Love and Fortitude.

"How ironic is it that I am on the same bus route (A) that I chose not to wait for exactly 1 year ago? 

For once in my life, my impatience benefited me in ways that I could never be less grateful for. For my impatience allowed me to walk home and have a wonderful conversation with my dad. If I had known that it was the last one I would ever have had, I would have never hung up. Could everyone please do me a favor? Call your parents if you haven't spoken to them for a few days or just tell them that you love them and be sincere because life is very unexpected.--- Peace and love, chelsea"

-Chelsea Caplener, Awesome Cousin

Dear Family and Friends, 

I am sorry about the late post. Between the terroristic attacks in Boston, the anniversary of my Uncle's passing and my never ending attempt to stay on the brighter side of life... I didn't know what to write yesterday. 

I didn't want to write about death and the outrage I felt when I heard about the attack on Boston at the marathon. A MARATHON! There is NO WAY to spin such a horrendous act into something that we should learn from. There is nothing to be learned. There are just such HORRIBLE people in the world who think the death of innocent people is somehow justified in their warped, murderous minds. It is miserably maddening to find out that an event that is supposed to promote LIFE and HEALTH has suddenly become a moment when we all have to question our safety and the safety of the ones we love. Anytime a public event is sponsored a twinge of FEAR will be like mildew on our enthusiasm. 

I just watched two CNN reports. The first was about one of the first-responders who found the eight year old boy who died and his sister, a six year old, who's leg was blown off. 

How the hell is that JUSTIFIED? Excuse me, I keep on using the word "Justified". In the second report that I watched one of the accused bombers classmates said that the accused thought that terrorism was "justified."

AN EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY and a SIX YEAR OLD GIRL!!! HOW is THAT "JUSTIFIED"? 

All life should be precious. All life should be held up and honored. If it isn't, if life just becomes a series of news reports of the fuckedupness of the world then... what? WHAT? Planes fly into buildings in NYC. Little kids are shot in school in Connecticut. The same day of the bombings in Boston there were also bombings across Iraq. Do we just live in FEAR? Do we hide behind brick walls of pain and suffering? Do we have a CALL TO ARMS and take justice and a gun into out own hands?

OH... on that... I've also been reading reports of people attacking their neighbors because they think that THEY ARE JUSTIFIED in BLAMING a particular group or/and groups for the behavior of the terrorists. Once again with the JUSTIFICATION of HATE....

Hate is NEVER JUSTIFIED. EVER.

Love.

That is the only answer I can come up with. LOVE MORE. Love your family more. Love your friends more. Love your neighbor more. Love the world you live in and hopefully it'll be a better place. Live life with love.

Love will not solve everything. It WILL make the LIFE you have to LIVE a more fulfilling one. Love will not prevent events like the bombings in Boston from happening. It will FILL the FEAR that these terrible events promote. It will FILL the FEAR with FORTITUDE. 

FORTITUDE:

Strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my Uncle's passing. The quote I started this blog with exemplifies one of POINTS I always try to get across in this blog. LOVE MORE. Take the time to TELL the ones you LOVE that you LOVE THEM. You never know what is going to happen in the crazy world that we all live in. 

I am a ridiculous optimist but even I know that SHIT HAPPENS. That little girl that lost her leg also lost her brother. She will never get to play with him again. She will never get to know the man he could have become... because of someones JUSTIFICATION. 

The only thing in this life that is justified is LOVE. Love harder. Love more. 

Love and Fortitude,

Cousin Pili

Perseverance.

Perseverance. 

Continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

-Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Aloha to my Family, My Friends and everyone else who has taken a moment to stop by.

I am going to talk about PERSEVERANCE today. Well... I am actually going to let a few quotes do most of the talking for me.

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” 

― Maya Angelou

Life is full of hardships and "defeats" but it is only a failure if you view it with negativity. IT IS A FAILURE if you lay down and drown yourself in self-pity. IT IS A FAIL if you lash out with negativity at the PERCEIVED people and/or things in your life that you blame for YOUR DEFEAT. YOU FAILED. Not anyone or anything else. YOU.

Maya Angelou. Tells us that even in DEFEAT you have not FAILED if you RISE FROM IT. She believes that DEFEAT is necessary. It is. It is called LIFE LESSONS. Rise from YOUR DEFEAT and LEARN FROM IT. What happened? Do you have all the information necessary to RISE from IT? LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES and DON'T LOOK BACK.

“I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.” 

