National Infertility Awareness Week: Oct. 19th-25th.

I want to take a moment to remind everyone about National Infertility Awareness Week, which starts Monday, October 19th. Infertility affects 7.3 million Americans, and the purpose of National Infertility Awareness Week is to raise awareness.

During this upcoming week, I'd encourage all of you to think about your loved ones who are now suffering or have suffered with infertility. If you are being affected by infertility, take this time to honor your journey, whether you're still struggling or have built your family. I think most would agree that although infertility is terribly hard, we're all better for the road we've traveled. We learn, we grow, we find out who our real friends are and who we can lean on when we've completely given up hope. We learn how to appreciate our present and/or future children, regardless of how they came into this world. We learn to appreciate our spouses and to keep our marriages strong and make them a priority. We learn that sometimes we go through trials in our lives because we're meant to educate others and support those who may be going through the same thing.

I know this sounds odd coming from me, the greatest of the great whiners, but celebrate your journey. Appreciate what you've been through. You wouldn't be who you are today without struggling. No experience is wasted if you learn from it.

Here are a few quotes I've found helpful:

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
- Helen Keller

"I think only through suffering all our wonderful human qualities come out in us. Unless and until you suffer, how will you understand other's suffering?"
-Sree Chakravarti

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson