This is a plate served at the famous Gratitude Cafe in SF

GOOOOOOOOD morning folks – at least it’s morning here – 4:52 am!

I got up at 4 am which has become the norm for me this week starting with 3 am the day after I returned from London followed by 4 am and 5 am the two mornings after that.

What’s going on?

I’ve read in several raw food books that the cleaner you become inside, the less sleep you need.   Could this be what’s happening?   Or am I still getting over jet lag?

More on that later.

So here I am wide awake, pecking away at the keyboard with incredible energy and clarity, the likes of which I’ve never before experienced, especially this early!

This is how I found out Obama won the election while in London!

As you know, I like to end my week with a gratitude post where I share things I’m grateful for.   I’m going to make this week’s post a little different today.

When I wrote  How Making an Irrational, Last Minute Decision Can Change Your Life (which was about my trip to London), I tried to add a ton of photos from the trip but it messed everything up horribly.  I ended up working on that piece for over 12 hours, uploading, deleting and then transferring photos from WordPress to Facebook!

But because some of you are not members of Facebook and therefore not able to access the other photos, I’m going to put a few more of them throughout this post even if they have nothing to do with what I’m writing about.    Thankfully, due to a new feature with WordPress, you’ll see captions beneath them explaining what you’re looking at.   How’s that?

So, let’s have at it.

What am I grateful for?

Raw Food Journey Continues to Produce Fascinating Stuff

Need Less Sleep

OH NO, deaf guy caught faking it by the press! Mooohahahaha!

As I mentioned above, I have been getting up earlier this past week.   At first I attributed it to the 5 hour time difference but it’s now Saturday.  That’s a full 4 days after returning from London -  don’t you think that by now I’d be settled in?   I think that’s plenty of time to readjust to the 5 hour time difference, don’t you?

I’ve been reading in numerous raw food books that one of the things that tends to happen to a person when he/she becomes cleaner on a cellular level, that there is less and less need to sleep.    Hmmm….interesting.

I got up at 4 am this morning, 5 am yesterday, 4 am the day before and 3 am the day after returning from London.   Not only was I able to climb out of bed with incredible energy but I also seem to feel a sense of clarity too.   It remains to be seen if this pattern will continue but I find it utterly fascinating!

Before I left for London, I was getting up around 7, sometimes 6.  But 3, 4 or 5 am????

Stay tuned!

Been Two Weeks Since I Smoked A Cigar!

WHAT!?!?!? The famous what???????? Who would have thunk that for the name of a pub in London?

You all know how transparent I’ve been while on this raw food journey.  In one of my posts from a couple months ago, I admitted that while I was getting cleaner inside, I was still enjoying my daily cigar smoke.  I even posted a picture of me smoking one night behind my brother’s house in Virginia.

Well, I’m shocked to tell you this because I am a huge cigar lover.  For 10 years I had been smoking at least one cigar a day.  But it’s been TWO WEEKS since I last had one.   And believe it or not, I’ve not had the desire to light up since returning from London.

Will this last?  That remains to be seen.  One thing I’ve noticed about this raw food journey is that the things that were not good for me seem to be falling by the wayside, not because I’ve forced myself to give them up (in other words “deprive myself”) but because they seem to be falling away naturally.

Like what’s been happening with less intake of meat, particularly chicken, my favorite cooked meat.  I was a huge chicken lover – I practically had chicken several times a week but it’s been a while since I’ve had a hearty portion of it.  I haven’t stopped eating them entirely since I sometimes have it in my salads when eating out but not once have I opened the frozen chicken bag inside the freezer!

Trying to sort out British currency and figuring out what was what!

Basically what I’m trying to say is that somehow all the things I once craved (coffee is another example – I’ve actually not had a cup in at least 1 month) have become less and less attractive.

It’s AMAZING!  I have not felt deprived nor have I forced myself to give up anything.  They just seem to drop away naturally.  That’s another thing to be grateful for.

Will the cigar habit be completely eliminated?  We shall see but having gone two weeks without lighting up is definitely a good sign!

By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if the fact that I haven’t had a cigar has changed my taste buds, which leads me to the next subject……..

Drinking Water From the Supermarket Now Tastes Funny!

Taking the train from Brighton to Highbury, UK by myself. By the 4th day, I was comfortable enough to get around on my own.

Of course, when I got back from my trip, I had to go grocery shopping.    Among several fruits and vegetables I bought, I also got a gallon of spring water.   For quite some time, I had been buying spring and/or distilled water from the supermarket because at least in theory they are cleaner and safer than tap water.  Right?

Well, imagine my shock when I had my first glass of water the morning after I got back.   It tasted like…..

PLASTIC!!

I was like,  WHAT THE HECK?!?  No, let me be blunt here – WTF!!!!!!

YUCK!

A couple of things are happening here.

Number one, my taste buds are changing because I haven’t had a cigar in two weeks.  I also think it has to do with the fact that my whole body has been changing on a deeper, cellular level.

Did you know that you have to pay to use public bathrooms in England?

You all know that I started eating raw in September 2008.  That’s what, two months now?  (Counting on my fingers….September, October…..).  Yeah, two months, almost 3.