― Abraham Lincoln

Never "walk back". FORWARD. GO FORWARD. Let go of the negativity of the past. Let go and learn from the failures of life and MOVE ON. Without MOVING ON you will never MOVE FOWARD. As President Lincoln says here, you do not have to move fast; you just have to start MOVING.

“When you get to the end of your rope. Tie a knot and hang on.” 

― Franklin D. Roosevelt

So you have picked yourself back up. You are moving and PERSEVERING! Do you feel like giving up? SURE YOU DO!!! Are You going to GIVE UP? FUCK NO! Whether You are working toward the betterment of yourself, your business or/and your family and friends... whatever AWESOMELY GOOD THING you are working toward... STICK WITH IT! President Roosevelt says to HANG ON! I say, "LEAD THE WAY!" Tie on more rope, ribbon, thread... and KEEP GOING!

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” 

― Thomas A. Edison

Can you imagine if Edison had just given up? What if the creator of the LIGHT BULB had thrown his creation against the wall in frustration and given up? No light bulb? I am fairly certain someone would have figured it out but IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? Someone else to figure IT out? NO! PERSEVERE! 

“NEVER GIVE UP

No matter what is going on

Never give up

Develop the heart

Too much energy in your country

Is spent developing the mind

Instead of the heart

Be compassionate

Not just to your friends

But to everyone

Be compassionate

Work for peace

In your heart and in the world

Work for peace

And I say again

Never give up

No matter what is going on around you

Never give up” 

― Dalai Lama XIV

This gentle spirit sums up my thoughts exactly. Even in your struggles remember to act with compassion toward all. WE ARE ALL WORKING THOUGH LIFE. WE HAVE ALL HAD OUR OWN STRUGGLES, DEFEATS and FAILURES. Be compassionate to everyone because they are just like you. I can only hope that though EVERYTHING that we can all learn to PERSEVERE in and with HAPPINESS, LOVE and COMPASSION!

I will leave you with a poem by Rudyard Kipling in "If: A Fathers Advice to his Son." 

Perseverance, 

Cousin Pili

“If you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!” 

― Rudyard Kipling, If: A Father's Advice to His Son

Pro-Possibilities. The question of Choice.

Hello my beautiful family and my amazing friends!

Welcome back to Cousin Pili's Blog! We're going to talk about BABIES!!!

But first... My Disclaimer. Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not a doctor. I'm not an obgyn or a pediatrician. I have never had a baby. I am not pregnant. The only experience I have had with babies is 1) Raising my Sister and Brother. I am more than a decade older than both and 2) I was once a baby myself so I have experience being one. I don't remember much but I have a really good imagination!

I could go so many many different avenues with this topic. Lets start off with me first.

Me.

I was (unexpected, a surprise, not planned). My mother decided to keep me and I was born. Society would say that my mother had been single but I don't believe Society. I have a VERY LARGE and EXTENDED family who loved and cared for both my mother and I.

Why am I telling you this? Where am I going with this? Maybe Ill figure that out when I'm finished writing.

So... Lets start with getting pregnant. If you don't know how to get pregnant or how to prevent getting pregnant please ask me and I will do my best to tell you. Not in this Blog though. I have already talked about birth control and condoms and STDs and not DYING because you couldn't take a moment to wrap it up!.

You are PREGNANT. What now?

YOU (The Woman) and YOU (The Man) have a handful of options in front of you. I am including The Man because (most of the time) it takes TWO to create a pregnancy.

Lets take a moment to talk about The Man first. YOU, The Man, have some decisions to make.

1) You love respect and honor this Woman and you support her in her decisions.

2) You love respect and honor this Woman and you think she is making the wrong decision and you will try to convince her otherwise.

3) You don't care. (You wouldn't be reading my blog if you didn't care.)

I'm simplifying everything here for the purpose of getting at the main idea here for The Man. YOU, The Man may think you have no say or control over what happens... Not true. You do!

And we will come back to you, Man.

The Woman. So you are pregnant!!! If this was planned.. CONGRATS!!! If this wasn't planned and you are very happy and glowing and you can't wait to be a mommy... CONGRATS!

Please...

1) See a doctor regularly and do what the doctor says.

2) Look at your finances and PLAN for the future expenses of having a child.

3) ASK for HELP! Family and friends, the people who care about you WILL HELP!!!

Lets back track a little...

So you are pregnant. You did not plan this and you are on the fence about what to do.

Abortion?

It has entered your brain and either it flew out of your brain as quickly as it flew in or you are thinking about it.

