Learning Something New Everyday!

I lost my father, George Jeffers, in 2006 to lung cancer. His illness and death were especially hard for me as he was also my boss of 23 years, my mentor and my best friend. When none of the traditional cancer treatments worked and his doctor said, "There's nothing more we can do for you, George," I began a personal campaign to try and save his life. For almost two years I spent hours each day researching alternative treatments and integrative cancer institutions. During our journey together to win the battle, we were introduced to a well-known and well respected MD/Master of Acupuncture. With stage 4 lung cancer Dr. Kauffman never promised us a cure but he did promise to lessen his pain and make him more comfortable, overall. He did exactly that. After each treatment, twice a week for 3 months, my father showed signs of improvement and said he felt better. In fact, he always looked forward to his acupuncture treatments. To this day I have never known a doctor more compassionate, intelligent or as knowledgeable, in both the eastern and western worlds of medicine, as Dr. Kauffman.

Last summer, in a nation-wide search through the Nationals Speaker's Association, I was asked to co-author a book with Deepak Chopra, Dr. Denis Whaitley and Jack Canfield. The book, "Stepping Stones to Success." is scheduled to be released late spring . (2010) Because of the overwhelming evidence that good health is directly linked to happiness and overall well-being, I asked Dr. Kauffman for his professional opinion/help on my segment on health. I had attended one of his seminars and knew we had similar beliefs on the most important aspects of good health, or, so I "thought."

During my meeting with Dr. Kauffman, ready take pages of notes and gather as much information as possible, he said to me, "Joanne, tell me your ideas on health." I tried to impress him with my vast knowledge and years of research on the benefits of plant-based diets vs. animal protein, etc. He was so kind and caring and let me ramble on and on. When I finally stopped to take a breath, he said these words, "Yes, all those things you have mentioned are part of a good-health program. But, the medicine I believe in, have been studying for over 17 years and has been practiced and proven for five thousand years... health, good or bad, starts with one thing, your thoughts. The relationship you have to your own thinking will determine your physical and mental health." "Wow," I remember thinking, "of course." I sank back in my chair, listened to more of his knowledge on the profound effects our thoughts have on our physical health. His words, so real, so true and so profound, made everything I had been researching for so many years suddenly became more clear and complete. I did several weeks of intense research before completing my segment on health, which I and many other experts believe is first and most important "stepping stone" to success.

Dr. Richard Carlsen states in his book, You Can Be Happy No Matter What, "Understanding the nature of thought is the foundation to living a fully functional and happy life." Everything we feel stems directly from a thought or many thoughts and since we are the only ones who can produce our thoughts then we are the only ones that are responsible for our feelings. Negative brain activity, thoughts, feelings and unnecessary worrying is directly linked to weakened immune systems - the weaker it becomes the higher your risk is for minor illnesses and major diseases.

Researchers continue to explore the health benefits of "positive thinking," which I will cover in depth, but for today, when a negative thought appears evaluate it and then eliminate it! Practice positive self-talk! Just like that, on a spin of a dime, you can do it! Surrounding yourself with up-beat, positive people makes it much easier to do as there are, no "ifs," "ands" or "buts" about it, we are products of our environments!

Stay tuned,

The Midnight Motivator