Wednesday, December 27, 2017

2017 Inspiring People of the Year Steve Edwards

 Extreme Multi Marathon Runner 

STEVE EDWARDS Extreme Multi Marathon Runner

Introduction 
After running his first marathon at the age of 18 in 1981, Steve has gone on to run 806 official marathon races in an average finish time of 3hrs 18min for each which makes him one of the most successful multi marathon runners in the world today. 

Known by many in the UK running community as ‘The Godfather of Marathon Running’, Steve has set many records including running 500, 600, 700 and very recently 800 marathons in the fastest average finish time.

Previous World Records and Achievements 
 Dec 1990 - Youngest person to run 100 official marathon races - Aged 28 years 3 days. 
 Mar 1992 - Most official marathons run in a 12 month period - total 87, averaging 3hrs 14min for        each 
 May 1992 - Youngest person to run 200 official marathon races - Aged 29 years 161 days.  May      2008 - Fastest 10 official marathon races in 10 consecutive days - 35hrs 20min, (3:32 average).

Current World Records and Achievements 
 Mar 2009 - 400 official marathon races in the fastest average finish time (see below). 
 May 2009 - Fastest 10 marathons in 10 consecutive days in V45 category - 33hrs 16min (3:19            average) 
 Mar 2010 - 500 official marathon races in the fastest average finish time (see below). 
 Sep 2013 - 600 official marathon races in the fastest average finish time (see below). 
 Mar 2014 -   Fastest 7 marathons in 7 consecutive days in V50 category - 23hrs 34min (3:22                average) 
 Oct 2015 - 700 official marathon races in the fastest average finish time (see below). 
 Oct 2017 - 800 official marathon races in the fastest average finish time (see below). 

Time Performance Summary Current Average Finish Times Sub 3s - 27 His fastest 100 marathons - 3hrs 2min 16sec Sub 3:05s - 72 His fastest 200 marathons - 3hrs 6min 15sec Sub 3:10s - 145 His fastest 300 marathons - 3hrs 8min 39sec (UK best) Sub 3:15s - 325 (British best) His fastest 400 marathons - 3hrs 10min 29sec (World best) Sub 3:20s - 495 (World best) His fastest 500 marathons - 3hrs 12min 09sec (World best) Sub 3:25s - 625 (World best) His fastest 600 marathons - 3hrs 13min 52sec (World best) Sub 3:30s - 732 (World best) His fastest 700 marathons - 3hrs 15min 39sec (World best) His fastest 800 marathons - 3hrs 18min 01sec (World best)

 Other Statistics 
 Nov 2012 - First person in the world to run 500 sub 3:30 official marathon races. 
 Sep 2014 - First Brit to run 400 sub 3:20 official marathon races. 
 Mar 2015 - First person in the world to run 600 sub 3:30 official marathon races. 
 Jun 2015 - First Brit to run 300 sub 3:15 official marathon races. 
 Apr 2017 - First person in the world to run 700 sub 3:30 official marathon races. 
 60 official marathon race wins to date, the second most by any British athlete, 
 100 official marathon races run abroad in 34 different countries and 20 capital cities. 
 Official marathons races run in over 60 UK counties, including Scilly Isles and Outer Hebrides. 
 Competitive marathon race run on average every 13 days for nearly 30 years & no DNFs .. so far!

My Charity Please help us support Kate’s Home Nursing by donating to www.justgiving.com/teamedwards1000 


My Biography ‘The Man Inside The Machine’ - now available, please contact me directly for signed copy. 10% of all proceeds to the Kate’s Home Nursing charity. https://www.facebook.com/TeamEdwards1000




-Steve-



Tuesday, December 26, 2017

2017 Inspiring People of the Year Renae Cobley

Mindset Coach and Gorgeous!

