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 by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH I was talking to someone the other day, and I was relaying to them how I had been mentally abused. The person responded that I "don't have any self-respect" because I "allowed it." Let's break this statement down a little bit. Abuse is about the behavior of the abuser. It is never okay to victim-blame or to say that being mistreated is the target's fault. Second, telling someone they don't have any self-respect is a form of bullying, especially when it is meant to demean or belittle them. Comments such as these directly attack an individual's self-esteem and self-worth. That brings me to my next point, what exactly is self-respect? Self-respect often gets bundled and confused with self-esteem and self-worth. According to the American Psychological Association, self-respect is comprised of components of self-esteem and self-worth. Blanket statements like "you don't have any self-respect" chip away at an

by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH I am getting ready for bed. Part of my getting ready for bed routine is my daily practice of gratitude. Today's gratitude practice is "The Money Magnet." If you do the  28 Days of Gratitude course (it's free), you will know right where I am. The exercise for today is to first say ten things I am grateful for and why. I have that down. I feel like I can always find ten things to be grateful for every day. Today, I am grateful for my dog, my home, the salad I ate for dinner, the warmth in my home, my socks, running water, television, friends, the places I have lived, the beauty of fall, and my writing skills. In fact, being grateful for my writing skills is what motivated me to write today. I have been really struggling with finding the words or knowing what to say. I realized I should write about what I talk about every day. What is a really important part of my life? That is gratitude. Photo by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH The second part of

by Jeanette R. Harrison It’s Saturday night on a three day holiday weekend. I’m sitting at home alone with my little dog, Mosie. I am reflecting back on my day as I get ready to do my daily gratitude practice. I am trying to think of 10  things I am grateful for today and why. I started doing this every day after reading the book, “The Magic,” by Rhonda Byrne. Some days, I have a lot to be grateful for. So much so that the 10 things I am grateful for come flying out of my head, almost faster than I can write them down. Other days, finding 10 things to be grateful for is a bit harder. Today was one of those days. I didn’t have a terrible day. Not at all. It was actually quite relaxing. I woke up and spent most of the morning lounging in my pajamas, drinking coffee, cooking myself breakfast, and picking up around my home. I had a pleasant morning. It was an acceptable morning. For a Saturday, I would give it three out of five stars. Why not five stars? Because it is a holiday weekend, an

by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH I ran a 5K yesterday. Actually, I mostly walk/jogged it. There was a tremendous turnout for the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon in Boise, Idaho. I participated in the same race two years ago, and the participation was almost double this time. I couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled into the Albertson's Stadium parking lot. There were cars and people everywhere. I stood in line to get in line for the race. The race wasn't my best time. I didn't get a good pace from the beginning. Still, I finished, and that is what matters. My final time was 50:19, and I clocked an average mile time of 16:11, which was pretty close to my goal. My goal was a 16-minute mile or less for this race. Famous Idaho Potato Marathon Boise, Idaho  2024 I was proud of myself for finishing the race, but I was even prouder of myself for doing it. To be honest, I didn't want to show up that day. I wanted to lay in bed and be lazy on a Saturday. I even made up all of these

  by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH You know that scene in the movie where the writer gets inspired, takes off the cover of the typewriter, blows the dust out of the keys, and starts click-clacking away? This is that moment for me. I feel like I haven't written anything in months. Not on this blog anyway. I'm not sure where I am taking this today, we will see where this post takes us.  At times, the hardest part of moving toward a goal is starting or even restarting. I look at my laptop every day. It takes that one moment, that one morning, like today, that says, "I should start writing on my website again today." Maybe it also takes that one word of encouragement from a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, a client, or maybe a family member to get you going again.  Photo by Jeanette R. Harrison, MPH In this case, I was already writing. I had written for years. What stopped me? What thwarted my efforts? What demotivated me? Who influenced me in such a way that stopped me from m

Published in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Content created by the CDC.  Heart attacks and strokes are catastrophic, life-changing, and all too common—yet most are preventable. Alarmingly, more than 800,000 of these events happened to adults ages 35–64 in 2016. Many opportunities to spot and treat risk factors, such as identifying people with undiagnosed high blood pressure and improving physical activity, are missed every day. Visit  cdc.gov/vitalsigns  to read and share the latest  Vital Signs  report, which provides important details about people at risk, including: Americans ages 35–64 are less likely to use aspirin or statins when indicated, and only about half of them have their blood pressure under control. Blacks/African Americans are more likely than whites to develop high blood pressure—especially at earlier ages—and are less likely to have it under control. People with mental health and/or