NOTE HERE: No one ever talked to me DIRECTLY about all this "stuff". I thought something was wrong with me when I went though puberty. I was SCARED SHITLESS about SEX. So... if you have a question my dear FAMILY and FRIENDS or even if you want to give me YOUR opinion on MY VIEWS. LEAVE A COMMENT!!! I will try my BEST to give you a straight answer.

ANOTHER NOTE HERE: I am PRO-CHOICE.

And...

YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE CHOICE YOU MAKE! If you make the choice to END the pregnancy then do not gloss over it with the bullshit that political pro-choice AND pro-life bullshitters try to feed you. If you follow my blog then you have heard me say this before:

Don't LIE to yourself.

Get the truth about where your body is in the pregnancy. Get the truth about where your mind and heart is. Because no matter what decision you make you will either have the POSSIBILITY OF GIVING LIFE or you will be KILLING THE POSSIBILITY OF LIFE.

LIFE is about POSSIBILITIES.  We will come back to that.

I believe that to have an abortion means killing apart of yourself. It means cutting out something that your body is growing. It is apart of YOU.

And... Sometimes you have to remove the POSSIBILITY of something NOT GOOD for you.

And... The worst part is... you will never know how your life would have been either way. YOU have to make the BEST DECISION for YOU.

Lets take a moment and go back to The Man.

So The Woman tells you her decision. What do you do? Ill tell you what NOT to do...

DO NOT LIE TO YOURSELF! Get the truth about how you feel and what this woman and possibly your child mean to you. Don't hide! FACE your decisions. Be SMART!!! If you do not agree... THEN SAY SOMETHING!

NOTE HERE for The Man... YOU DO NOT have the right to TELL The Woman WHAT TO DO. You can MAKE YOUR OPINION KNOWN. That is all. That is HUGE. If you don't say anything then you will have to live with all the POSSIBILITIES that come from that decision.

AND...

I did not expect to write this tonight. Someone just asked me, "What are you writing about?"

I said, "Pregnancy... and ... um... abortion." Then I proceeded to make excuses as to why I chose this topic. There needs to be no excuse. We should NOT be afraid/scared/uncomfortable to talk about SEX and all the shit that comes with it. WE SHOULD TALK. WE SHOULD DISCUSS.

I was (unexpected, a surprise, unplanned). My mom could have done something else in her life. My Mom decided to have me and I was born. SHE CHOSE to HAVE ME. It was a choice, "I" WAS A CHOICE... not a requirement. 

Thank you MOM for choosing the POSSIBILITY of ME.

Your Daughter, Granddaughter, Sister, Cousin, Niece, Aunty and Friend...

Pili

Asking for HELP.

Maybe. JUST MAYBE.

Maybe one day I will take my own advice. But my STUBBORN hard-head won't even listen to ME! I FORGOT to read my own words! 

"What's wrong with you now, Pili?" You ask.

Well... because I didn't ask for HELP, I didn't tell the people that love me how much pain I was in AND because I thought I was such a TOUGH COOKIE that could DEAL with the pain... I was rewarded with about two dozen needles poking out of my back at about 9PM last night. Today? Mostly in pain and not really moving much. 

"What happened?" 

After about a week of self-medicating (Advil), self-massage and telling myself that my back pain will go away without professional help... My back went out. I have an old injury from 1999ish in my upper back due to someone hugging me too tight. 

Yes... I said HUGGING me too tight. Long story. Maybe I'll tell you the story later.

When will I learn?

I was actually okay for awhile until I got into a car accident in my mid-twenties that pretty much re-messed up my upper back and neck. But did I get it checked out then? Nope. Not until a few months later when my back went out SO BAD that to THINK about MOVING was like having a billion ton elephant do ballet on my spinal cord. I asked for help then... BUT NOT FORCEFULLY ENOUGH. I had to drive my stubborn ass to my Yoga Instructor who gave me an adjustment and some Advil. That was a painfully painful experience on so many levels. First, the person I was with did NOT help me because I was not FORCEFUL enough. Second, I was too stubborn to call anyone else. Third, It felt like someone was punching me repeatedly in my neck and upper back. That was in the year 2007ish.

My back has gone out a few times since then and in the past two years I haven't had any problems because I have taken myself to SEE SOMEONE. In the last six months I've been going to an amazing  chiropractor but I haven't found a new one since I moved.

So lets come back to my sore-ass knotted back and neck now in the present. Now I am 32. I should be ALOT smarter about shit like this. BUT I AM NOT. Have I learned something from this? Yes.

