Happy Thanksgiving to all friends here on The Positive Pear!! Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the season of giving and appreciation. The need to connect with loved ones to express our gratitude is at the heart of this special day of feasting. Wherever you go and whomever you’re with, enjoy this gift of quality time and the celebration of this tradition with friends, family or loved ones. Remember “It is hot happy people who are thankful; it is thankful people who are happy.” On this day of festive foods and thoughtful deeds, may your heart be filled with joy and your home with laughter, warmed by the blessings of friendship, the love of family and the beauty of the season. May you also find many plenty of reasons to be happy, appreciative & grateful. Peace & love to you!! ♥
It was one year ago today that I launched The Positive Pear and I’m happy that I did. I remember being excited about the opportunity to offer my knowledge and experience in the form of a blog, to help fellow sufferers who also lived with Ankylosing Spondylitis, Fibromyaglia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. After all, I’d worked with healthy people in the Health, Wellness & Fitness Industries for many years, so helping people in this manner had always been easy. I naturally assumed that my online experience would be similar and the information that I provided would be welcomed as it had been with my clients. However this was not always the case. Though there were many who appreciated my efforts and expressed their gratitude for the information that I provided, there were a few, who forced me to question at times if I’d made the right decision. Surprisingly these individuals we’re not the people who were searching for the information that I was providing, instead this small group consisted of people who had established themselves as 
“leaders” in this community of ailing people. Working hard at making this effort as challenging for me as possible, by resorting to harassing, bullying and competitive types of behavior which surprisingly still exists on a small-scale. When the negativity continued to trickle in I began to rethink whether or not it it made sense to return to solely focusing on my Health, Wellness & Fitness clients. However the emails, comments and private messages began to pour in from many fellow sufferers explaining how the information that I provided through this blog helped them in some way, changed their lives or made them happy that they weren’t alone in taking a natural approach to managing their disease or conditions and I knew at that point that if I persevered that eventually the good would far outweigh the bad and you know what? It has, as it would because I 
forward as I end this year and close this chapter. It helps to understand that “When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh~ Having a forgiving heart is without question incredibly powerful and a necessary tool in life, because we are all imperfect beings who frequently make mistakes. As much as I’m a realist, I am resilient and an eternal optimist, so I’ve spent my share of time in the kitchen making lemonade out life’s proverbial lemons. Overcoming adversity is simply apart of life as “Each difficult moment has the potential to open my eyes and open my heart.” ~Myla Kabat-Zinn~ & Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an 
equal or greater benefit. ~Napoleon Hill~ A year later if there was one word that I could use to describe what I’ve gained from all of my experiences, I would have to go with “gratitude” and not just the feeling of gratefulness that one tends to feel around Thanksgiving, but truly operating from a place of gratitude in every thought and deed. I am grateful for all of my experiences in life, both good and bad, and I’m grateful that I’ve chosen to focus on the good in my life. Truly appreciating what has worked, rather than what hasn’t and rather than focus on anything which might be lacking in my life, I choose to focus on how I’ve been blessed with an abundance, a home, food, clothing, the ability to care for myself naturally & holistically and to have a platform to share this with others who are receptive. I’m grateful for great friends including many 
family and an incredible support system and this gratitude is reflected throughout the many posts on this blog. I hope that my example has and will continue to inspire others to keep moving forward with strength, dignity and of course gratitude, in spite of whatever might come their way. (
Thank you for your continued support: It’s Sunday November 11, 2012 and this blog has several hundred followers along with over 1500 Facebook Fans, 800 Twitter followers and hundreds of other friends in other areas of the web. I would like to thank each and every one of you for your support over the past year and for your continued support moving forward. I’d like to especially thank you for every like, comment, re-tweet, mention, +K, Google+, shared post, email referral and the many award nominations. Though it’s been my goal to encourage you through knowledge and positive messages your support has both encouraged and motivated me and I’m eternally grateful and appreciative. Thank you! Here’s to another year of The Positive Pear with great additions and exciting changes moving forward.
The Positive Pear 