by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Nov 17, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
“There is nothing more life changing than gratitude. This I know for sure.” ~Oprah Winfrey
Nightmares are blessings in disguise and a call to action. I immediately gave thanks for the Divine intervention. And, that brings me back to here and now, at the hospital —pissed off and panting! “Thank you God for guiding me. I can’t do this alone,” I thought. Then, the power of gratitude flowed into intention which began to manifest results.
“I want an appointment for an MRI and I don’t care if they can give me a false negative. I’d rather sweat through a negative biopsy than have another missed positive mammogram. You have my records on your computer. See who made the last appointment and then make one for me, please!”
The secretary must have pushed a hidden panic button because Dr. Harold appeared.
“I already told you, we don’t write MRI prescriptions here. Who wrote your last one?” he said.
Those words had echoed in my mind as I ran between the lower floor of nuclear medicine to ninth floor oncology to fifth floor surgery, to find who had written the last prescription. Isn’t that why I have medical records? My dream said an MRI is a matter of life and death. So, I’m not leaving until I have that appointment, even if it means lying on the floor of his waiting room and throwing a full-fledged temper tantrum like a two year old brat denied candy.
“I don’t know who wrote the last prescription, nor do I care. I want you to write this one, now, please.”
“Kathy, you are healthy and it’s not hospital policy to give MRIs without a reason.”
Is this déjà vu or have I been transported back in time to the same response five years ago? I need to pinch myself, or better yet pinch Dr. Harold. Instead, armed with gratitude for guidance I step closer for effect. “ I want an MRI. If I hadn’t convinced Dr. Wagner to perform exploratory surgery on me, against hospital policy, I’d be dead now.”
Four months later my MRI results showed stage four breast cancer recurrence.
I could have sued and won but chose not to. I could have chosen to remain angry but, that would drain my immune system. Anger is debilitating. Instead, I chose to stand in gratitude and immediately said a silent prayer. “Thank you for giving me strength and guidance to self-advocate. Please use me.” I decided to let-go-and-let-God with the statement, “Thy will be done. If I am to die thank you for giving me time to get my house in order. If I am to live, thank you for allowing me to be of service to others. ” With those words of gratitude I could not loose, and that made me a winner, which was reason for more gratitude creating a cyclone of positive energy. That was 12 and 17 years ago. Gratitude is still swirling.
Gratitude is a big part of my daily healing and can be used to pay-it-back or pay-it-forward. My favorite prayer is, “I thank you for all that I am, all that I will be, all that I have, all that I choose to give away, and all that I will receive.” So simple. So powerful!
No matter what you are feeling right now give thanks for it. Breathe in healing gratitude and exhale any limitations. You always have a choice. You can bemoan your lot in life or look for the silver lining and give thanks for the opportunity to rise above your challenges. Every challenge is a stepping stone toward gratitude. Be grateful and give thanks.
Giving thanks means more than a seat at the Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter table. It is a daily event that involves taking a momentary break from your fast paced life to put a smile on your face.
Gratitude is a mind-set that holds the key to shifting your awareness from an attitude of rejecting and defending to one of acceptance and appreciation in order for more abundance to magically flow.
Studies by Robert A. Emmons PhD, a leading expert on the subject of gratitude, show people who live in a state of pervasive thankfulness experience life differently than people who cheat themselves out of joy by not feeling grateful.
Have you ever noticed how good you feel when you are thankful for something or someone? When present in the moment of gratitude we feel more open, more generous, more connected, more aware and more alive.
Why save that special feeling for a certain day, occasion, or time of the year? Don’t wait for a reason to be thankful, paying it forward and give thanks for anything the Universe may send you in the future. Make it a game. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and give thanks now. Begin a new life of gratitude this moment. Your Spirit-guides and Guardian-angels love to play the Gratitude Game. The rule is simple: The worse the problem the more grateful you must become for receiving inner- guidance to grow from the challenge. You simply can’t lose at the Gratitude Game.