1) ASK FOR HELP!
2) If no one hears you... ASK AGAIN! Or ASK SOMEONE ELSE and KEEP ASKING.
3) The people who love you and care about you will move mountains to HELP YOU. BUT they can't READ YOUR MIND. You have to tell them, "I NEED HELP AND THIS IS WHAT I NEED HELP WITH."

Just so you are not worried...  I am going to see the same acupuncturist tomorrow and then a new chiropractor on Tuesday.

Help your neighbor. Help your friend. Help your Family. Help YOURSELF be healthy and stay healthy.

Love and Aloha,

Cousin Pili

The Sun rises on another day at Haleakala...

Death: Rage. Resignation. Reliance.

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,   

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

-Dylan Thomas

Aloha my Family. Aloha my Friends. Aloha to all you who have joined me on tonight's journey. If you haven't already please read my last blog HERE. It'll give you more of a lead into today's topic.

Death.

As I said on Sunday, I went to Church. I do not go to Church often because I don't believe in RELIGION. I believe in GOD. And that is a WHOLE DIFFERENT BLOG... I'm not going to argue religion here. Here we will talk about a sermon I heard on Easter. Here I will talk about three ways or CHOICES I learned to deal with DEATH.

RAGE. RESIGNATION. RELIANCE.

RAGE. In the above poem by Dylan Thomas, the poet tells his father... He tells US ALL... to RAGE, RAGE against DEATH. He says not to be gentle about it. He is telling us to NEVER GIVE UP. HE is saying that you should FIGHT with your last breath against DEATH.

I also have the feeling that Mr. Thomas was ANGRY. He was RAGING AGAINST his FATHER'S death. He fought for his father's life. He desperately wanted his Father TO LIVE, to BURN and RAGE. He does not... He did not want his father to DIE.

Does this poem resonate with you?

Or...

RESIGNATION. No matter what age, creed, color, sexual orientation, education, social standing... No matter where you live or what you've done with your life... ONE DAY YOU WILL DIE. So why fight it? Live or die? What does it matter? People die everyday.

Give up?

What about RELIANCE?

Now I could talk about the reliance in GOD that the Pastor from Church on Easter talked about... I'M NOT. I wanna talk about the TANGIBLE. Death is inevitable. We don't know when it's gonna happen but we know it will happen one day. Why be afraid of the ONE THING in life that is RELIABLE? RELY in the FACT the YOU... YES YOU... will LIVE YOUR LIFE to THE BEST and FULLEST.

RELY on LIFE. RELY on YOUR SELF. RELY ON YOUR FAMILY. RELY ON LOVE. As death happens, LET LOVE STRENGTHEN.

I am going to leave you with one more poem from Mr. Thomas. Read it and take from it what you will. I think the Poet is saying that no matter what "DEATH shall have no dominion" if you have LIVED.

"And death shall have no dominion.   

Dead men naked they shall be one

With the man in the wind and the west moon;

When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,   

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;   

Though they go mad they shall be sane,   

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;   

Though lovers be lost love shall not;   

And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.   

Under the windings of the sea

They lying long shall not die windily;   

Twisting on racks when sinews give way,   

Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;

Faith in their hands shall snap in two,   

And the unicorn evils run them through;   

Split all ends up they shan’t crack;   

And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.   

No more may gulls cry at their ears   

Or waves break loud on the seashores;   

Where blew a flower may a flower no more   

Lift its head to the blows of the rain;   

Though they be mad and dead as nails,

Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;

Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,   

And death shall have no dominion."

-Dylan Thomas

Happy Easter. Jesus is alive.

HAPPY EASTER TO MY AWESOMEFACEBEAUTIFULHEARTS Family, Friends and all others...

Jesus is alive.

SERIOUSLY. The Bible says so. This is the worlds most published book so it must have gotten at least something as HUGE as this correct. Right?

And...

Let's not argue about the Bible. It says a bunch of things that I may or may not agree with. Since today is Easter I thought I'd use some hippity-hoppity themes like the RESURRECTION of JESUS CHRIST.

BUT FIRST... MY DISCLAIMER!!! I am not a Priest. The farthest up the Catholic chain of command I have gotten up to was Communion. I had my first sip of wine in Church and it tasted like piss. I don't believe in Confession. Why should I confess my sins to a priest when I can just open my mind and heart and communicate with God myself. When I go to Church I go for the communion of COMMUNITY... not to have some old guy who's never had sex to tell me how to live MY life... BUT I DIGRESS. I am not a NUN, not a Pastor, not a Reverend. I have never been ordained by any Church... nor do I think any would ever have me. I HARDLY EVER GO TO CHURCH. I do not hold any degrees in Religion or Philosophy.  I am not a scholar of religion. 