So who exactly is Renae Cobley? I am a specialist mindset coach who trains and works with people of all ages to think, train and perform like champions. We all know what inspiration and motivation feels like. However too often we struggle to find it.  I energise and mobilize individuals and teams towards greatness. The times in your life when you are to be challenged and must endure change I am there. That must win at all costs attitude that exists in us all can seem so overwhelming at times. When the task is challenging, daunting and you need that “wing mate” that’s when people recruit me.
I am a leader whom plays the infinite contest, competing against self every day. I have assisted people with career changes, relationships, public speaking, international running meets, lifestyle shifts, body transformations, change management, world records, book publishing and much more. I am blessed and it is my role to utilise it for the greater good.
My typical clients include those chasing great feats: Entrepreneurs, business leaders, elite athletes, coaches and aspiring athletes.

Life is like running a race. To look back it takes energy away from you. Life is about what YOU can do. Give it everything you have for yourself. Remember always what is real, but is lasting is who you are and what you were meant to bring into this world.
I coach the science and art of achieving mental and physical excellence. I open up your mind to possibilities that are beyond anything you have ever imagined. Most people don’t realise the enormous potential they have within them. I give you the key. You do the rest. I don’t allow for anything less than striving to reach your dream. The person, who says it cannot be achieved. Must never interrupt the person doing it.
I run motivational, lifestyle, running and leadership programs. I also run my own coaching practice privately and online.

So what truly makes someone inspiring to others? Inspiration is something that we know cannot be forced, one can only foster. Who we are and how we communicate is so powerful to inspiring others.
There is something far greater than myself in this world – YOU and others! We are all here for a reason and to inspire. Life is about growth and change. No person in this world can survive alone. We all need each other. We all need a “Wing Mate” someone who has our back, someone we trust, someone we believe in, someone that has greatness, has love and who has a strong purpose and get the job done.

Deep within my heart as a young child I always wanted to be a person of inspiration. Just what if I could use my passions and talents to impact the world? I imagined the millions of lives I would impact and even the thought of impacting one life for the better excited me. I never aspired to want to just make a living. I wanted to make a difference. The life, the journey I was wishing to seek I knew would be a challenging and a hard road. As nothing worthwhile comes easy. The sense of emotion and energy that vibrates within when I can help another is so magical. The opportunity to visualize and see others grow, develop and achieve excites every living cell in my body. You become in life what you believe and how you choose to react.


To gain a greater understanding of my story, I would have to take you back to my humble beginnings. To where it all begun. The catch is you will only every find me in the moment and not far beyond that. This I will share, my life has not always been easy. I have had my fair share of suffering. I have also had the most monumental of times. A fire within has always burned bright to want to lead and serve others. I knew ridiculously early my purpose and my mission. I was lucky to be gifted as the socially outgoing woman I am with a brave heart. My desire to explore human behaviors, life and events - drove me to further uncover my moral compass and integrity.

I had the willingness and heart to do the extraordinary things, to be selfless. I had the creativity to try new and take the road less traveled. There where so many mountains that that I wanted to climb, afraid at first of reaching the top for the journey to end. I have since learnt that mountains will always appear and there will always be another to climb.

Life is about grabbing hold off opportunities and seizing the moment. The one thing I have sought long and hard for is happiness, gratitude and purposefully giving back more than I receive. That in itself creates the most phenomenal richness and wealth. There is a saying “your true passion should feel like breathing it’s that natural”. I get to do that every day.



Please feel free to read my qualifications and accreditation's below:
·         Bachelor of Nursing Degree
·         Associate Diploma in Social Science
·         NLP Certification
·         Life Coaching
·         Modern Hypnosis
·         Psych-Spiritual Clinical Hypnotherapy
·         Reiki Master
·         Accredited Athletics Coach, Athletics Australia NSW
·         Advanced Certificate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Academy of Applied Hypnosis
·         Massage Therapy, National Institute of Health Sciences Australia
·         Statement of Attainment in Real Estate Practice
·         Shared Medical Appointments Facilitator, ALMA
·         Radio and TV – Contributor for interviews email: mentalphysicalcoach@gmail.com
·         Numerous CPD training each year for each discipline of training

 -Renae-
  


Monday, December 25, 2017

2017 Inspiring People of the Year Larry Macon!

This 72- Year-Old Is the First American to Officially Run 2,000 Marathons
By Stacey Leasca December 18, 2017
Menshealth.com   
Photo courtesy of Humana

