I sat in my car crying for what felt like hours. I just could not move. I was so wrapped up in everything that I was feeling, I forgot to even call the police. I took a deep breath and it came to me. “You are still here,” I said out loud. That one sentence filled every cell in my body and every organ. It completely resonated with me. I felt warmth, enveloped in love and vibrancy, and I felt an extraordinary amount of energy. I started my car and drove back home.
The entire trip home was spent in gratitude. I was grateful to be alive. Grateful to have so many great people in my life who inspired me and loved me. I was grateful for everything that I’d been through, including the drive by, and I was extremely grateful for where I was in life. I’ve been through a lot: self destructive behavior, depression, bad relationships, more issues than a newstand, and plenty of bad choices. At the time it all felt horrible. I felt helpless, desperate, and unworthy of goodness. Despite it all, eventually it passed, as it always does. On the other side of that mess was victory. I became a much stronger person because of all of it.
I’d certainly come a long way, but I still had a ways to go. There were still many things that I needed to do. I would love to tell you that from that point on, I turned everything around and got busy fulfilling my dreams, because I didn’t. I would love to tell you that right afterwards I got my act together for good and completely changed my life immediately, because that isn’t true either. I can tell you that I became very focused on goals. I wrote out pages and page of things that I needed to do. I had my own personal “Honey Do” list going. The thing is, a To Do is not the same as goals. Goals provide you the overall direction in which to go. The To Do list makes up the steps that you should take to achieve the goals. I didn’t have goals. I just had lists of things to do, which lacked focus.
Besides the lack of focus, the lists were overwhelming. I had no idea where to start. I picked at little things here and there. I was doing a lot and not accomplishing anything. I became discouraged and fell back into old habits. I was back to procrastination. I made no effort to write out and solidify my goals. My eating habits were back to being out of control and I was living in front of the tv again.
I thought back to the drive by some times. It made me think seriously about the current direction of my life. I honestly wasn’t happy where I was. I definitely wouldn’t be content to continue on this path and live out the remainder of my life this way. I wasn’t fulfilling my purpose. As a matter of fact, I had no idea what my purpose was. I believed it would all come to me if I sat still and listened, so I got quiet.
To be continued…
First, I would just like to thank my readers for all of the feedback that I’ve gotten from my posts about the MC. A few of you mentioned that you are even thinking about giving it a try. I’m really happy that you are considering it and if you do go through with it, I hope that it works out well for you.
One thing that helped me during my first cleanse was to prepare for the worst, so to speak. I wrote out and answered 10 questions, which made me think about different possibilities, so that I was better prepared if they actually happened.
I’ve posted the questions here for you to review and think about before you start.
Feel free to post your answers here or if you have some good questions that can help us prepare, please share them as well.
1. Why are you participating in the cleanse? What do you hope to achieve as a result?
2. What are some goals that you hope to achieve, other than physical ones, while on the cleanse or shortly thereafter?
3. What, if anything, would you like to change about your current diet?
4. After the cleanse, it’s highly recommended that you change to a raw diet. That may not work for some of you, so what kind of changes could you make to maintain your progress?
5. What might be the reason that you would quit before 10 days?
6. What could you do to keep from quitting?
7. What if you don’t achieve the results that you want or had expected?
8. I’ve read that it is best to rest and keep yourself busy so that you don’t think about food or hunger. What can you do to occupy your time, which doesn’t require a lot of energy?
9. I’ve also read that at some point your energy level increases. It’s been said that it is good to get involved in some physical activities as an outlet. What are some things that you could do?
10. Would you consider doing the program for longer than 10 days?
It’s a new month in a new season, so now is as good a time as any to get right. I was listening to a podcast interview on I-Tunes with Lisa Nichols, (most recognized by her appearance on The Secret), and one of the things that she said was how important it is to be grateful. Lisa starts every day in gratitude, saying out loud all of the things for which she is grateful. I’ve listened to at least a hundred podcast interviews with Lisa, John Assaraf, Jim Rohn, Oprah Winfrey, Les Brown, Jack Canfield, Rev. Michael Beckwith, Earl Nightingale, Joe Vitale, and many others. I’ve heard all of them say in one way or another how important it is to be grateful and how being grateful has made a difference in their lives. Oprah has even talked about her gratitude journal which she writes in on a regular basis. They’ve even said that gratitude for the bad things brings more good things into your life.Now when I first heard this I thought, “Yeah ok. I can understand being grateful for the good things, but the bad too?! Umm, no. And then to say it out loud? Every day? That makes sense how?” Then I recalled the list of people who do this. Every last one of them has a level of success that I hope to achieve someday. Being grateful is clearly working for them, so why can’t I do that? I say thank you to strangers for some random things like holding the door, handing me a pen, telling me the time, etc., so saying thank you out loud for things that have made a real impact on my life isn’t so far fetched after all.
Over the summer, I’ve made it a habit every morning to be grateful. I typically do it on my walk to the train station. And yes, I say out loud how grateful I am for going to my job when I’d rather be a home or how grateful I am for a rainy day, when we’d all prefer it to be sunny. I can honestly say that I’ve noticed a change. Others have noticed too. I smile even more now. I don’t know how many times strangers have commented on my positive aura or positive energy and that of course makes me feel good. I search for the silver lining in everything. Even the bad stuff isn’t that bad. It’s practically nonexistent. When I’m down, it seems that the universe works hard to make sure that I don’t feel that way for long. It is the weirdest thing! Things will just happen that make me smile.
Being grateful gets easier everyday, because there is so much to be grateful for. Even if you have a types of bad stuff going down around you, you woke up today and today is a new opportunity for good things to come into your life. You have shelter, clothes, food, etc. Those are the bare minimum things to be grateful for, but I’m sure you can find more. Give it a go! What do you have to lose? What are some things that you’re grateful for today?