I am JESUS. 

And so are you. HE is a metaphor for LIFE. HE is a symbol. If you boil down most of HIS teachings you will find the SIMPLE themes of LIVING, GIVING and LOVING. For the next three weeks I am going to visit these three themes and hopefully I won't be TOO blasphemous about it.

TODAY I write about LIVING.

"On the first day of the week, at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on entering discovered that the body of the Lord Jesus was not there. As they stood there not knowing what to think, two men in brilliant clothes suddenly appeared at their side. Terrified, the women lowered their eyes. But the two men said to them, "Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man had to be handed over into the power of sinful men and be crucified, and rise again on the third day?" And they remembered his words.

When the women returned from the tomb they told all this to the Eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them also told the apostles, but this story of theirs seemed pure nonsense, and they did not believe them.
Peter, however, went running to the tomb. He bent down and saw the binding cloths but nothing else; he then went back home, amazed at what had happened." 

-Luke 24:1-12

To paraphrase... Three days ago Jesus was crucified by a bunch of asshats and put into a tomb without much fanfare. Three of the women DISCIPLES decide to anoint the body of Jesus with the proper care as was fitting for HIM. They go to the tomb of Jesus and see that this HUGE BOULDER has been lifted away from the opening. They look in and freak out when the find that the body of Jesus is missing. ANGELS APPEAR and laugh at them heartily as only Angels can. The women practically faint at their beauty. These Angels ask these women, "Why are you looking for LIFE in a place for the DEAD. Jesus is NOT HERE. He is ALIVE. HE TOLD YOU HE WOULD COME BACK! Don't you remember that one time in Galilee when He told you that He was the Son of God and that He would be betrayed and given to really bad guys who would have Him crucified? REMEMBER THAT? Yeah... that crucifixion stuff was bloody and uncalled for. Do you remember THE MOST IMPORTANT PART? No? Well... He said that HE WOULD RISE AGAIN on the THIRD DAY. It's the THIRD DAY ladies. He's not here..."

The part of this gospel that I really want to focus on is what the "two men in brilliant clothes" say:

"Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen."

Do not DWELL in DEATH. RISE and MEET YOUR FULL POTENTIAL!!! Too often do I see good friends and family members DWELL IN DEATH. DEATH equals BOREDOM, DEPRESSION, STUPID STRESSES, UNHAPPINESS, THE PAST and THE FUTURE. Live in the PRESENT! LET GO OF THE SHIT!!! Getting yourself out of the rut, hole and/or sewer you are in doesn't have to be as DRAMATIC as Jesus. It may be painful as CHANGE can sometimes be. You don't have to do it alone. Look to your Friends. Look to your Family. If all else fails... JESUS CHRIST! ... look to your Faith.

Do not search for or hold onto PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAD. Read between the lines here, folks. Go with the theme of METAPHORS. Cut out the people, ideas, THINGS that are KILLING YOUR SPIRIT. 

You could also read this statement for what it is. Death is the one thing that we ALL have in common. I went to a Presbyterian Church this morning and learnt about Three ways to Handle Death. 

RAGE.

RESIGNATION.

RELIANCE.

I will revisit this topic on Thursday. 

YOU are a LIVING, BREATHING, VIBRANT individual. Live your life with VIBRANCE and clothe yourself in BRILLIANCE like those ANGELS. JESUS CHOSE to RISE and so should you.

Love and Happy Hippity Hop,

Cousin Pili

I GOT CANDY! Happy Easter!

 

Inspire Happiness.

"He 'ohu ke aloha; a'ohe kauhiwi kau'ole."

Love is like the mist; there is no mountaintop that it does not settle upon.

Love comes to all

-Hawaiian Proverb

So today I have been wracking my brain as to WHAT SHOULD I WRITE??? Seriously scratching my head. So I have decided to do one of those TV episodes where the characters look back at the last season and make funny comments about it. As the season has officially changed... back on the 21st of March... and Sunday is Easter I have decided to do a HAPPYNATHANIEL SEASONAL REVIEW!

Before I go into this review, I'd like to ask you for some help. I need your ideas. I need your questions. What would you like to know about Health? Wellness? Love? Family? Santa? Easter Bunny?

