BIG NEWS!!
Are you enjoying the summer? Shannon sure is - but with heartfelt apologies for her long silence, we realize we are long overdue to announce the BIG NEWS - Shannon is working on her first book!

Yes.....she is finally pursuing a writer's life in earnest, tucked away with her computer, her new best friend. And we invite your input - if you have a story for how Shannon & Key to Life have been a blessing and a support in your own life, and especially in your recovery journey, we want to hear it for possible inclusion in her book, which is titled Beautiful...unmasking the lie of addiction and reclaiming the real YOU.

To submit stories, requests for topics for Shannon to address, and any messages of encouragement (which as you know are always very welcome!), simply visit https://key-to-life.com/ask.html and enter your email address and story, query or message into the Good News question box. We thank you in advance for your support of Shannon as she continues this summer to work on Beautiful.

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM SHANNON . . . Finding Beauty

Training our eyes to find and see beauty wherever it exists is no easy task. In fact, it is one of the hardest things I've ever tackled. And, frankly, I don't have to do it - none of us do. But I have realized that I want to experience more joy and appreciation in my own life, and I have also realized that I feel no joy whatsoever when my eyes perceive only imperfection, lack and fault in myself and others.

Did you ever stop to wonder where your definition of 'beauty' comes from? Have you ever wondered how much of your mental categorization of 'beautiful' or 'not beautiful' is authentically your real opinion, and how much is just what you've been told to see as beautiful or not so beautiful? It occurred to me one day as I was gazing in the mirror that I get to decide what 'beauty' is to me. If I see rail-thin as beautiful, for instance, then rail-thin is beautiful. But if I decide curves (even and especially my own!) are beautiful, then curves are beautiful. And if someone chooses to disagree with me, so be it. They may disagree - but we are all entitled to our own opinions and I frankly prefer my own!

Beauty truly and literally is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't like what you see, ask yourself it you would see it differently by re-defining it for yourself as 'beautiful'. If you would, then go for it - there is only joy awaiting you on the other side!

How many of you wake up each morning and greet - rather than confront - the mirror? How many of you - male and female - like what you see when your morning eyes first behold the reflection of you that looks back?

How many of you placed a bite of rich chocolate cake or creamy mashed potatoes in your mouth last night and thought only of your enjoyment....or were any of you already notifying Damage Control to take over and force you to go for an extra workout or weigh-in in the morning you have woken up into now, effectively and immediately destroying any of the pleasure of the beauty of food and dining that you might have been feeling?

Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'the morning after', doesn't it?

How incredibly sad when we choose to deny ourselves appreciation, to ruin our own enjoyment. How unnecessarily harsh we are with ourselves and those around us....counting calories, watching pounds, giving diet plan dissertations to friends trying to enjoy their dinner, and saying 'I really shouldn't' before every purchase, each bite, each trek to the movies or casual outing with our friends.....

Yesterday I was at my favorite secondhand store shopping, and the mom and daughter behind me were having one of those pleasure-killing conversations. The mom kept complaining about everything, from the price of the clothes to their quality to the fact that her daughter wouldn't be so quick to want the clothing if she had to spend her own money.....I (barely) restrained myself from turning around and asking that mom why she had brought her daughter shopping in the first place, if she was only going to do her very best to kill any joy and appreciation either one of them might have gained from the experience.

There will now be whole years stretched out in front of her daughter where from now on, every time she sets foot in a clothing store, she will feel guilt and pain. WHY??? It is so unnecessary - and could have been so easily avoided. When we enjoy our lives, we want less from them because we appreciate what we already have so much more. If that mom wants to teach her daughter moderation and appreciation, she should start by demonstrating it to her and teaching her how to make every moment fun!

Can you tell it made me mad? It did. But here's why -

You see, I am just now discovering that it is possible to live an entirely different kind of life. I'm not telling you I've perfected the art....and it is an art. Far from it! As a matter of fact, I will freely admit to you that I am only just now learning the application of three VITs (very important things):

1. We have a choice

2. We can make it

3. No one else can make it but us

You, too, have a choice. Want more joy in your life? Want to find and see more beauty, to experience more beauty and joy wherever you turn your eye (including on yourself)? A great saint once said that people talk so much about all the pain they feel and all their suffering. But few talk about the great discipline it takes to maintain joy in our life.

It is true. For me it took 15 years living side-by-side and moment-by-moment with an abusive, soul-killing eating disorder before I decided that I'd like the next 15 years, in fact the next however-many years, to be different. It took me walking all the way down the road of pain before I was willing to concede that I didn't enjoy the experience one little bit, and if there was any joy and beauty out there for the taking, I was willing to do whatever it would take to find it and feel it for myself.

The same holds true for you. If I hear one more of my beautiful girlfriends or any of the lovely young women I mentor and meet tell me how fat their thighs are or how slim their chances for happiness and love...your chances are only as slim as you perceive them to be, my beloveds. And the same holds true for the men we all know and love - for our male friends, our boyfriends, our husbands, our families. With eating disorders growing at an alarming rate each year, and other addictions besides, we owe it to ourselves to take the reins of responsibility and beauty in our lives and hold them fast, and in this way take charge of the quality and enjoyment of our own lives and lead the way to show others how to do the same.

Join with me - please - just say YES! Because if I agree that I see you as beautiful - perfect just the way you are - and you agree that you see me as beautiful - we'll already be halfway there. And when we look in the mirror and approve of what we see, we'll be all the way home. And then there's no amount of joy and beauty we can't find, welcome, hold and increase in our lives and the lives of those we love.

And eating disorders and other addictions.....well, those will fade away into our pasts like a distant, shared bad dream.

So here's to joy, beauty, and many shared good dreams!

With much love and respect,

Shannon