I can't tell you the last time that I received a Valentine's Day gift or a card for that matter. I think I still might have a crinkled old Valentine's Day greeting card from my elementary school years tucked in my scrapbook somewhere, folded and worn with time with a picture of a faded red heart imprinted on some cheap stationery. Those were the days when the teacher made everybody in the class distribute Valentine's Day cards to everybody else in the class, and we got to decorate white paper lunch bags to receive all the mail that day. We even got Valentine's Day cards from our teachers with big red hearts that exclaimed: "I'm so HAPPY that you are in my class!" with handwritten notes of encouragement and pieces of sweet chocolate.
The obligatory notes of professions of love wore off as soon as the cards were opened to peek at who sent the card. It was over in a matter of seconds before you tore open the next one to see if there might be candy hearts in the envelope with a secret message just for you. I particularly didn't like the taste of the candy hearts, but I sure did enjoy reading the sweetness of the messages. We all had school crushes, but with my crushes, I knew they never would come true. And, in elementary school, who really cared because everybody celebrates Valentine's Day. Everybody gets a card. Everybody gets treats. Everybody goes home with white bags decorated with hearts overfilling with the day's promises of love and friendship.
But, eventually you learn the hard truth (or what you come to believe is the hard core truth)...Valentine's Day isn't about giving everybody in class cheap generic greeeting cards with a piece of candy attached and having a party that means a free afternoon from studying and doing worksheets. Middle School was the brutal awakening for me when I first experienced the assualt of having a Valentine's Day without anybody giving me a card or tasteless candy hearts with love notes inscripted across the middle. We didn't have Valentine's Day parties like we did in elementary school. Only girls who had boyfriends got cards and candy and flowers and love. The rest of us rotted in the corner struggling with the nightmare of not getting anything from anybody on Valentine's Day.
I know that Valentine's Day is about love. I've always known that...even in middle school when I was hoping that my crush would give me hearts, and all I got was a shallow "what's up". But, time has a way of healing the past, making you more experienced, enhancing your perspective, and making you stronger for the journey. In high school, I had another brutal awakening about Valentine's Day, and it was almost as radical as the one I had in middle school. I have to thank my girlfriends (seriously, friends of mine who were female) for this burst of light they brought into my dark corner of the world. I realized those same people who got the kisses on February 14 were throwing those kisses away on February 15 or a week later. Those cards so treasured and framed on February 14 were ripped into tiny pieces with such hatred and bitterness that they burned a hole right through the big red hearts, bleeding with emotional intensity. I don't know how many times, how many stories, how much drama I had to go through with my friends over a Valentine's Day card. I realized quite quickly, that the loved ones quickly became the hated ones, and it became trivial to see how many people came and went out of each other's lives.
That's when I broke into the truth that nobody can love you the way you love yourself. Nobody can give you a Valentine's Day card with a big red heart like the one you can give yourself. Nobody can know how strong, confident, adorable, and loveable you are like you know yourself. You don't need a card from someone else to know how valuable you are. You don't need Valentine's Day chocolates to know how sweet you are. You don't need roses on Valentine's Day to know how beautiful you are. You don't need somebody else's love on Valentine's Day, you need your love!
And, part of loving yourself is taking care of yourself. Making sure your health is the priority in your life shows that you love yourself enough to take care of yourself. Getting tested for HIV, especially if you've been thinking about it for a long time, can show how much you love yourself on Valentine's Day. You deserve to be strong, healthy, insightful, and life strong. Make yourself a huge Valentine's Day card on February 14, and inside the card write: "I love myself enough to get tested for HIV and to know my HIV status". Nobody else can give you a more passionate and beautiful love note on Valentine's Day.
Until next time.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
A New Year...A Healthy You!
I had a plan on New Year's Eve. I knew exactly what had to be done. I was thinking about my plan all day on December 31, and I even discussed my plan with fellow co-workers who committed to the same idea. We were dedicated in our insight to make this next year happen with earthquake changes in our lives...and it all was going to start on New Year's Eve with a big plan.
I told everyone I knew about my plan for New Year's Eve: staying home, watching a movie, popping some corn, lighting some candles, and most importantly and dramatically, writing out a life plan. At the stroke of midnight, instead of a notebook of goals, resolutions, changes, and detailed plans, I looked down at my blank page and then looked at the clock. It wasn't the only the beginning of a new day, but the beginning of a whole new year. And, so far, I had nothing written down to start the day with.
This was a grand idea, but when I look back on my ambition to write out goals and resolutions that required extraordinary actions on my part to make incredible changes in my already complicated life, I realized that the change is in the small things. It made me think that big changes rarely happen without the baby changes we make everyday. It's one day at a time, living in the moment, being present in the now, making the change for that instant second that results in the dramatic effect in our lives.
Looking back on my New Year's Eve experience, I think I am beginning to understand what appreciating the moment is all about. Reflecting on what is happening in the present moment can also be a meditative way to start out the new year while embracing the life time experiences of the past year.
I know many people who make New Year's resolutions that enhance their appearance by trying to commit to unrealistic diet plans and fantastically outrageous exercise plans. Don't worry! I'm not about to recommend some impossible goal for you. All it takes is for you to be present in the now and take the appropriate action. Getting tested for HIV can be frightening and intimidating for some people, but knowing your HIV status can put you in the driver's seat and back in control of your life. Taking advantage of the opportunity to know more about your health and accessing resources to help you build a better life is what knowing about HIV status is all about. Quitting smoking, starting to exercise, decreasing alcohol intake, eating a more balanced diet are all great goals, but taking an HIV test is something you can do right now, in the present, to change your life for the better.
