As I sit here and write this gratitude post, I’m admiring the flood of sunshine splashing all over the place outside.  The sky is crystal blue and the air is tranquil.  I am normally at the gym working off a sweat at this time but I have held myself hostage to a forthcoming UPS shipment.

Because of that, I decided to spend my time focusing on things I’m grateful for because that’ll help me forget the “eagerness” I’m feeling for this particular shipment.  You know how that is, right?   In other words, I’m practicing “Letting Go and Letting God” by taking my focus and putting it elsewhere like writing this post.

Okay folks, so many interesting things happened this week - one was downright embarrassing while others were inspiring and uplifting.

Let’s do it:

Grateful for Stumbling Along the Way

It’s bound to happen sooner or later, right?  We all stumble and fall, especially if we put ourselves out there.  (Deer in Headlights Photo by Timdick1)

I was at my Toastmasters meeting this past Wednesday and it was my duty to provide the “word of the day.”   A word is picked and then written on a dry-erase board for everyone to see.  The word that day was “passion.”

Those who have speaking roles at that meeting are challenged to use “the word of the day” as often as possible.   I sat throughout the whole meeting, thoroughly enjoying everybody’s speeches, quips and so forth.   I noticed many people were using the word “passion” in their speeches, which I thought was pretty neat.

Towards the end of the meeting, the Master Evaluator (whose job is to introduce the speech evaluators and keep that portion of the meeting running smoothly) caught me off guard when he asked me for the “word of the day report.”

I was like a deer caught in headlights.  Blood suddenly rushed to my face and I felt like I was having a hot flash for the first time in my life.   I had absolutely no clue what he was asking for!  A report?!?  WHAT REPORT?

So I launched into a little speech of my own about how wonderfully passionate everyone was and then I sat down, fully satisfied.   But everyone was still staring at me.  Some were smiling, some were not.

My immediate thoughts were, “Did I forget to do something?”

As if on cue, the master evaluator smiled and very gently asked if I had counted the number of times people said the word, “passion.’

Blood rushed back to my face and I felt slightly off balance.  Grabbing the edge of the table, I stood up and said with an embarrassed grin, “That, I did not do.”

Everyone had a good laugh about it, including me.   I’m still new to this club and learning my way.  How will you learn if you don’t stumble occasionally?  I think the next time I am given the role of picking the “word of the day,” I think I’ll be more prepared next time!

So, here’s to tripping, falling and then getting back up and keep moving forward!

A Few Articles Were Written About Me Which I Didn’t Expect

Ever since I began my 30 day raw food adventure, I’ve begun to experience a startling series of gracious gifts where other people have felt compelled to write about me because either I inspired or touched them in some way.   Here are a couple I think you might enjoy:

• Overcoming Adversity - One Man’s Story by Ron Finklestein, Business Coach/Celebrating Success
• It’s Just a Little Fog by Gail Goodwin of “Inspire Me Today”

30 Raw Food Journey

Yesterday I posted “Update on the 30 Day Raw Food Experiment” and I’ve decided to continue this to the rest of the year.  I have no recollection how or why I was led to this lifestyle but I am incredibly grateful that the invisible forces have led me to explore this way of life because it’s enhance my well being in every imaginable way.

Consider this:

Lost even more weight and for the first time in YEARS, the scales tipped at 156.5 lbs!  When i began this summer (before the Tim Ferris Diet), I was at 178 lbs.  That’s a lotta meat out of my system!

I feel a calm inner sense - the current market turmoil does not affect me - in fact, I believe what Darren Hardy, Publisher of Success Magazine said in a recent article he wrote:  Innoculate Yourself From the Recession.  I know many people who are worried to death and who spend countless hours obsessively watching what the market does next.   What a waste of time.  What you focus on, you experience.  I have chosen to ignore the market turmoil and never felt so good!

Despite the financial turmoil, I’ve never been in better financial shape.  Why?  Because embarking on a cleaner way of eating has influenced every other area of my life including financial, spiritual, emotional and physical abundance.  Because I’ve lost weight, have incredible amounts of energy, I am more joyful, happier and what do you think that attracts?  Correct, like attracts like.  I have more inquiries about my speaking than ever!  ENERGY.

My clothes feel much better.  I find myself looking down where the bulging tummy used to be and am astonished I can see the zipper of my pants now.

There’s a whole lot more but I am simply very grateful to be sharing this journey with you and I look forward to sharing even more because if it benefits my life in tremendous ways, it can benefit yours!

A Miraculous Discovery

For months I kept driving by this place just down the road from my house called “Pure Intentions.”  I saw the sign out front that indicated they grew wheat grass and provided samples of juices along with yoga, martial arts among other things.

Every time I drove by that place, my mind seemed to want me to at least check it out but I kept ignoring it, figuring what is a place with “pure intentions” doing in my neck of the woods?

Just the other day, I was searching the Internet for a raw food group to join up when I was led right back to them.  I was dumbfounded.  All of a sudden, i got so excited that I dropped what I was doing and walked right down to Pure Intentions.  The moment I set foot in there, I was in heaven.

This is the kind of stuff that’s happening ever since I began the new raw food eating lifestyle 30 days ago.  When you are looking for support, you will receive it, often in places where you’d least expect them to be.

That’s the miracle of eating cleaner.  Cleaning out your system of toxic waste from years of eating the “American Diet” (fast food, sodas, junk food, meat, etc), makes way for infinite intelligence to work within you.  Your mind becomes clearer and your sense of intuition becomes heightened.   That’s been my experience and I’m very grateful for it.

Let me just end this by saying I have become 90% raw at this point.  I have a whole bag of chicken cutlets in the freezer and have been slowly finishing them off.  But I can’t help but think every time I eat a piece, I’m thinking it’s “dead meat” (no live enzymes in there).

The purpose is not to convince you to join me as a raw foodist but to at least learn from my experiences and watch the results.   If it becomes something you want to try, I’m here for you.  I’ll do my best to lead you to sources of information that can help you along the way.

Food for thought:  Have you thought about the food you’re eating lately?

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