somewhere new, I made a point to try new foods. I’ve even tried Ethiopian food—definitely not my favorite. To me, it tasted like a spicy, dirty sponge. I enjoy cooking when I have the time to cook and clean up afterward. I have this quirky rule where I won’t cook unless the kitchen is clean first. So it’s bothering me tonight that I have dirty dishes in the sink as I’m cooking dinner. But they will be washed and put in the dishwasher before bed. I’ve had a long, complicated love-hate relationship with food. In a previous post, I shared that I was neglected as a child and often didn’t have enoug...

by Jeanette R. Harrison It's early morning, and I’m making my coffee before work. I’ve already walked my dog and fed her. My mind is in work mode as soon as my alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. Some days, I wake up before my alarm even goes off. I go over my plans for the day in my head and ask myself if what I’ve set out to do is actually realistic. Life is challenging when you have to do everything yourself. From running my business to managing my household, every task falls on me. No one takes out the trash for me. No one cooks dinner, cleans my home, or even brings me a cup of coffee. If I need something done, I have to pay someone to do it—and I don’t have buckets of money. As I get ready, I’m also thinking about how much time I have before my Uber driver arrives to take me to work. That, too, is stressful—trying to find the “sweet spot” for a decent fare, wondering if the driver will take the right route, and hoping I’ll make it on time. Not having transportation has become a major...

 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH It’s Friday night—or rather, the early hours of Saturday morning—and tonight’s gratitude practice is about being grateful for work. I was supposed to write this post yesterday, but I took the day off. I could have written it this morning, but I didn’t feel like it then, either. As I sat at work today, I asked myself, “What is my issue with writing about being grateful for work?” The truth is, it’s an emotionally charged topic for me—one that, like education, has often been the source of misunderstanding and even bullying from others. Years ago, someone spread a false rumor that I didn’t work and was lazy. That lie has followed me for years. The truth is, I’ve always worked hard. I held three jobs to get through Graceland University, and  while attending the University of Nebraska–Kearney during the day worked full-time at night at a hospital as a medical transcriptionist. In graduate school, I worked as much as I could as an intern and consultant...

 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH It’s the very early morning hours, and I’m awake. I went to bed at 8:00 p.m. after dinner and took a nap. What should have been a really good day—actually, a really good week—has left me feeling conflicted. My book Bragging About You is on free promotion this week, and I plan to extend it to help more people jump-start their gratitude journey. My walking book is also doing well—it’s back in the top 100 for walking-for-exercise books on Kindle. It moves in and out of the top 100 so often that I’ve stopped announcing it every time it happens. I also had my second interview with Bold Journey magazine. The first piece focused on resilience, and this latest one was about risk-taking. Bold Journey receives about 185,000 views a month—an incredible opportunity. I shared the news with my coworkers, but their response was lukewarm. No one asked for the link. I think it’s because I have the same job they do, and because they see my financial struggles. It f...

 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH Yesterday, I voted. I took an Uber directly to my polling place because I wanted to make sure I got it done before heading home to rest. When I got back, I had some baked chicken from the night before, a little yogurt, and a salad. I’ve been trying to eat healthier— trying being the operative word—especially since I gained almost twenty pounds earlier this year while recovering from pneumonia. It’s interesting how the body responds differently to illness. During pneumonia, I gained weight; during COVID, I lost more than twenty pounds—over 15% of my body weight—in just a few weeks. I was very sick, but I kept going. I credit my dog, Mosie, with keeping me alive. Friends reached out when they could, but it was her loyalty and my background in healthcare that truly kept me moving forward. I created most of the videos for my course  28 Days of Gratitude on my lunch break when I worked at the housing authority.  If you look closely, you will noti...

 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH When I get home from work, I usually have the energy for one activity before I’m completely zapped. Last night, I had to walk downtown to get a money order. On the way there, I was doing mental math—figuring out how to stretch what I had left in my budget and make it through the week. I need at least $50 a day to get to and from work, and that can be challenging at times. I work all day, then come home exhausted. When I walk through the door, that’s it—no one’s cooking dinner, folding laundry, or asking, “How was your day?” The last person who asked me that regularly was my bus driver, and even that felt more like a polite formality than genuine care. Sometimes, when I think about that, I can almost hear the unkind voices from my past—people who’ve said things like, “That’s because no one cares about you.” Recently, when I watched my promo video for Bragging About You, the next video that popped up was Brené Brown’s “How to Tell When People Don’t Car...

by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH Confession: I’m waking up from a nap to write this. Sometimes I take a nap before I go to sleep. I call it pre-sleeping. Really, it’s a way to separate my day and calm my mind before writing about today’s gratitude practice. Before I go any further, I want to mention that my course, 28 Days of Gratitude , is based on the book The Magic by Rhonda Byrne . Some people think it’s a “magical” practice, but the reason it’s called The Magic is because when you practice gratitude consistently, magical things really do start to happen. It could just as easily be called The Miracle or The Hope, because life often feels restored after completing 28 days of gratitude. I’ve done this practice several times, and each time I notice tremendous improvement in my life. Every day brings a new focus for gratitude. Today’s practice is about identifying the best thing that happened today. I am thankful for Sandjest for providing me with this butterfly tumbler to promote. I...

 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH It’s Saturday night, and I’m sitting at home in my sweatpants and nightshirt. I’m relaxing in my chair after a day of doing laundry, walking, and trying to cut back on spending. I didn’t walk as much as I wanted because my knees hurt. My home still isn’t clean because I was tired and distracted,  and walking around all day increased my pain. I’m trying to spend less because I was recently transferred at my day job, and it’s costing me almost $300 a week just to get to work. I spend the first and last hour of every day working to earn money just to get to and from work. Did I mention my knees hurt? And it’s oddly hot in my apartment even though it’s fall. I have the sliding door open on this November night just to let in some cool air. Overall, I’d give today a six—it was peaceful. But I downgraded it because I had no one to talk to about what I needed to talk about. That’s one of the ways people try to control me. They say their “boundaries” mean ...