Learning To Let Go

     

                                         

                 Finding your path to Peace In a Troubled World    

      "To find peace, sometimes you have to be willing to lose your connection with the people, places, and things that create all the noise in your life."

     As a life coach, I help people find their path to happiness. I help people figure out how to move forward to create a life with purpose and meaning. I can't think of anything I find more rewarding than helping people resolve confusion in their mind. I enjoy helping people see possibilities that are new and fresh so they can move beyond what is holding them back.
      What I've found since I've been coaching people is that we all long for many of the same things, contentment, peace, love, acceptance, and fellowship with others. When I ask people what they desire most, many say that they want a  carefree happy life with little stress.
     Success seems to be at the top of most peoples list, but success is defined differently from one person to the next. Being at peace, being happy, and having great friends go hand in hand, and seem to be universal to humans, even animals long for acceptance and love. The fork in the road is when we run into unexpected obstacles that veer us off our path. Seems that we would all be happier and more content without obstacles? Perhaps that's true but in life, we will at times face the unexpected. Unfortunately, there is disease, and other health problems, depression, drug addiction, accidents, and betrayal, the list is long. These unwanted disruptions that cause people to veer off course can confuse and disrupt not only the person but others around them. At times we will have to overcome unwanted interruptions. This shouldn't cause us to live in fear but rather to be aware that life is full of up's and downs, and problems that have to be resolved. Its how we react and recover from life's setbacks and how soon we get back on our own path that keeps us on course.
      Getting back on your path when something veers you off is the fastest way that you will overcome difficult situations and keep your focus. Your path may be forgiveness, faith, or letting go of something or someone that is holding you back. It's knowing how to come to terms with disappointments, hurts or anything that holds you back. This is what defines strength and perseverance.
     At times I find it difficult to stay focused on my future and keep walking my path. Feelings of regret hold me back. Dwelling on bad decisions I made instead of forgiving myself hold me back.  But what helps me when these thoughts come in is to remind myself that I can't go back and change the decisions. But I can go forward and think deeper and forgive myself.
     My peaceful path is writing, meditating, and taking long walks along the ocean. These are the things I do when I feel stress or have a situation that troubles me. My path is long and full of ups and downs but I've learned to keep walking it even in the winter when there are no flowers in bloom. My winter coat is heavy but I keep walking my path because spring is just around the corner...
Bunny

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 will be (would be) Nicki’s 32ed birthday. As her mother its still terribly hard to believe that she is no longer here to celebrate with us.  And yes, I know she is still with us in spirit and that is comforting ❤️ 

                     

                           But it would be more comforting to be able to give her a hug.         

                                         

                                                 Nicolette Beverly Leach 

                                       October 3, 1985  ~  April 29, 2005

             

     Most of us who knew and loved Nicki remember her for her beauty, grace, and her perseverance. She was always a triple threat because she had a beautiful voice, she could dance and act. Acting was in her blood and she was filled with ambition, and a strong will to succeed. She loved acting and performing, especially on stage. Her ultimate goal was to one day perform on Broadway, so perhaps there is Broadway in heaven.

But more important than Nicki's talents, and her earthly dreams, and goals in the performing arts Nicki is more remembered for her human kindness to all. This is what we all loved about Nicki, and her laughter, she laughed a lot and had a great sense of humor.

Nicki gave great hugs  🤗

Sadly all of Nicki's efforts to succeed in making her dreams come true on this earth were cut short when she was diagnosed with brain cancer, a glioblastoma, brain tumor, the deadliest brain cancer of all with no cure. She had just turned seventeen-years old.

To keep Nicki's memory alive and to honor her request to "find a way to help other young adults who have cancer" the Nicki Leach Foundation was created in 2006 in her memory. In addition to the foundations work with helping young adults who have cancer the foundation also works in collaboration with the glioblastoma/brain cancer research lab at Duke University. More information about our collaboration with Duke can be found on the Nicki Leach Foundation website.

Losing a child is beyond the scope of understanding and is unimaginable to most mothers/parents, and I understand that because the thought was once unimaginable to me.  But if it happens it is something one never "gets over." The pain and grief experienced from the loss of a child lives inside of us like our own hidden cancer with no cure. But there are ways to ease the pain of losing a loved one and through our efforts at the Nicki Leach Foundation to "do good works for others" our suffering can subsidie a little. 

     Nicki had many wonderful friends and family members on this earth besides me, and I know we all miss her in our own way. I hope Nicki's friends and family members will share their own stories of love for her and remembrance of her on her birthday, it means a lot to her family to hear how much she is loved and remembered.

     

 So, let’s celebrate 🎉 Nicki's birthday October 3, and celebrate her memory together, and at the same time honor other young adults who are currently battling cancer. Nicki would like that!

