Breast Cancer Awareness Month - October

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There is a wide array of things you can buy to help support the cause. My favorite fitness-based product is the pink kettleballs from Kettleball Inc. (http://kettlebellinc.com/products/index.php) Not only do these offer a whole new way to work out with weights, they support a great cause, and $2 from each sale goes to the Susan B. Komen Foundation in Dallas, Texas.

October is also National Domestic Violence Awareness month. The color for this cause is purple. I would love to see Kettleball Inc come out with purple Kettleballs and support an equally great organization.

The Kettleball, Inc. website offers routines on using the kettleballs for fitness and the kettleballs can also be used in the Crossfit workouts http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html#KBs and can be incorporated into your daily workout routine just as dumbbell workouts can!

Gratitude

I'm required by my Women's Health professor to write down three things that I'm grateful for every day. I chose this assignment instead of the "Daily Serenity Time" because I'm not really into that new-age hippy holistic stuff. I do think the Gratitude Journal is a great idea, however, and I'm actually looking forward to keeping this journal!

My first entries in the journal are:

• I'm grateful for my daughter's laughter. It can brighten even the darkest of days and moments. It has become my absolute favorite noise of all time!
• I'm grateful that I have a job. It may not be the exact job that I love or want right now, but it helps me to provide for my daughter and allows time for me to go to school to figure out what I want to be when I grow up :)
• I'm grateful for the positive role models in my life. From my mom to my Bible study group, to my closest friends, I have learned so much from each of these amazing mentors and continue to learn each day.

So, what are you grateful for today? I have found that when I have trouble finding something to be grateful for, I can be grateful that I am alive and breathing. Able to enjoy another day on the planet that God made for us!