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Good News For Eating Disorders Recovery!
Relationships Replace Eating Disorders
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Volume XXXVIII
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 Welcome to this month's Good News!
Happy NEDAW (National Eating Disorders Awareness Week) month!
I
have had a great time meeting some of you in person and visiting
various college campuses this month! And as always during this time of
year, I have been so inspired to see the tremendous effort many of you
are making to spread awareness and hope to others who need to know that
they are not alone and that recovery is possible.
It has also
been an honor and joy to watch MentorCONNECT, our global eating
disorders mentoring organization, turn one year old this month. A year
ago this month we put a collective dream into action as we called out
to individuals in strong recovery to come forward to mentor individuals
still struggling to achieve recovery. And around the world, you have
answered, and stepped up to the plate to pay it forward.
Together,
we are giving those who formerly had none a voice. Together, we are
changing the world, and leaving a dynamic legacy for not just future
generations, but OUR OWN.
This is "good news" indeed!
Warmly and with HOPE,
Shannon
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Schedule Shannon to Speak in 2010!
Click HERE to inquire about scheduling Shannon to visit your group Click HERE for a short video featuring student experiences of Shannon's popular Beauty Undressed campus awareness event! Shannon
is a wonderful speaker and singer. She is so down to earth and easy to
relate to. Her positive outlook shines through. Her message is one that
needs to be heard. We've had positive feedback from students,
particularly those who are struggling with an eating disorder.-Jeanna Brauer, Cottey
College
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Major Magazines Recognize NEDAW 2010 With Great Articles for Survivors!
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Are you in strong recovery from an eating disorder and want to help others?
 Calling all Mentors!! If
you have been in strong recovery for at least 12 consecutive months and
want to mentor someone who is still struggling to recover, we invite
you to apply to serve as a caring volunteer mentor. Apply HERE Relationships Replace Eating Disorders. Your voice - and your help - makes all the difference to those who still suffer.
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March 17: the MentorCONNECT Teleconference Series Presents:
Kirsten Haglund, Miss America 2008
"Love Your Body, Rock the World: Why RECOVERY Was the Best Decision I Ever Made!" Kirsten Haglund, Miss America
2008, didn't always have the confidence to step onstage and compete
in the nation's most prestigious pageant. Now 21, a crowned champion,
talented musician, tireless advocate, and founder of the Kirsten Haglund
Foundation, she still remembers all too well the difficult days before
she chose recovery. Kirsten began struggling with her eating disorder
in her teens. But then she had to make a choice. Kirsten chose life.
She chose recovery. She chose her dreams. And look at her today! In
this moving and powerful teleconference, Kirsten will share her story,
answer your questions, give insight into her work to raise treatment
scholarship money and lobby for healthcare reform, and most importantly
convey the message that it is what is on the inside that makes our
beauty
shine - and last! This exciting event is FREE and open to the public. To RSVP, simply send us an email with "RSVP for Kirsten"in the subject line to mc@key-to-life.com
To view the event flyer click HEREClick HERE To listen to past podcasts
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Mark Your Calendar for these exciting events in our 2010 Series!
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Participate in NEDAW 2010: Support Eating Disorders Mentoring
MentorCONNECT needs YOUR help.
We serve members ages 15-62 with a wide variety of free services
ranging from one-on-one mentor matching, live chat support groups,
message boards, recovery blogs, teleconferences and more! Click HERE to donate in support of MentorCONNECT's mission :
If you wish to donate in the name of someone you know who has been
personally affected, please indicate that on your donation and we will
send them a beautiful certificate.
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| Great articles by our wonderful Good News columnists & more....
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Shannon's Column: Beating Ana
Love the You You're With
I have been having conversations with a colleague recently that I can
only describe as a "grass is greener" mentality. She tells me that she
envies me for my singular passion for my work. I tell her that I envy
her for her multi-faceted life of variety. From the outside
listening in, the issue seems clear - we just need to swap lives. We are
both convinced we would be happier "if only"....and yet our individual
perceptions about how happy we would actually be standing in each
others' shoes is slowly shifting. For instance, I am not a morning
person. So when she told me yesterday that her kids wake her up at 6am -
if they wait that long - I couldn't help but feel grateful for my
house-for-one. Similarly, when I told her that my single-minded
focus on my work has until now removed from my awareness my simple
desire for relationships and maybe even a family of my own, she began to
recount the joys of family life...more for her own benefit, it seemed,
than mine. The more we see beneath the surface of each others'
lives, the less we can rely on our own assumptions of how wonderful life
would be if only life was different. As one of my mentors used to say,
it could always be so much better....but it could also always be so much
worse! And we get to choose which it will be. As I type this, I
am remembering the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", starring
Brad Pitt. As many of you know, I enjoy movies immensely, and often
learn as much or more from the movie characters as I do from my own
mentor.....for the full article click HERE
For archived columns click HERE
To learn more about Shannon, click HERE |
Jeanette's Column: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow
by Jeanette H.
One of my favorite movies when I was a child was Annie. A song from
that movie that still resonates with me today is the well-known song
"Tomorrow".
The lyrics give us hope that things will get better and
that things will not always be dark and gloomy. Consider the seasons
that we go through each year. Right now in the United States, we are
having record snowfall and lots of dark gloomy winter days. However,
we know that spring is just around the corner and I am sure people
think it could not get here fast enough. Just like the weather
outside, that same cyclical pattern can be applied to your life. You
will not always have dark gloomy days. Things can and will get
better. So how do you manage the seasons of your life?
First, when you are in the dark times in your life accept it for
what it is and no more. It is a down time and things are rough.