BIO: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is an international, multi-award-winning author, contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul, Internationally Syndicated Columnist, TV/Radio host/producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod. ™and The Kat Kanavos Show. She is a three-time cancer survivor whose dreams diagnosed her illness, is written in medical journals and invited on National Talk Shows like Dr. Oz. Kat lives her life daily in gratitude and grace. Learn more at KathleenOkeefeKanavos.com
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Nov 17, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
By Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos
“There is nothing more life changing than gratitude. This I know for sure.” ~Oprah Winfrey
What do you feel at this moment? If it is love, anger, fear or sadness? Be grateful because gratitude is an emotional game-changer and fuel for life that activates your Inner-guidance. As a three-time breast cancer survivor whose precognitive dreams diagnosed illness the medical community missed, gratitude played a huge part in my survival. Gratitude is a game changer.
This is wrong—so wrong! No one should have to fight this hard in a hospital to get the tests they know they need to live. I burst into my doctor’s waiting room for the second time in ten minutes.
“That’s it! I’ve had enough! I don’t want any more run-around!” I hiss at the secretary. Her big blue eyes stare in disbelief. Is she astonished at my anger or my return from the ridiculous quest to find my own medical information?
This is not the way I want to start the week after my healthy mammogram. I had burst into this same office that day too, but then it was out of fear after my unexpected visitor “from the other side.” A monk spirit guide dressed in a brown robe and invisible to everyone except me had appeared at my mammography reading, pointed to a spot on the film, and said, “Tell the doctor to look there.”
“Thank you, God.”I thought, pulled the hospital gown tighter around me and repeated the message to the doctor reading the film. He responded with, “You’re healthy. Go home.”
So I did. But, that n
ight another dream warned me of the real nightmare unfolding again in my life. Who could forget monk Spirit-guides dressed in scary circus clown suits showing you a life threatening problem on a mammogram? “Wake-up!” I screamed.
Nightmares are blessings in disguise and a call to action. I immediately gave thanks for the Divine intervention. And, that brings me back to here and now, at the hospital —pissed off and panting! “Thank you God for guiding me! I can’t do this alone,” I thought. Then, the power of gratitude flowed into intention which began to manifest results.
“I want an appointment for an MRI and I don’t care if they can give me a false negative. I’d rather sweat through a negative biopsy than have another missed positive mammogram. You have my records on your computer. See who made the last appointment and then make one for me, please!”
The secretary must have pushed a hidden panic button because Dr. Harold appeared.
“I already told you, we don’t write MRI prescriptions here. Who wrote your last one?” he said.
Those words had echoed in my mind as I ran between the lower floor of nuclear medicine to ninth floor oncology to fifth-floor surgery, to find who had written the last prescription. Isn’t that why I have medical records? My dream said an MRI is a matter of life and death. So, I’m not leaving until I have that appointment, even if it means lying on the floor of his waiting room and throwing a full-fledged temper tantrum like a two-year-old brat denied candy.
…..Join us for part 2 of this article.
BIO: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is an international, multi-award-winning author, contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul, Internationally Syndicated Columnist, TV/Radio host/producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod. ™and The Kat Kanavos Show. She is a three-time cancer survivor whose dreams diagnosed her illness, is written in medical journals and invited on National Talk Shows like Dr. Oz. Kat lives her life daily in gratitude and grace. Learn more @ KathleenOkeefeKanavos.com
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Nov 17, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
By Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos
“There is nothing more life changing than gratitude. This I know for sure.” ~Oprah Winfrey
What do you feel at this moment? If it is love, anger, fear or sadness? Be grateful because gratitude is an emotional game-changer and fuel for life. As a three time breast cancer survivor whose precognitive dreams diagnosed illness the medical community missed each time, gratitude played a huge part in my survival. Gratitude is a game changer. ..
This is wrong—so wrong! No one should have to fight this hard in a hospital to get the tests they know they need to live. I burst into my doctor’s waiting room for the second time in ten minutes.
“That’s it! I’ve had enough! I don’t want any more run-around!” I hiss at the secretary. Her big blue eyes stare in disbelief. Is she astonished at my anger or my return from the ridiculous quest to find my own medical information?
This is not the way I want to start the week after my healthy mammogram. I had burst into this same office that day too, but then it was out of fear after my unexpected visitor “from the other side.” A monk spirit guide dressed in a brown robe and invisible to everyone except me had appeared at my mammography reading, pointed to a spot on the film, and said, “Tell the doctor to look there.”
“Thank you, God.”I thought, pulled the hospital gown tighter around me and repeated the message to the doctor reading the film. He responded with, “You’re healthy. Go home.”
So I did. But, that night another dream warned me of the real nightmare unfolding again in my life. Who could forget monk Spirit-guides dressed in scary circus clown suits showing you a life threatening problem on a mammogram? “Wake-up!” I screamed.
Nightmares are blessings in disguise and a call to action. I immediately gave thanks for the Divine intervention. And, that brings me back to here and now, at the hospital —pissed off and panting! “Thank you God for guiding me. I can’t do this alone,”I thought. Then, the power of gratitude flowed into intention which began to manifest results.
“I want an appointment for an MRI and I don’t care if they can give me a false negative. I’d rather sweat through a negative biopsy than have another missed positive mammogram. You have my records on your computer. See who made the last appointment and then make one for me, please!”
The secretary must have pushed a hidden panic button because Dr. Harold appeared.
“I already told you, we don’t write MRI prescriptions here. Who wrote your last one?” he said.
Those words had echoed in my mind as I ran between the lower floor of nuclear medicine to ninth floor oncology to fifth floor surgery, to find who had written the last prescription. Isn’t that why I have medical records? My dream said an MRI is a matter of life and death. So, I’m not leaving until I have that appointment, even if it means lying on the floor of his waiting room and throwing a full-fledged temper tantrum like a two year old brat denied candy.
“I don’t know who wrote the last prescription, nor do I care. I want you to write this one, now, please.”
“Kathy, you are healthy and it’s not hospital policy to give MRIs without a reason.”
Is this déjà vu or have I been transported back in time to the same response five years ago? I need to pinch myself, or better yet pinch Dr. Harold. Instead, armed with gratitude for guidance I step closer for effect. “ I want an MRI. If I hadn’t convinced Dr. Wagner to perform exploratory surgery on me, against hospital policy, I’d be dead now.”
Four months later my MRI results showed stage four breast cancer recurrence.
I could have sued and won but chose not to. I could have chosen to remain angry but, that would drain my immune system. Anger is debilitating. Instead, I chose to stand in gratitude and immediately said a silent prayer. “Thank you for giving me strength and guidance to self-advocate. Please use me.” I decided to let-go-and-let-God with the statement, “Thy will be done. If I am to die thank you for giving me time to get my house in order. If I am to live, thank you for allowing me to be of service to others. ” With those words of gratitude I could not loose, and that made me a winner, which was reason for more gratitude creating a cyclone of positive energy. That was 12 and 17 years ago. Gratitude is still swirling.
Gratitude is a big part of my daily healing and can be used to pay-it-back or pay-it-forward. My favorite prayer is, “I thank you for all that I am, all that I will be, all that I have, all that I choose to give away, and all that I will receive.” So simple. So powerful!
No matter what you are feeling right now give thanks for it. Breathe in healing gratitude and exhale any limitations. You always have a choice. You can bemoan your lot in life or look for the silver lining and give thanks for the opportunity to rise above your challenges. Every challenge is a stepping stone toward gratitude. Be grateful and give thanks.
Giving thanks means more than a seat at the Thanksgiving table. It is a daily event that involves taking a momentary break from your fast paced life to put a smile on your face.
Gratitude is a mind-set that holds the key to shifting your awareness from an attitude of rejecting and defending to one of acceptance and appreciation in order for more abundance to magically flow.
Studies by Robert A. Emmons PhD, a leading expert on the subject of gratitude, show people who live in a state of pervasive thankfulness experience life differently than people who cheat themselves out of joy by not feeling grateful.