During that time, I’ve also been doing a heck of a lot of research and one thing that keeps popping out is how the raw foodist tends to become more sensitive overall.   The senses become heightened in ways never before experienced and I’m just starting to see that.

My other senses are also becoming more acute like my sense of smell.  I still can’t read long distance without my glasses so I’m not sure about that but still…..

What do I drink now?  LOL.

Stay tuned!

People Are Telling Me That I Look Different

Remember this? This was at the beginning of my Raw Food Journey in September 2008. Now compare this to other photos you see here. See the difference?

The other night I was at my church’s board meeting as I’m Vice Chair of its foundation.  When I arrived, the few people that were there seemed to look at me in a way they never did before.  Intuitively I knew they were looking at me in wonderment but not quite understanding what they were looking at.  You know what I mean??

Have you ever had someone look at you in a funny way because they see something different about you but can’t quite put their finger on it?

After it was over and I was on my way home, I got a message on my Blackberry.  It was from the interpreter who was at the meeting (the foundation hired an interpreter to help me understand what’s happening at board meetings).

In her message she said not once but twice that I glowed!

Apparently this is another common feature among raw foodists.  You recall a snippet of a report Steve Pavlina wrote about his experience at the Raw Food Festival in Sedona, AZ earlier this year.   He said that even people who were 20 years older than him seemed exude a certain amount of sensuality and chemistry that he found intoxicating to the point where it was like everyone had this inner radiance that was coming out.    In other words – they were glowing.   Every single raw food book I’ve read also said the same thing.

Famous Harrods shopping center

And now it seems to be happening to me.    Even I noticed it in the London photos.   Here, take a look at a photo I took back in September in my bathroom and compare it with the others you see here.    Do you see a difference?

It’s amazing, and I’m very grateful for it.   Thank you God for leading me down this incredible journey!

Update:  While taking a shower this morning and seeing the dry brush hanging in there, it occurred to me that dry brushing my body from top to bottom might also be contributing to the “glow factor.”   When dry brushing yourself, you’re getting rid of dead body cells that don’t always wash off when you take a shower.   That and the recent colonic I did at Crossroads.  Interesting, isn’t it?   Every little bit helps!

Miracles Seem to be Sprouting Everywhere

View from on top of the London Eye (see www.londoneye.com for more information). Notice light from the heavens pouring through the clouds!

The best example I can think of this is what happened on my recent overseas trip.    I made a last minute, seemingly irrational decision to drop everything and go to London for a whole week without much thought or planning put into it.

Not only did I find a very reasonable airfare but everything fell into place the moment I made the decision to go until I got back.  I felt GREAT throughout entire the week I was there and made  awesome new friends, many of whom I will not only stay in touch with but also travel with and perhaps conduct business with some of them.

In fact, this trip did bring me some business opportunities the details of which I cannot reveal just yet.  I’m stoked!

On top of all that, my desire to travel the world has been reawakened, thanks to a man I met there who is a teacher for the deaf who somehow manages to travel the world on a meager salary.  If he can do it, why can’t I?  Why can’t you?

That’s just one example.  There are other miracles that appear to be manifesting as we speak.

As I like to say, stay tuned!

Some of You Are Also Embarking on the Raw Food Journey

Outdoor antique market somewhere outside Central London

It delights and humbles me to know that some of you have taken up the raw food journey alongside with me.  Some of you have increased your intake of fruits and vegetables.  A couple of friends from London are getting themselves the UK version of the  Vita-Mix blender.   You have taken my suggestions and bought books like The Raw Food Detox Diet and others.

WOW!

I am grateful to know that my own journey has inspired you to reach new heights with your own life.   Whether or not you decide to experiment with raw foods, I’ve been receiving feedback on how my blog posts have encouraged you to step up to the plate and face whatever fears or issues you maybe having.  That really makes my day!

It’s humbling to know that whatever I’m doing is actually making a difference in your life, regardless of what I write about.  I’m thankful to know this.  I’m also excited to see the level of participation grow here at Adversity University.  You guys ROCK!

Front view from the top level of a bus.

Life has become very much more exciting since I went raw in September.  Before we go, let me just make it clear that I am not 100 percent raw and don’t think I will be.    I would say that I am about 80 percent raw with the rest being the occasional snippets of cooked and processed foods like chicken and peanut butter pretzels (I LOVE THEM!), to name a few.

My raw food intake in London was approximately 50-50.   You will find that when you travel, unless you’re 100 percent committed to eating nothing but raw food, you will slide up and down the percentage scale.  The key is not to beat yourself up over it.

All I can say is do the best you can with what you’re presented with and everything will be fine.  Remember, this is a lifelong journey, not an overnight crash diet.  You’re gradually changing your relationship with food, enhancing your life, becoming more aware/selective about what goes in your body and taking your health to the next level.    All of this takes time.   So if I may say so myself, I say, CHILL!

If you want to see more photos, you’ll definitely have to go to Facebook to see them.  You have to be a member and be “friends” with me on there in order to access my photo albums (London Trip 2008).

With that said, have a fabulous weekend – you deserve it.

Food for thought:  How has the attitude of gratitude helped change your life?

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