However, you are not a failure and you are not destined to stay there.
ED will tell you that things will always be this hard and that you
won't recover and that you might as well just quit because it is a lost
cause. If you evaluated your thoughts you would probably hear yourself
say words like "can't", "won't", "impossible" etc.
However, what is
the reality of this period of your life......for full article click HERE
To learn more about Jeanette click HERE
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 Q&A with Shannon & Thom
...where YOU share your questions and we do our best to answer!
This month's questions include:
- What is the single biggest contributor to your recovery?
- Creating a good dietary plan
- Self-soothing for anxiety
- and much more!
To access the latest Q&A simply click HERE (all Q&A will be archived in the order received)
To submit your question click HERE. Each question will be answered in the order it was received.
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Andrea's Column: Breaking Free from the Eating Disorder Voice
by Andrea Roe
While I struggled with my eating disorder, I often wondered whether I
would ever able to silence this toxic voice in my head, which was
telling me I was not worthy, I was not beautiful, I was fat, to punish
myself. It was like a non-stop negative tape recorder in my head.
And
for years, I had mistaken this voice for my own true self. I thought
they were one and the same---that I was the eating disorder.
Then I started my path to recovery.
I
learned that the eating disorder takes on its own personified identity
and then tries to convince you that the disorder is you. It can be
difficult to see where one starts and one ends.
With lots of
work, patience and persistence, I learned how to separate my own true
self from the eating disorder voice. It was difficult, especially in
the beginning, because my own voice was so small that I had trouble
hearing it. The eating disorder was so loud and dominant.
I started to pay more and more attention to my own voice. Even when I was
not able to do what it told me, I did my best to acknowledge it, and
was thankful whenever I heard it was still there. I also slowly started
to talk back to the eating disorder voice. I didn't want to be a slave
to it any longer......for full article click HERE
To learn more about Andrea click HERE
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Lynn's Column: Overcoming
by Lynn Gerhard
 He was seventeen and to the men cowering behind roughly erected
barriers, he was also wet behind the ears - straight out of the fields,
too foolish to recognize he was staring death in the face. But they had
a strange hope, for he was their last hope, carrying the fate of a
nation on his slender back with a humble surety that he would overcome.
They wondered at his muttering. Mutter, bend, pick up a rock, examine
it, mutter, throw it aside or sometimes place a pleasing one into the
pouch, and mutter. But while his muttering seemed strange to them, it
made perfect sense to the boy-man. He was remembering - remembering all
the times when, with God's help, he had conquered the unconquerable.
Not far before him, adjusting the last piece of impenetrable armor
stood the unconquerable. Clad from head to toe in bronze, with only a
tiny slit visible for his eyes, he was a giant of a man - at least eight
or nine feet tall.....for full article click HERE
To learn more about Lynn click HERE
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Thom's Column: Be Your Own Lead Sled Dog - by Thom Rutledge
Imagine you are one of a team of six
big, strong huskies harnessed in single file to a sled full of provisions for
the winter. Now, imagine that you are the lead dog. Now, imagine that you (the
lead dog) are lying down, unable or unwilling to stand up and pull the sled.
How successful will the other five dogs
on the team be in pulling the sled as long as you are lying down?
This is one of my favorite metaphors.
It is just so simple and clear.
Each
of us is our own lead sled dog. No matter how much potential exists in the
friends and family who love and support us, their potential is useless until we
stand up and start pulling. The moment we accept our responsibility as lead
sled dog, and "mush" forward, we harness our own strength and the strength of
all the other dogs to help us plow ahead....for full article click HEREFor more about Thom, click HERE | |
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Until next time....remember that Relationships Replace Eating Disorders, and that this is the kind of Good News that lasts and lasts - and turns into RECOVERY!
Warmly and with HOPE,
Shannon, Andrea, Lynn, Jeanette, Cheryl, Thom & the Key to Life Team
Live in the present moment and find your interest and happiness in the things of today.
-Emmett Fox
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Welcome to our Newest Sponsor - Rogers Memorial Hospital
Rogers Memorial Hospital
- specialized treatment programs for eating disorders
We are a not-for-profit
provider,
nationally recognized for our evidence-based treatment of eating
disorders,
serving thousands of patients and their families. Medical Director Theodore
E. Weltzin, MD leads a team of more than 80 professionals who
specialize
in eating disorders. High quality treatment programs
are available for individuals struggling with Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia
Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise
Specified
(ED-NOS). Intensive CBT treatment is provided for co-occurring anxiety
disorders. We offer separate programs
for children, teens, men and women and provide three levels of care
for every age group - inpatient, partial hospitalization and
residential.
Our residential treatment facilities are located on 50 acres of
beautiful
lake country. Most major insurance plans
are accepted, minimizing out-of pocket expenses. Call 800-767-4411, ext. 1310
today for more information or to schedule a tour. Visit us online at www.rogerseatingdisorders.org.
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Good News for Eating Disorders Recovery and MentorCONNECT are sponsored in part by:
PREMIUM LEVEL SPONSORS:
Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating Disorders
 Tapestry: A Residential Treatment Center for Women with Eating Disorders
You Are Not Alone
PROFESSIONAL NETWORK SPONSORS:
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REPRINTS: You may reprint any of the content found in Good News in your own ezine or website. Simply send an email requesting permission by clicking HERE.
NOTE: Good News
is NOT meant to replace the supervision and care of a qualified medical
professional, and should never be construed as such. Shannon Cutts, the
MentorCONNECT Leadership Team and Key to Life
can NOT be held liable for any activities undertaken as a part or
result of receiving or participating in these online communities.
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