Larry Macon is living proof that it’s never too late to pick up good habits—even if those habits start off as a lie.
You see, Macon, who is now a spry 72 years old, just completed his 2,000th marathon in December—a feat that no American runner has ever accomplished before, at least officially. Really, it was more like his 2010th, because according to Macon, he wanted to pad his numbers just to be sure. He completed this incredible feat at the Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, with a time of 7:16:31.
Photo courtesy of Humana
He doesn’t run to beat a personal record, or even to beat a world record (though he’s done that more than once). Macon simply runs because he loves it.
But it wasn’t always that way.
Macon was once was a 50-something lawyer living in Texas who spent more time working indoors than he ever did working out. When asked by his fellow lawyers how he spent his weekend, he decided to lie.
“Lawyers lie a lot,” Macon told Men’s Health with a laugh. He explained that after court sessions, he and his coworkers will often sit around and discuss the “great athletic events” they partook in over the weekend. One week, Macon said, everyone else had done something spectacular like biked 100 miles or swam for two miles, or even played 36 holes of golf. Somebody then asked, Hey Larry, what you did this weekend?
“I wasn’t going to admit I worked. That’s really not a manly thing to do,” Macon said. He glanced down at the newspaper, saw a story about an upcoming race, and replied, “I’m training for the marathon.”
Immediately after he said it, he regretted it. The marathon was just three weeks away, and he’d never run more than 10 miles in his entire life. Against the odds, the 52-year-old completed the marathon in just over 5 hours. After that, he was done with running forever—or so he thought. Because like most runners can tell you, once you catch that runner’s high, it’s hard to look back.
So Macon kept running, running, and running some more. He’s run through the four corners of the United States in 9-degree weather. (Here's all the gear you need for cold-weather running.) He’s completed a marathon in Las Vegas in sweltering 110-degree heat. He’s even run a race in North Dakota during a white out snow storm. Macon kept going through it all until one day, he beat his first world record completely by accident.
“There was a woman from Italy who ran 100,” Macon explained. “And nobody in the United States had done more than about 80 [in a year]. I thought, ‘hey I can do that.’” That year Macon did 105. Then he did 106, and just kept going.
One year, a hopeful young man from Austria came out in the hopes of besting Macon’s record. A reporter called Macon to verify the man’s claim, telling Macon the man had completed 110 marathons. When asked how many he had run, Macon calmly replied, “239.” He had actually run 255, though some of the races had not qualified as part of his record.
When Men’s Health asked about his training regime, Larry replied with another hearty Texas laugh, saying to this day there’s no real training involved in what he does. He simply runs.
“If you drag your body out on the racetrack, you're pretty good,” he explained.
His nutritional regime isn’t anything intense either, though he is an avid vegetarian. “I didn't do it for health reasons,” he said. “I don't like the way they treat animals.” But he does live by one very classic and time-tested nutritional tidbit: Drinking a chocolate milk after a race.
Beyond bringing a new world of athletic endeavors and a slew of records to his life, Macon explained that running has also brought him something much greater: a new perspective on the world.
“Running is a totally democratic effort,” he said. “You got all people of all stations in life of all ages of all races. I'm just an old white lawyer. I would have a limited exposure to the rest of the world no matter how hard I tried. But now every weekend I'm running out with all sorts of different people, people with points of views I would have never considered. It's just a wonderful experience.”
If you’re looking to be more like Macon, he said it’s rather easy. Simply enter a race with no time limit, enjoy it, take in the scenery, and never ever wear a watch. “All of a sudden you’ll be there,” he said. (Training for a marathon? Check out this tip.)
As for his next goal, Macon said he’s in for 2,000 more marathons. At this point, he’s in way too deep with his weekend warrior lie, and it would simply be “too embarrassing to quit.”
-Larry-

   

Sunday, December 24, 2017

2017 Inspiring People of the Year Ed "The Jester" Ettinghausen

Simply Put He's Amazing!
If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it - then I can achieve it.”

DREAM EXTREME . . .
and dare to EXCEL beyond your grandest imagination!
What could you accomplish in your life if you could not lose and could not fail?

Stick around with me ‘til the end and I’ll share with you the secret I’ve learned about illuminating losing and failing, and then eliminating losing and failing from your life.
My name is EDWIN Ettinghausen. I’m a husband of 35 years – all 35 years to the same saintly woman – Martha Ettinghausen. I’m a father of four pretty cool adult children, and one amazing grand-daughter. As Zig Ziglar was fond of saying, “If I had known how amazing grandkids were going to be, I would have been nicer to their parents.” Another very observant person once said, “grand kids are the reward parents get . . . for not killing their kids!”
Outside of my family life, I own a small business, am a running coach, and a motivational speaker. And I run . . . just a little bit. I’m very proud and humbled to hold over 20 world records in races of 100 miles or longer.

Here’s my story.

When I was eight months old, I was removed from my mother’s care, due to neglect, and was placed into foster care. I was in foster care until I was 18. Definitely not the ideal way to grow up, but you learn to deal with the hand that life deals you. That’s what makes you stronger.

When I was 17 years old, I trained for a marathon by reading running magazines and books. In my senior year of high school (1980), I completed my first 26.2 mile marathon in just over three hours. I was hooked! 
In the next nine months, I completed four more marathons, with a PR of 3:01:18 – the Napa Valley Marathon in March, 1981, at the age of 18.

For the next phase of my life, I focused on the priorities of any normal 18 year old - college, marriage, career, kids, then the white picket fence, etc. There was no time in my life for running, and certainly no time for running marathons.

A few years after my third child was born, after a 13-year hiatus, I decided it was time to dust off the ol’ running shoes and revisit my long dormant passion for running marathons. By this time, I was 31. I signed up for the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon and proceeded to train. 

And man, did I train! It was grueling! 
I showed up race day fully prepared to run 26.2 miles. I was ready to outrun everyone on the course that day. My marathon prep consisted of a few short runs and one “long run”. The total training miles couldn’t have been more than 20 or 25 miles. Tops!

It was a great race, from the start through mile one . . .

And it was not so great of a race from mile one through mile two . . .

And by mile three, my knees were killing me! 

My pace went from a fast run . . . to a slow jog . . . to a painful walk. Before reaching mile four, I turned around, did the walk of shame back to my car - through the oncoming stampede of nearly 20,000 marathon runners and walkers, and drove home. 
For the second time in my very short running career, I retired from running marathons. But this time for good. I was certain that my knees were ruined, at the ripe old age of 31 . . .

Fast forward 14 years to 2008. That year marked the culmination of some severe financial losses, which caused my bi-polar condition to tilt to the dark side. In a desperate attempt to claw my way out of that black hole, I started walking on a daily basis. Then I started to run. A little bit at first, then a little bit more, until before long, I was actually able to string a few miles together – pain free. 

In the Spring of 2009, almost 28 years to the day after the last time I had ran across my last marathon finish line, I completed the Pasadena Marathon, in under four hours. A month later, I did another one, and then another. 

Two weeks later, I discovered the 100-mile race. I was once again bit by the running bug, and morphed into an ultra-running fool!

Since then, I have been blessed with some really amazing running experiences:
- Over 200 marathon/50k race
 finishes.
- Nearly 200 ultra-marathons from 50 to 715 miles.
- Previous world record for most marathon races in one year in 2011 – 135.        (That record was decimated by Larry Macon in 2013 – with 255).
- World record for most 100(+) mile races in one year in 2014 – 41.
- American men’s 50-54 record for 1,000 kilometers – 8 days and some             change.
- American men’s 50-54 record for 10-day race – 715 miles.
- Seven consecutive Badwater 135 official finishes.
-  World record 153 lifetime races of 100
(+) miles, including many 24, 48, 72,     and 6-day races, and one very long 10-day race of 715 miles.
- 36 overall wins for 100(+) mile races
. 3rd most 100-mile wins in the world. (2nd is Karl Meltzer - 39. World record is Yiannis Kourus - 46).
- World record 27 - 2nd place finishes for 100 mile or longer races.
- World record 16 - 3rd place finishes for 100 mile or longer races.
- More 100-mile top three podium finishes than anyone else in history - 79.
- 19 100-mile course records.
- Marathon Maniacs Hall of Fame 2016 - the only person to ever reach and   surpass the 99 x 100 mile race MM Hall of Fame criteria.
- By the end of 2020 I will have completed over 200 races of 100-miles or   longer.