Blog 1 or INSURE MY ASS. Back on January 14th my little Cousin CHELSEA asked me to be her HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH. I was sick with the flu and laughed until my sore throat couldn't take it. Then I realized she was very serious. So I decided to tackle the big political topic... HEALTH INSURANCE. I am not sure if I have done my cousin any good since then or even if this blog is helping... I like to think it is.

Blog 2 or Eat Happily and Stop Lying to Yourself. In this blog I decided to tackle eating habits and LYING. I believe to largest reason many people FAIL at being HEALTHY is because they ARE NOT TRUTHFUL. I have had people tell me that they are going to eat HEALTHY and then I see less than a month later that they have greasy food, alcoholic drinks and sugary fat-packed deserts PLASTERED all over their INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK. I will only care AS MUCH as YOU CARE about YOUR HEALTH. There is NOTHING I can do if you INSIST on LYING to yourself and to me. I think I will delve deeper into this topic in the coming weeks.

Blog 3 or Make the Decision. Execute it. Earn it. Make the play. I was SOOOO HAPPY!!! The 49ers had just beat the Falcons 28-24 to go to THE SUPERBOWL. The PATRIOTS... lost to the RAVENS. That also made me pretty happy too. I spoke about the REASON these teams made it to the most COVETED GAME... EVER. Their leaders MADE DECISIONS. The players worked TOGETHER to EXECUTE the PLAY. THEY EARNED IT. I used FOOTBALL to explain how to SUCCEED in what you choose to do in life.

Blog 4 or Sex. Be Safe. Be Honest. Be Positive. On January 24th I decided to do a blog on SEX. I would revisit this later but in this quickie I decided to at least get the ideas out: 1)Be safe and don't Die, 2) Do you want kids?, 3) Be sex positive. Go to the link above for more info.

Blog 5 or I love you. I really start getting a feel for what my blog is really about. Love. Love in general. Love for the people you want in your life... Friends and Family. Love for yourself. The ability to look beyond the bullshit and simply love and be loved. LOVE is meant to be SHARED. I discovered this while writing about my Aunty Bernie. My you and I miss you Aunty.

Blog 6 or I am Thankful.  My Aunty Bernie is loving me and the rest of her family and friends from her garden in heaven.  I love you and I miss you Aunty. When my Aunty passed away I looked past the sadness and found GRATITUDE and APPRECIATION. BE THANKFUL for the people in your life and the time you have with them. You do not know when you will see them again. BE THANKFUL for your life, your body and your soul. It may be the only one your will ever have...

Blog 7 or FOOTBALL. TEAMWORK. This was SUPERBOWL SUNDAY. I talked about what an AMAZING TEAM my cousins Kainoa and Liana are. They are working out as a couple... AS A TEAM! As soon as they hit their SIX MONTH workout anniversary I will do a follow up special on them. I also spoke about why the 49er WERE NOT working as a team... but PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME RELIVE THAT HORRIBLE DAY. Please.

Blog 8 and Blog 9... Eat Me. and I'm starving. These blogs were a few interviews I did with my beautiful COUSINS CHELSEA AND KRISTIAN. They are making the COMMITMENT to EATING HEALTHY! The second blog was an interview with myself. I figured that I could't lay out my Families health problems without facing and talking about my own.

Blog 10 or Happiness. Doggie Style. A blog dedicated to the critters in our lives that bring us happiness and THEIR HEALTH and HAPPINESS.

Blog 11 or Malasada day!!! I got to spend FAT TUESDAY with my FAMILY in Hilo, Hawaii!!! It was an AMAZING TIME filled with crazy Cousins, Grandpas Lumpia and Grandma's AWESOME Malasada Recipe. Fried balls of dough dusted with sugar... ah heaven...

Blog 12 or Sex. That basically explains it. Hit the link for my thoughts on Sex.

Blog 13 or The Family Stubborn. OR Cousin Pili's Three Simple Steps for Getting one's head out of one's Ass.

So... I am going to pick this back up either tomorrow or maybe Sunday and leave you with this recipe I found on Facebook...

FOR THOSE DAYS WHEN YOU JUST WANT TO MAKE ONE COOKIE! 1 tbsp. butter, melted 1 tbsp. white sugar 1 tbsp. brown sugar 3 drops of vanilla pinch of salt 1 egg yolk 1/4 c. flour 2 tbsp. chocolate chips MICROWAVE 40-60 SEC IN A CUP OR BOWL. Single serving deep dish chocolate chip cookie!