To make a donation to help a young adult who is battling cancer in Nicki's memory please log into our official website

www.nickileach.org/donate

Love to all... 🙏

Bunny Leach

Breathing New Life in New Jeresy

September 2017 marks our first anniversary in our New Jersey house. Kurt and I were married at Cornman Farms in Dexter Michigan on Mother's Day 2017 this year. Together we are building our future full of hope and many new beginnings going forward.
       We moved to New Jersey because we were both offered advacment in our careers and several other opportunities.  My fabulous husband Kurt is the new director of clinical cancer research at Atlantic Health Systems, and is a practicing neruo-oncologist taking care of brain tumor patients.
     The photo on the top left is a picture of my New Jersey writing office in the city overlooking the sidewalk that leads to downtown Summit and to the direct train into Penn Station NYC.
      I'm so happy with the remodel of my office. Kurt and I had a fun time designing it with white window shutters that contrast the dark hard wood floors freshly painted walls and we installed  a ceiling fan. Kurt built me floor to ceiling bookcase which I immediately filled with my favorite books and things.  I'm working with a new agency to  promote my two books TURTLE SHELLS: Heading Through Cancer, and TURTLE HATCHING'S: Breathing New Life. My hope is to have a new publisher very soon and that both books will be available again with the possibility of book to movie or Broadway show.
        In other news I have taken a three-year term on the moleculor tumor board as a member of the TAPUR study (the Targeted Agent Profiling Utilization Registry) for ASCO (American Society for Clinical Oncology) their first clinical trial. ASCO is the world's leading professional organization representing physicians who take care of people with cancer. "Clinical trials are research studies that involve patients. The TAPUR trial is a clinical trial for people with later-stage cancer. The trial is focused on whether specific targeted therapies can benefit more patients and lead to more personalized therapies. This is the first of it's kind.
         I continue to run the Nicki Leach Foundation and ask for your support to help young adults with cancer by making a donation at www.nickileach.org
        This November the foundation will fully fund our endowed scholarship at UNF, the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville Florida. The foundation was responsible for $25,000 before it became fully funded, and we met our obligation. It's dissappointing that we had very little support  locally to help us reach our $25,000 goal.  It was mostly funded through a private foundation out of California. Even without the support of Nicki's home town in Ponte Vedra, and Jacksonville Florida we successfully succeeded to persevere like Nicki did and fully fund the endowment. If a local teenager or young adult should need assistnace at UNF  the Nicki Leach Foundation endowed fund is there in place to help someones college student continue their education if they were to get cancer, just like Nicki did.

Best Wishes to all!
Bunny

New Beginnings

July 21, 2017
I married the man of my dreams on Mother's Day 2017 Kurt Jaeckle, my  husband I will cherish and love him the rest of my life. Kurt is a neuro-oncologist, a brain tumor doctor so he takes care of people with brain tumors. Most of you know that I lost my nineteen-year old daughter Nicki Leach from a glioblastoma, (brain tumor). Often times in life we will find a mate that is like minded. I admire my husband for what he has givin his life to. I will take my last breath with him. He is my soul mate. At our wedding we were lovingly surrounded with family and friends. The true meaning of life is to find your sould mate and build a life together. Always be kind, loving, honest and true to who you are. I will love Kurt, and support him and encourage him to be the best he can be. Surround yourself with goodness, embrace love, kindness, and always live the life you had only imagined.

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite novelist, poet, and lay theologian.  I find his mind fascinating especially the way he can cause ones mind to think deeply by writing one sentence thought provoking quotes.  But I love not only the words he writes but sometimes people put pictures with the quote and this one pulled me in. I was drawn to the vision of the woman standing next to the bench. She gazes across the water I wonder what she's thinking?  I wonder if she went there to think or if she just randomly wandered into this area. I think she goes to this place often to think deeply.  Maybe she's in a transition period in her life and by looking off into the open water seeing nothing visable on the other side perhaps her mind expands and she imagines.  What do you think she imagines? We will never know but we can imagine in our own mind what she might be thinking and that will cause us to think deeper.

Here's another C.S. Lewis quote

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream

I think this quote goes hand in hand with the quote at the top of the page. Because if you believe that there are far far better things ahead than any we leave behind...and if we are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream then maybe the woman in the photo went to this spot to think deeply about moving forward in her life.  Maybe she knows that she will be leaving someone, and somethings, behind if she goes forward. Maybe it's time for her to set another goal and dream a new dream. We can only imagine her thoughts.

Life is full of hellos and goodbyes - But keep in mind that every new hello can start a new chapter in your life, and every goodbye can leave you with new energy to go forward with renued strength and determination to grow, to expand and to build your own happiness, and achieve your own goals.

Life is too short to miss your destiny.

Keep being courageous, take risks, love deeper and pray.  God hears your prayers.

I wish this for you...that your dreams come true as you go forward to achieve your full potential, trusting God. He has the perfect plan for your life.