Now, I promised I would share with you the secrets I’ve learned about eliminating losing and failing from your life. 

Are you ready? 

It’s a two-step process.

Here’s step 1:
DIE!

Okay I lied! 

The only way to truly eliminate losing and failing from your life is to have no life. Living is all about taking chances every day – chances to lose, and chances to fail. 

I’ve coached enough people to know that champions take a chance on losing and failing, multiple times, every single day. As long as you learn something valuable from each and every lose and failure, you’re making progress, and with that mindset, you can learn to look forward to the important lessons that you can only acquire through losses and failures. 
Actually, there is another meaning to DIE. You don’t have to “die” to start to eliminate losing and failing from your life, but you do need to D.I.E. -
find that one thing and -
Do
It
Everyday

Whatever your EXTREME DREAM is – running/walking a marathon, writing a book, learning a new language or how to play a musical instrument - DO IT EVERYDAY!

In the last nearly nine years, I’ve learned a very valuable lesson about chasing my EXTREME DREAM. You have to be willing to lose, and to fail, in order to win and succeed. That is the only true way you can grow and advance to the next level. 

I’ve learned with running, when I DIE - Do It Everyday – I’ve gotten stronger, faster, and better over time.

Let me show you what I mean. Here’s the number of 100-mile races I’ve won each year since I started running 100s:
2009 - 0
2010 – 1
2011 – 2
2012 – 1
2013 – 5
2014 – 4
2015 – 7
2016 – 8
2017 – 8 (hopefully # 9 in one week)

And here’s part two of the secret:
SHOW UP!
othing has been more important for me in finishing 153 individual 100-mile races than those two simple words – SHOW UP!

In races, there is never a guarantee of a finish. A typical marathon has over a 99% finish rate. That means that the marathon “failure” rate is less than 1%. Actually, if my message sunk in, you now know that not finishing a marathon is only a failure if you allow yourself to believe it is. 

In 1994 I believed to my very core that I was a “marathon loser” because I failed to finish that marathon. And I failed miserably by not even making it to mile four! I carried that “marathon failure” mind-set with me for 15 long marathon empty years! I can’t lament about those lost 15 years of not running marathons from the age of 31 to 46, because nothing good is served by focusing on that. Focusing on the present and the future is all we have control over.

he finish rate for a 100-mile race is typically 20-80%. The inverse of that is that there is a 20-80% failure rate. Nearly 100% of my running friends that run 100-mile races have failed to finish at least once, and most of them have failed many times. Personally, I’ve failed to finish a 100-mile race on eight different occasions. We call it a DNF – Did Not Finish. And yet, we don’t consider ourselves failures, just because we didn’t finish something that less than one in 10,000 people will ever even attempt. We know that our biggest weaknesses are shown to us through the gift of a DNF.

Not finishing a race does not make one a failure. Not winning a race does not make one a loser. Losing or failing is not a place in a race, it is a state of mind.

Losing doesn’t define winners. Losing refines winners!

By changing your mindset, you can actually look forward to the rewarding lessons that can be learned from losing or failing.

Would you believe me if I told you that I can’t wait to lose every time I show up at a 100-mile race?
t’s true!

Okay, I passionately enjoy winning much more than losing, but let me show you what I mean.

Since I started focusing on this two-step process – SHOW UP and D.I.E. - here’s what happens. With few exceptions, I run (DIE) every day - Do It Everyday. Please don’t misinterpret that, for me running is not dying, it’s living. I have to run every day for my mental health. So for me, actually to NOT run every day is to die.  

And I SHOW UP to 100-mile races more often than anyone else has ever done in history. Because of that, I’m only 11 wins away from achieving the status of – WINNINGEST 100-MILE RUNNER IN THE WORLD, which I should achieve by this time next year. 