Learn something about yourself today...make the change today...get tested today....know your HIV status today. Start changing your life today.
Wishing you the very best of 2013!
Until next time.
I told everyone I knew about my plan for New Year's Eve: staying home, watching a movie, popping some corn, lighting some candles, and most importantly and dramatically, writing out a life plan. At the stroke of midnight, instead of a notebook of goals, resolutions, changes, and detailed plans, I looked down at my blank page and then looked at the clock. It wasn't the only the beginning of a new day, but the beginning of a whole new year. And, so far, I had nothing written down to start the day with.
This was a grand idea, but when I look back on my ambition to write out goals and resolutions that required extraordinary actions on my part to make incredible changes in my already complicated life, I realized that the change is in the small things. It made me think that big changes rarely happen without the baby changes we make everyday. It's one day at a time, living in the moment, being present in the now, making the change for that instant second that results in the dramatic effect in our lives.
Looking back on my New Year's Eve experience, I think I am beginning to understand what appreciating the moment is all about. Reflecting on what is happening in the present moment can also be a meditative way to start out the new year while embracing the life time experiences of the past year.
I know many people who make New Year's resolutions that enhance their appearance by trying to commit to unrealistic diet plans and fantastically outrageous exercise plans. Don't worry! I'm not about to recommend some impossible goal for you. All it takes is for you to be present in the now and take the appropriate action. Getting tested for HIV can be frightening and intimidating for some people, but knowing your HIV status can put you in the driver's seat and back in control of your life. Taking advantage of the opportunity to know more about your health and accessing resources to help you build a better life is what knowing about HIV status is all about. Quitting smoking, starting to exercise, decreasing alcohol intake, eating a more balanced diet are all great goals, but taking an HIV test is something you can do right now, in the present, to change your life for the better.
Learn something about yourself today...make the change today...get tested today....know your HIV status today. Start changing your life today.
Wishing you the very best of 2013!
Until next time.
Monday, November 26, 2012
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day
In recognition of those who have been affected by HIV and AIDS, Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) asks everyone to wear a red ribbon on National World AIDS Day, Saturday, December 1, 2012.
There could not be a better time to introduce William Tinley, JCPH’s new HIV Outreach coordinator, who urges everyone in the community get an HIV test. William is passionate about his work at the HIV clinic and has already started a blog to educate people about the virus. On behalf of JCPH, William asks, “Do you know your status?”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 1.2 million people are living with HIV and 1 out of every 5 is not even aware that their status is positive. They also estimate 50,000 Americans are newly infected every single year.
Taking a look at the epidemic in the state of Colorado alone, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Surveillance Report through September, 2012, reveals that the total number of people living with HIV disease continued to increase from 10,459 in 2008 to 11,512 through September 2012. The total number of people living with HIV disease in Colorado increases at a rate of about 3 percent per year.
The only way for someone to know if they have HIV is to take the HIV test. Knowing your status can prevent you from inadvertently infecting someone else. There is no cure for HIV, but there are new treatment options allowing people infected with HIV to live healthy, productive lives.
Get HIV counseling and testing one of our conveniently located HIV testing clinics. With a rapid test, you can even get results during your visit. Make an appointment today by calling 303-239-7078.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Jefferson County Public Health offers no cost, confidential HIV testing and counseling. Please contact 303 239 7078 to schedule an appointment today.
Please view: http://jeffco.us/health/health_T111_R67.htm
Please view: http://jeffco.us/health/health_T111_R67.htm
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Daily Fact about HIV:
Knowledge is massive power in the fight against HIV infection and transmission. According to the CDC website, the vast majority of persons who know that they are infected with HIV do not transmit the virus to others. The statistics reveal that at least 95% of those living with HIV infection did not transmit HIV to others in 2006. One of the reasons for the decline in HIV transmission: improved HIV testing. Knowledge is power. Jefferson County Public Health offers no charge, confidential HIV testing and counseling at its Lakewood and Arvada clinic sites. Call 303 239 7078 to make an appointment today.
Knowledge is massive power in the fight against HIV infection and transmission. According to the CDC website, the vast majority of persons who know that they are infected with HIV do not transmit the virus to others. The statistics reveal that at least 95% of those living with HIV infection did not transmit HIV to others in 2006. One of the reasons for the decline in HIV transmission: improved HIV testing. Knowledge is power. Jefferson County Public Health offers no charge, confidential HIV testing and counseling at its Lakewood and Arvada clinic sites. Call 303 239 7078 to make an appointment today.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Daily Fact about HIV:
HIV means Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus that can eventually lead to a condition called Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). You can get HIV by having unprotected sex or by sharing needles and other equipment used to inject drugs. The only way to know if you are infected with HIV is to get tested for HIV. Jefferson County Public Health offers no charge confidential HIV testing at its clinics. Call 303 239 7078 to schedule an appointment. Get tested, know, protect yourself and your partners.
HIV means Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus that can eventually lead to a condition called Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). You can get HIV by having unprotected sex or by sharing needles and other equipment used to inject drugs. The only way to know if you are infected with HIV is to get tested for HIV. Jefferson County Public Health offers no charge confidential HIV testing at its clinics. Call 303 239 7078 to schedule an appointment. Get tested, know, protect yourself and your partners.
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