Opinion

How much stress are you carrying around? Do you feel burdened by life’s circumstances and emotional issues? Is school work, projects and studying sending you over the edge?

What do you think of when you hear the word “vegan?” Do you think of gross food? Do you think of hipsters? Do you think of animal rights? Do you think of people giving you a hard time for your lifestyle choices? Do you think of people who can’t go five minutes without telling everyone in the room that they are vegan?

The other day as I was browsing the website for Magic Mountain, in Londonderry, Vermont, I came across a deal they were offering.

Twenty-six-year-old MMA fighter, Leandro Souza, passed out in a sauna and died the day before his weigh-in for his fight in Rio de Janeiro.  Souza had been asked to fight on short notice and needed to drop 33 pounds in just one week. The young fighter almost accomplished this and he did so by taking extreme diuretics and dehydrating himself to the max. Souza was in the sauna trying to shed his final two pounds before being found dead.

I walk through the door and am immediately greeted by a lick and a welcome home bark.

Whenever people talk about what their favorite season is, I get a few weird looks when I say Fall. Not only does my birthday fall around this time (Oct. 15), but it’s the start of the holiday season. What I love most about the Fall though is the way the leaves on the trees transform into gorgeous shades of yellow, orange and red.

Growing up as the youngest of five prevented me from ever being a big sister. With that being said, I never really had the opportunity to watch a child grow or become exposed to things for the first time. Luckily, I have been blessed with three nieces and a nephew, all of them under the age of ten. This has given me a new perspective on life. All four of them experience each moment fully. There is no worrying about the future or contemplating the past because they are so young and innocent.

Do you ever feel like you need to get away and just escape all the realties of the world?

I was in awe of the beauty around me. The sky was a crystal clear blue, the sun was beaming down upon me, and the trees showing their newly changed leaves.

My spirit was low, my energy was drained, and the list of negative things that had been happening to me could go on long enough to bore someone.