Are you exercising your appreciation muscle?

Probably my biggest goal for myself is to accept the things I cannot change.  On one hand, I must give myself credit for how far I have come, and on the other hand, I have to think about how often I get angry and up in arms about the things I cannot change.  Always in progress, always complete.

I'm reminded a great deal of the four noble truths: the very nature of life is suffering, suffering is caused to our attachments- and probably attachments to how we think things "should be."  There is a way to extinguish the suffering, and the suffering and pain can even lead you to the love and liberation that you know is possible.

Pretty awesome to think of that.  So I'm going to present a challenge to you that I have already presented to myself.  For today, be your own best friend and say all the compassionate and kind things to yourself that you wish others would say.  In doing so, the loving kindness you create will help you to accept the things you cannot change.
As Jill Bolte Taylor said, enlightenment is a thought away.  And it is your choice.  Love that!

-MM

Exciting Stuff!

New Melanoma Treatment Approved by FDA

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Thirteen years of waiting is now over for melanoma patients. That’s how long it’s been since the last therapy became available to treat the most lethal form of skin cancer – melanoma.  The FDA today announced approval of Yervoy, an immunotherapy treatment for advanced melanoma.   

The drug will be used to treat melanoma patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body.  It is the first approved drug that has extended the lives of patients with advanced melanoma. 

“This is a critical breakthrough for advanced-stage melanoma patients who have far too few approved treatment options available,” said Timothy J. Turnham, the executive director of the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF).  “Patients have been waiting for a life-changing innovation like this one and news of the approval has galvanized the patient community.” --- From the Melanoma Research Foundation Press Release

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved YERVOY™ (ipilimumab) 3 mg/kg for the treatment of patients with unresectable (inoperable) or metastatic melanoma. YERVOY is the first and only therapy for unresectable or metastatic melanoma to demonstrate a significant improvement in overall survival based on results from a pivotal randomized, double-blind Phase 3 study.  ----Bristol-Myers Squibb Press Release