Now, every time I SHOW UP to a race and don’t win, two things happen. 
One – As long as I finish, even dead last, I add one more race to the world record for most 100-mile race finishes. 153 and counting. I’ve been able to break that record 12 times so far. Breaking a world record every time I cross the 100-mile finish line is a pretty amazing feeling, let me tell you.

Two – As long as I finish, I add one more race to my goal of being crowned –  LOOSINGEST 100-MILE RUNNER IN THE WORLD!

I only have to lose 25 more 100-mile races to become the LOOSINGEST 100-MILE RUNNER IN THE WORLD!

As long as I keep running, win or lose, I will eventually complete another ground-breaking world record.

So, to conclude. Whether you want to break 100-mile world records, run/walk your first marathon, simply walk around the block without collapsing, or accomplish whatever your EXTREME DREAM is - here's my advice to you.

1. REALize your UP – Ultimate Potential. Find and follow your purposeful passion!
2. Have a mentor and/or a plan of action to help you accomplish your specific goal.
3. JUST SHOW UP!
4. Focus on your single most import thing and DIE for it – Do It Everyday!
5. Live life to the fullest in each and every moment.
6. Risk losing and failing every day.
7. Look for the GO – Growth Opportunity. Train your brain to look forward to the important positive lessons from each lose and failure.
8. Be like Pollyanna – look for the good in every person and every situation you encounter.
9. Associate with like-minded optimistic people who have already accomplished, or are progressively accomplishing what you want to accomplish.
10. Help uplift and encourage those around you so that they too can achieve their own EXTREME DREAM!

Extreme Dreamers WIN! 
(My parents named me E.D.WIN, so it’s my birthright.)
Dream BIG 
and dare to fail.
DREAM EXTREME . . .
and dare to EXCEL beyond your grandest imagination!

REALize Your UP – Ultimate Potential – Each and Every Day!
Dream B I G !
Believe B I G G E R !!
Passionately Pursue Your I’mPOSSIBLE!!!

UPward & ONward . . .
-Ed Ettinghausen-

Saturday, December 23, 2017

2017 Inspiring People of the Year Abhijit Ganguly

Dream Big and Don't Give Up

One evening in 2003, I was watching a football match on TV while lying on my bed. Suddenly, I felt severe pain in my shoulder and throughout my back, and the pain was rapidly intensifying with every second.  I rubbed a balm in the affected area, but it did nothing to relieve the pain.  The pain was like a burning sensation and was severe.  I was unable to sit and eventually I had to lie on the bed.  I skipped eating my dinner.  By around 11 PM, I was feeling very strange.  First I lost sensation in my hand and then I lost sensation in my legs.  Then I was unable to grasp with my hands and I could no longer stand.  I was not able to urinate.  I did not have any strength and I did not sleep the entire night.  I thought I was going to die. 

In the morning, our family physician came to our home.  He asked me whether I had been hit or experienced some kind of accident.  I told him that I hadn’t.  I told him that I could not pass urine.  He had no idea what was happening to me and advised that I be admitted to the hospital.

It was Sunday and it was my good fortune that a neurosurgeon was in the hospital.  Most doctors do not stay in the hospital on Sundays.  He ordered an MRI.  It was very kind of him to call a diagnostic center and he persuaded them to perform the MRI.  Diagnostics centers are closed on Sundays.  I was admitted to the ICCU ward. I was awake the entire night trying to understand what was happening to me.  Was I going to die?  I had to ask the nurse for a glass of water.  I was totally helpless; I had to depend on someone for a glass of water.



The MRI report came back the next day and I was given a Transverse Myelitis (TM) diagnosis.Transverse myelitis is an inflammation of both sides of one section of the spinal cord. This neurological disorder often damages the insulating material covering nerve cell fibers (myelin).Transverse myelitis interrupts the messages that the spinal cord nerves send throughout the body. This can cause pain, muscle weakness, paralysis, sensory problems, or bladder and bowel dysfunction .I was put on high course steroids.   After some time, I felt as though a current was passing through my veins.  I was able to move my hands and legs.  I was having to catheterize myself.  After a couple of weeks, I was released from the hospital.  I had been begging the doctor to allow me to go home. 

