IN YOUR OWN WORDS Words from our vendors on their life and times, what they’re thinking and feeling, for their neighbors to know and share. RAELENE JOHNSON DENVER VOICE VENDOR Stop and Listen THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS we should stop and listen to: People who are trying to tell you something, your teachers when they’re trying to help you and your parents as they’re just trying to teach you right from wrong because they love you. Sometimes, though, we don’t pay attention to what our bodies are trying to tell us. Your body will tell you when it’s tired, when it’s hungry, and your body will try to tell you when it’s sick. Sometimes, we can hear what our bodies are trying to tell us, at other times we don’t pay attention at all. And sometimes trying to figure out what’s wrong with your body by yourself can end up costing you your life or very close to your life because you think that you can take care of whatever the problem is by yourself. Last month, I came close to death. My lungs were shutting down on me from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and I just kept thinking that I can take care of this. I got the medicine — I didn’t want to go to the emergency room for no reason. Thinking that you can take care of it yourself and you don’t need the doctors to intervene for you can quickly go wrong. When you struggle to breathe, part of a side effect is that your heart gets stressed out with what’s called “broken heart syndrome.” It means your heart has gone into a critical condition from lack of oxygen and it is slowly shutting down. Being overly stressed and worrisome also can lead to broken heart syndrome because your heart never gets a break from stress. When your oxygen levels are chronically low, your brain cannot function and your heart starts struggling to keep you alive. Pumping blood through your system when it’s lacking oxygen can kill you. That’s what happened to me last month. It wasn’t until good friends of mine stepped in and told me I had to go to the hospital that I listened. I have to give a shout out to my friend Karen for taking care of my puppy while I was in the hospital! The hospital stay should have never happened — if I had gone to the emergency room, they could have taken care of my lung issues and I wouldn’t have come that close to death. I know now that I have to listen at the onset of not feeling well. The doctor said, “We would rather have you for a few hours than for days or a week.” I thank God and my higher power, Jesus Christ, I survived that crisis and learned a valuable lesson about paying attention to what’s going on with my body. I’m sharing this story because a lot of people don’t realize that broken heart syndrome is something that will literally kill you. It’s not “Oh, I lost somebody who I love and they don’t love me no more.” Tightness or pain in your chest or the feeling of a vice grip around your heart — if this happens, get help! I share my story to uplift and inspire, give hope to people or share true facts that people are not aware of. I hope sharing my near-death story helps someone. Please take care of yourselves out there. On a Positive Note MASKS ARE A FUN THING TO WEAR at Halloween. But what about the masks we wear in other situations? Are those masks a fraud? Think about the professional mask, the strong mask, the pleasant mask, or the empathetic mask. Do these different faces show who we truly are? Are we being our authentic selves? I can only speak for myself. The mask I wear is the one that SONDRA JEFFRIES DENVER VOICE VENDOR seems most appropriate for the moment. It may not match how I feel that day or what I truly want to show, but it’s the most kind and positive mask I can wear. Sometimes, I may not be in the mood to smile, listen a little longer, or be kind when others are not. Even through the trauma of my past and the daily pain in my body, I tell myself to “Fake it until you make it.” Positive energy out brings positive energy in. I do whatever it takes to get through the day. Of course, there are times when I’m alone and need to call someone and cry. The mask I wear does not always match the feelings I have on the inside. However, positively speaking — and this is my truth — most of the time it does. What I put out into the world is reciprocated, and I begin to realize that this positive person is my authentic self. I hope the mask you wear this season does not make you boo-hoo. Instead, I hope it makes you decide to keep it as a permanent part of your collection. Happy Halloween, my friends! 12 COLUMN
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