Have you ever noticed how good you feel when you are thankful for something or someone? When present in the moment of gratitude we feel more open, more generous, more connected, more aware and more alive.
Why save that special feeling for a certain day, occasion, or time of the year? Don’t wait for a reason to be thankful, paying it forward and give thanks for anything the Universe may send you in the future. Make it a game. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and give thanks now. Begin a new life of gratitude this moment. Your Spirit-guides and Guardian-angels love to play the Gratitude Game. The rule is simple: The worse the problem the more grateful you must become for receiving inner- guidance to grow from the challenge. You simply can’t lose at the Gratitude Game.
photo credit: posters owned by author.
BIO: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is an international, multi-award-winning author, contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul, Internationally Syndicated Columnist, TV/Radio host/producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod. ™and The Kat Kanavos Show. She is a three time cancer survivor whose dreams diagnosed her illness, is written in medical journals and invited on National Talk Shows like Dr. Oz. Kat lives her life daily in gratitude and grace. Learn more at KathleenOkeefeKanavos.com
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Oct 19, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
Unfortunately, cancer and depression go together like peanut and butter. As a three-time cancer survivor, severe bouts of depression presented a choice: take pills to alleviate it, or face it and figure out what my body and psyche were saying.
Depression is often a symptom, not an illness.
Alleviating the symptom may not cure the disorder. I saw my depression as something that would diminish if I faced and cured the cause. This is easier said than done. I considered suicide as a means of escape rather than facing my “ghosts.” However, deciding to see what lessons could be learned from the ghosts of my life was the first step toward a cure.
Looking back on difficult times allows us the opportunity to ask questions previously avoided such as, “Why was I depressed? How did depression serve me and what did it teach me?” Our mind is incredibly powerful and will create or manifest situations to serve and save us.
Depression and illness can be a way of forcing us to slow down and “look within” at memories (old baggage), events (past and present cycles), people (relationships), and life- styles (habits) that are not to our benefit. Without depression, we may continue to accept whatever life throws at us—settling for less than we needed and/or deserved.
Just because something is thrown at us does not mean we have to catch it, hold, and keep it, including insults or negative relationships. We can choose to duck or move out of the way. And, if we do catch it, we can choose to drop it.Depression made me stop and reassess my life-choices.
I concluded that how people treat me is their Karma, how I respond is mine.
Not all relationships or situations should be avoided or dropped. And that may be our most important lesson—the quickest way to change someone’s behavior is to change ours first. They must respond differently to the new behavior.
Depression can help us stop and reassess our life-choices.
Illness and depression are the perfect opportunity to take time out for yourself. It can teach you how to respect, honor, and put yourself first, and to choose to change or walk away from bad habits, relationships, and situations.
Draw new boundaries with which you can live.
A friend once asked me, “How can I just quit my job or walk away from my relationship if that is what is depressing or killing me.”
Responding to her question with another question was the best answer. “Are you worried about letting down your job and relationship or yourself? Will they survive tomorrow if you are not around? Will you thrive if they are gone? You cannot hold a gift if your hands are full. Put something down.”
Whenever we feel overwhelmed taking a step back can help us reassess our life. One of the first things we can do is “check our inner baggage,” –the useless stuff we accumulated throughout life. You may be surprised that you are bogged down with stuff which is not even yours. Simply drop it. It’s not yours to keep.
As a caring and loving person, it is so easy to take on other people’s emotional leftovers rather than respecting their right to carry it. By taking on the baggage of others we unintentionally take their learning experience and right to emotional growth away from them.
Old habits are hard to break. Keep working on them.
We often think if we carried someone else’s heavy troubles for them it would lighten their load. It doesn’t. It just makes ours heavier. That realization teaches a very difficult lesson—We cannot carry other people’s baggage or walk their path for them. We have to respect their life-lessons… to be learned by them… and our lesson may be to respect and love them enough to let them learn from their mistakes. We can offer them our shoulder but not our back. Let me explain.
