Happy For No Reason

I have so many recipes I want to share with you but I'm just bursting at the seams from my interview last night with happiness expert, Marci Shimoff. The recipes will have to wait. Or you can check out two of my favorite blogs: Kirsten's Raw for a recipe on green juice pulp crackers (o.k. not the most appetizing name but you never know) or Making Love In The Kitchen for a cooked buckwheat sweet potato recipe (if you are tired of the raw thing).

Now, let's get down to business - happiness. I love talking about happiness because apart from love (which of course is intimately connected to happiness) what could be more important? Now you may say health, money, family or any number of things. But if you aren't happy, who cares how strong your body is or how much money you have in the bank. I mean really. Marci's book Happy For No Reason explores what happiness is, what prevents us from experiencing true joy and how we can bring happiness into our life moment to moment to moment.



I really enjoyed her book but in all honesty I enjoyed her even more. Marci has great energy and so much wisdom to share. If you would like to hear the hour-long interview you can do so by clicking here. I thought I would offer a little of it here and then if you are so inspired, you can get the rest on your own.

Having just read Think and Grow Rich I was inspired by Napolean Hill's stories of wealth. Last night however, Marci reminded me that in all of her years of study and her interviews of 100 unconditionally happy people, not one of them was happy because of money. They came from different backgrounds, classes, lifestyles, etc. What made them happy was the ability to cultivate happiness from the inside out. How do we do this? Well, that is her book and her new Happy For No Reason personal learning course.

But one thing we can all start with right now is choice. I keep reminding myself that I get to choose. In every moment I choose if I want to empower or disempower myself with the thoughts I think. Nobody, even though my mind would have me think otherwise, gets to decide that but me. And I swear, every time I choose a happier thought my body, my heart and my spirit say "thank you." Every time.

Not only that but all that yummy food I keep eating is better absorbed, digested, assimilated and eliminated. Our bodies actually process our food better, take in more nutrients and eliminate more waste products when our mind is at ease and our central nervous system in rest. So happiness doesn't just make us feel good it keeps us healthy, vibrant and alive so that we can enjoy our family, go after the riches (if that is what we desire) and do all we desire. It's all good when it's good.

Super Thoughts

It took about two days for my body to start feeling functional. During that time I continued to fret and to read. Every time I get sick I have been able to trace it to an emotionally exhausting period. Last Wednesday I gave a teleseminar on "the Pursuit of Pleasure." In many ways this call was a big deal for me so the relief I felt upon finishing was palpable. I danced in joy around the living room with my son in my arms until he begged to be let down.

I have noticed over the years that relief is often followed by doubt and anxiety. My mind doesn't want a vacation and so seeks out the next "thing" upon which to turn its attention. The following morning my mind took a turn for the worse and no matter what I did, I couldn't shake it. Fear was creeping in and like a long-lost troubled yet familiar relationship, I showed it in and gave it space to stay. Then I got sick.

It was in taking time these last few days to just stop and read that my mind finally began to clear. I was scared. I have spent years studying nutrition and now I have chosen to walk a path no one taught me in school and no books advised me to follow. My vision was getting clearer and with it the voices of doubt and uncertainty grew louder. What did I really know about raw and super foods? Where I am taking myself? Who are my mentors? I have to fall back on my own knowing, the truth of my body, while resuming studying with a new focus and energy. And I am sharing it all with you.

Once again I find myself choosing uncertain ground. Oddly enough, despite the fear, I seem to be drawn to the shakiness of uncertainty. So Think and Grow Rich was undoubtedly the perfect book for me. Every book I pick up lately is telling me the same thing - our life is what we think. Humans have the incredible ability of controlling what we think and by choosing our thoughts wisely we create the life we want. I believe this now. I really do. So I feel ready for the discipline required to keep my thoughts empowering, to stay clear of my vision and allow doubt and worry to be replaced with new, life-giving friends.

I eat well. Really well. But I know it isn't everything. As Dr. Bruce Lipton says, our thoughts are the most powerful energy of any medicine we offer to our body.

So with my mind on board - off I go.

detoxing - the common cold

Two nights ago I could feel a cold coming on. By the time I woke up it had come. So I spent the day in bed, something I rarely do, and read. Normally I would have taken the opportunity to spend hours on the Internet but since my computer has been shall we say, unreliable, I abandoned the hunk of machinery for old fashioned print.

And it was a good thing too because I finally got a chance to read a book that just about every successful person has recommended to me over the last several years, Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill. You may ask, "what does this have to do with nutrition?" Everything. Nutrition is not just what food we put into our mouth but the thoughts we pour into our mind and the actions we take with our body and mind. I pay a lot of attention to what I eat, as if you haven't noticed, but I realize that as well as I eat it will not stave off sickness if stress or lack of love overtake me. And this is exactly what happened this last week.

For some reason, not quite sure why, I fell into a bit of a funk. And I knew, that no matter how well I ate, if I didn't pull myself out of it, I could likely get sick. Well, you know how the story ends. So, sick in bed I decided to read about success.

Think and Grow Rich is a powerful book about turning our desires into reality by changing our thoughts. What could be a more perfect read after being in a funk for a week? Now, I can't say I just turned everything around but it felt like a beginning. I feel like becoming raw, followed by the funk, followed by getting sick is all part of some divine detox. Like it is time for me to shed unwanted stuff and emerge into a new possibility of myself. Doesn't feel so comfortable in the moment but I'm hoping, as with any successful detox, that when it is over I will reap the rewards.