I become very weak.  The neurologist prescribed me steroids and, unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction.  I had eruptions over my entire face and I looked horrible.  I went to a skin specialist who explained that the problem was caused by the steroids.  He told me that he wanted a photograph of my face because my allergic reaction was so unusual.  My face cleared up over a period of about four months, but I still have some scars from the reaction. 

I became very depressed; I had so little understanding about TM.  What did I do wrong that G-d gave me this disease?  It was particularly frustrating for me as the doctors did not clearly explain to me what had happened; what was TM?  My friends and relatives each shared their own theories of what had happened.  Some said that it was a result of having excessive fast food; some said it was from germs in my body; and someone asked me if I had used drugs!  I stopped talking to people.  The days in the hospital haunted me.  My life was becoming miserable and I was afraid of the recurrence of TM.

Then one day I found the TMA website https://myelitis.org/ It was of great help..  The website was an eye opener for me.  I was so surprised to see that there were so many people around the world with TM.

with Pauline H. Siegel

It has been around many years since I got TM.  I have come a long way.  I have completed my Masters in Economics.  I have occasional nerve pain.  I have very difficult bowel problems and I have limpness in my right leg. I have become a pessimistic person, but I try to inspire myself when I think about the lives of various people with TM who have been more seriously affected than me.



I started TM Support Group in India,  where we can offer each other emotional support and we can share information. Our support group is for people who have TM, ADEM, NMO and ON, their family members, and, hopefully, physicians in India who treat people with these disorders.



Meanwhile I was working in a business magazine. But I always had a passion for Arts/culture/music/social issues. I wasn’t encouraged to write on these topics. My articles were dropped. They thought me being a Masters in Economics was not doing justice to myself by not writing on business issues. I was also very much disappointed to see how the mainstream media worked. How news were being fabricated for vested interests. Finally I took a call and started my own online magazine. Its called UP WORDS. “UP WORDS” is a magazine dedicated to the inspiring journeys of people from all walks of life living in all areas of the world.



Each story in the magazine focuses on people who, often against great odds, inspire hope in others through their story or journey. Our world is filled with so much negativity and violence. And because of that individuals from all walks of life tend to forget that what gets us through the dark days are stories of hope. “UP WORDS" stories of hope are those that say to the reader, “look what he or she has done; I too can do that.” “UP WORDS” also intends to differentiate itself from others by researching and telling the inspirational stories of the ordinary individual. The ordinary individuals' stories tend to be neglected; yet they comprise the majority of the population across the globe. “UP WORDS” seeks to spotlight them, for they are the ones who will light the flames of tomorrow's generation.




“UP WORDS” has something for everyone, young and old, male, female and individuals from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. It seeks to build bridges of understanding, facilitate dialogue across society's divisions and build peace for tomorrow's generation. The magazine believes that life's limitations can inspire us to strive for heights we may not have reached otherwise.
-Abhijit-

Subscribe to UP WORDS Magazine http://upwordsmagazine.strikingly.com/

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Courtesy -
https://myelitis.org/
https://myelitis.org/coming-to-america/


Friday, December 22, 2017

2017 Inspiring People of the Year Nikkis Campbell

Strong, Sassy and Beautiful!

Where do I start.....

I'm Nikkis L Campbell, mother of 3 adult kids, recent empty nester, seasoned runner, and new triathlete.  

I started running when the first child left for college and I started to notice that I had a lot of free time.  I was also battling depression heavily and wanted to find a way other than counseling to help me beat it so that it will no longer control my life.  


Like most runners I started with the smaller races (5ks, 10ks, 13.1) but after running my first marathon I knew that I was a distance runner.  I am fulfilled by Endurance and not speed.  I have 2 goals left to accomplish and that is to run a 100 mile race and complete a 140.6 IRONMAN.  Through running I am no longer depressed.  I feel happier than I have ever felt in my entire life.  Running has made me a better person inside and out.



Sometimes it's hard to motivate YOURSELF at 4am to meet YOURSELF in the dark, so that you can run by YOURSELF for 13 miles😩. There is real strength in being alone and I'm strong enough👊🏽.


Thank you and may God continue to Bless you and your journey! 
-Nikkis-