There is a big difference between being supportive and being a mule. A supportive person lends a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. A mule carries the weight of the world on their back while refusing to focus on their own life—this is avoidance. It only takes another challenge to be the straw that breaks their back and sends them spiraling into depression.
Our mind is a beautiful thing.
Experience has taught that we manifest not only what we want but also what we need. Sometimes we need to slow down and reassess our lives.
Depression served me in this capacity.
I didn’t enjoy it and would not choose to go through it again. However, by facing depression rather than suppressing it, I learned from it, used it to change my life, and ultimately survived life-threatening adversity and illness.
Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos-three time cancer survivor whose dreams diagnosed her illness, TV/Radio Host/Producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod™ , Kat KanavosShow , Patheos, Quora, Medium, Internationally Syndicated Columnist, Nautilus Award-winning Author/Lecturer who promotes patient advocacy and inner guidance. Contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul. www.KathleenOkeefeKanavos.com
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Sep 30, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
The Kat & Shiela Show (8/26/’16)
CLICK TO WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9DerXsspdI
The weirdest things have happened during the retrograde that should have ended on September 22nd. Lights continue to flicker on and off, and anything that is mechanical or electronic is out of sync, like The Kat Kanavos Show, and the Kat and Sheila Shows.
Everyone looks like they are in a translated Japanese movie where actors lips move five seconds after you hear their words. But, scientists claim it is difficult to prove retrograde really affects electronics unless you are the recipient of the electronic scramble. There are other things in this world that are difficult to prove, yet many of us know they exist like Bigfoot.
Is Sasquatch real, folklore or mythology? This giant, elusive, bipedal humanoid and extremely hairy creature, roughly 2-3 meters or 6 foot 7 to 9 foot 10 inches in height, goes by many names depending on the part of the world in which it was seen. Have you seen a Wild Man? No, not the drunk one dancing beside you at the bar. The giant one in the forest.
The term sasquatch is an anglicized derivative of the Halkomelem word sásq’ets from the language of the various First Nations peoples in British Columbia. The Native American coast tribe known as Lhaq’temish,that means the People of the Sea, and governed by the Lummi Nation in western Washington State in the United States, refer to Sasquatch as Seatco, or the Ancient Ones.In Florida Big Foot is called Skunk Ape, and in Eastern Canada it is called Misaabe, in other forested areas of the United States it is called Hairy Man or Wild Man. And,all the descriptions of Sasquatch are surprisingly similar. Individuals who claim to have seen Bigfoot describe its “large eyes.”
Each language from a different area of the world had its own name for this allusive creature featured in the local legends. Many names described common actions it is said to perform like“Eats Clams.” Could this be similar to the description often used by us to describe someone from the Northeast as “Meat and Potatoes” or someone from Wisconsin as a “Cheese Head?”
If scientists discount the existence of Bigfoot due to a lack of evidence, how can something with so many names, stretching back so many centuries, on so many continents except Antarctica, and in different places throughout the world be a fairytale, myth or imagination? And, where is the scientific evidence for angels or life after death?
During the Kat and Sheila Show, Sheila Sistar shares her personal experiences this past weekend at the International Psych and Spiritual Sasquatch Conference in North East Washington. This conference is home to real-life Bigfoot experiencers.During the show Sheila shares her amazing description of seeing an “Ancient One” as it cloaked and uncloaked in front of her.
What did she notice that most caught her attention? The eyes!And, the fog.
After listening to the show you decide if Bigfoot is a myth, imagination, or perhaps aMulti-dimensional Extraterrestrial, as some psychics have suggested. It might explain the lack of scientific evidence while begging more questions like, how does this ET phone home?
Picture credit- permission by Kat Kanavos from the Kat and Sheila Show
Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos-three-time cancer survivor whose dreams diagnosed her illness, TV/Radio Host/Producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod™ , Kat Kanavos Show , Patheos, Quora, Medium, Internationally Syndicated Columnist, Nautilus Award-winning Author/Lecturer who promotes patient advocacy and inner guidance, and contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul. www.KathleenOkeefeKanavos.com
