This week I have been surrounded with articles regarding optimism, spirituality, and positive attitude.  As many of you know, my cousin Marshall passed away December 15, 2012 at the age of 23.  Today would have been his 24th birthday.  Why do you bring this up you might ask?  I bring it up because his beautiful sister, Marissa, “talks” to him a lot.  And through his spirit he lives within her. I believe we all have a spirit or maybe several spirits living inside of each of us ready to jump out and shine.  As Depak Chopra says, “True Happiness is an internal state of conciousness that allows us to be happy for no reason at all.  It’s the realization that our real self isn’t our possessions, accomplishments, relationships, body or mind.  who we really are transcends space, time, and cause-and-effect.  Our essential nature is pure conciousness, also known as a field of possibilities.  The attributes of this field include happiness, love and grace.  Happiness already exists within us, but it’s often covered by our conditioned thought patterns and all kinds of distractions.  Consciously choosing our intentions is the most powerful way to begin any project, journey or dream.”

 

A couple of scientific studies mention the optimistic outlook of a cancer patient living many months longer than expected, while the pessimistic patient died much earlier.  A story I learned of this morning, listening to one of my many Webinars on Demand this one by Dr. Bernie Siegel, through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, gave a true picture of this idea.  A man, upon learning he had a terminal illness and would live for only two months, decided to spend his savings doing all of the things he wanted to do, travel, eat glorious foods, see wonderful sites, and many other positive, enlightening activities.  After the two months was over the man was not dead, in fact he was healthier, more vivacious than he had ever been in his life.  The man did not die and that fatal disease, gone.  Of course now he had no money left, but the moral of the story is that he was happy, stress free, and enjoying his life and this, saved his life.

 

Something that I have learned, especially over the past two years, was that life doesn’t wait for you to make decisions, it keeps moving on, with or without you, life does not suck, it’s challenging at times, but we all learn and grow from our challenges.

 

Two weeks ago I was ready to withdraw from my health coaching certification program.  I felt overwhelmed, tired, sad, and quite frankly lazy.  I thought to myself, what do I need this for, I don’t need to start a business, I have an awesome job at the University, I get a nice paycheck, great benefits, and a really nice retirement package.  I don’t need to be in school, what I really need is to relax, do nothing, and enjoy life.  What I found out is, 0nce I made that decision, my life didn’t seem all that enjoyable because now I wasn’t able to do what I love which is working with people, helping people, learning about nutrition, learning new ways of healthy cooking, and having awesome clients that rely on me for someone to bounce ideas off of, and learn for themselves about being healthy and happy.  In the end I didn’t withdraw, I just toned things down, a lot.  I’m so glad I didn’t withdraw because what I am learning is changing my life.  I know all of you are interested in health and nutrition so if anyone reading this blog would like to learn about the school see below for information on a scholarship offer that I’ve been blessed to give to two individuals interested.  I’ve put the information in red below.

 

Set intentions for your day, here are some suggested ideas from Depak Chopra:

 

Have you been waiting for the right moment to enroll at Integrative Nutrition?  Well, I’m happy to be the bearer of good news today – $500-$1,000 off enrollment costs!I have 2 scholarships for anyone who enrolls in the Health Coach Training Program between Thursday, May 24th and Monday, May 28th-you’ll each receive up to $1,000 in savings: $500 off enrollment costs and an additional $500 off depending on the enrollment option you choose.  $1,000 is the maximum savings offered, & it doesn’t come around often.  *AND you get the new Integrative Nutrition App loaded with curriculum when you enroll as well as an amazing website -super cool!Just call in at (877)-733-1520 and mention the Memorial Day savings offer, and of course, tell ’em Lisa Kippur sent you! (Email me if you have any questions!) XO, Lisa