How do you measure success?  It seems to mean different things to different people depending on our beliefs and experiences.  Many measure success in terms of money.  I would define success as the ability to fulfill your needs and desires, and that could certainly include money.

Here I would like to borrow a quote from Dr. Eric Kaplan, –“You don’t reach greater heights by making more money –you make more money by reaching greater heights through personal growth.”

A couple of weeks ago I told you about a show I saw on Oprah’s new network OWN where Jane Fonda talked about her life.  Jane Fonda has obviously had it all, a great movie career, a successful business, she was a very outspoken activist, and she was married to a multi-billionaire, Ted Turner.  Yet, she knew there was something missing.  She said she got a divorce and moved into the small guest room at her daughter’s house and did the most important work of her life.  She found wholeness within herself, and she said she has never been happier.

We are all whole, complete and perfect, but few of us are aware of it.  We keep looking outside ourselves to find ways to prove ourselves to the world while we are still unaware of all the wholeness, power and abilities that lie deep within each of us.

True success can only come from within, and by shifting our focus from an outer direction to an inner direction we discover that we are at one with everything, and that there is a process for manifesting anything we want in our lives.

The thing that blocks our awareness of who we are is all the stress caused by the striving for all the external stuff, when we actually have it all right within ourselves.

Many years ago I discovered a process for releasing stress and strengthening the entire mind/body system which moves one into a much more advanced level of functioning.  This is what Abraham Maslow calls self-actualization.  It is when we discover that we have the ability to fulfill all of our needs and desires right within ourselves.

Through this process we refine the energy of the mind/body system thereby merging our conscious mind with universal intelligence which allows us to see and understand laws of nature that govern how we are actually creating our own experiences.  We then begin to intuitively know how to live in harmony with these principles to create whatever we chose.

I created a course to help my friends and associates discover their own wholeness, which we now call our Core Course.  Thousands of people have participated in this course with amazing results.  It is now on DVD so you can experience it right in the comfort of your own home.  You can get a free introductory session of this course by simply clicking in the box on the side of any page on our web site requesting it.

I have also written a book entitled Unlimited Futures: How to Understand the Life You Have and Create the Life You Want, which explains this process in detail.  In addition I have also created a Companion Workbook, a DVD demonstration of the energizers and breathing exercises and a CD with a number of relaxation/visualizations to help you get started working with this process.

Once you start working with the process and discover what it does for you, we also provide in residence courses that you can attend to accelerate this natural evolutionary process.

First I would like to share with you information about a great new book that is being launched tomorrow.  It is entitled The 5 Minute Motivator, by Dr. Eric Kaplan.  This book is filled with great stories, wisdom and inspiration and I believe it will help you understand the importance of creating a healthy lifestyle.  You can check it out at http://bit.ly/y0nJVi

He is also giving you a number of great bonuses to encourage you to purchase the book on Wednesday January 25^th, which is his launch date and he is hoping to make it a best seller.

I also want to share with you a most interesting news item, which I found in the Parade magazine on Sunday, just in case you missed it.

“We spoke with Dr. Gary Small, author of The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program, about defending against dementia.

Can we really do a lot to help prevent Alzheimer’s?  Isn’t it all just genetic?  People have this perception that either you get Alzheimer’s or you don’t.  But there’s actually more of a sliding scale of brain health as you age, and a lot depends on genetics and lifestyle together.  If everyone in the U.S. adopted just one positive habit, like getting regular exercise or learning to manage stress, within five years we could expect one million fewer Alzheimer’s cases.”

I felt this was news worth emphasizing as we discuss creating a healthy lifestyle.  One of the biggest problems in terms of illness is the lack of understanding of stress and how it affects all areas of our lives and how by just making a few simple lifestyle changes we can prevent so much illness.

Because we do not understand stress and what it does to us as we get older, we simply call it aging.  It is not aging. It is stress damage, which is caused by unhealthy life styles.  And most of what we call aging can easily be prevented.

This is why I wrote my latest book entitled Understanding Stress: How to Release Your Stress, Boost Your Energy and Discover a Whole New Life.  You may pick up a free copy of this e book by going to www.unlimitedfutures.org/stressebook

Many years ago I discovered a process for releasing stress, strengthening the entire mind/body system and moving us into a much more advanced level of functioning.  I wrote a book to describe this process entitled Unlimited Futures: How to Understand the Life You Have and Create the Life You Want. 

 It provides step-by-step guidelines for creating a healthy life style.  I also created a course, which we call the Core Course to help people create a habit of releasing stress on a daily basis.  Thousands of people have participated in this course and found that by releasing the stress daily they also moved into a much more advanced level of personal growth and development.

If you are ready to start creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself, you can get a free introductory session of this course by simply clicking in the box on the side of this page requesting it.

If you prefer starting to work with this process from my description in the book, I also provide a CD, DVD and a Companion Workbook to help you get started.  Once you begin to discover what happens as you begin releasing the stress, you will want to get the Stress Release and Personal Growth Core Course.

What’s possible for us is far beyond what most people even dream is possible.  When you are ready to explore even greater possibilities we provide in residence courses that you can attend to accelerate this natural evolutionary process.

It seems that more choices become available to us every day.  We are all making choices about our health on an ongoing basis and it is nice to see that more of us are making better choices as demonstrated by the many restaurants that are now providing all organic food.  One such restaurant in the Naples area is the Water Front M Grill, at Venation Village.

We also discovered another great restaurant in Marco Island at the Esplanade.  It is the Mango Express, right on the water, with excellent food and great service.

As important as choosing the right foods are for our health, choosing the right thoughts are even more important.  Most of us do not realize how much power we have in choosing our thoughts.  When we understand that the law of attraction is always working on the energy level we can begin to see how our thoughts, beliefs and what we are focusing our attention on creates our experiences.

If we are thinking about (focusing our attention) on our problems, we are attracting that same energy back into our lives.  Therefore, we can see how important it is to think positive thoughts. We need to focus our attention on all the good in our lives rather than the problems.  If we must play the “what if” game, instead of thinking what if something terrible happens, think what if something wonderful happens.  It creates a whole different energy and attracts that energy back to you.

Most of us think that thoughts just come and we have little control over them, but in reality we have complete control over what we focus on or what thoughts we entertain.

I know that it is very difficult to take charge of your thoughts when you are overstressed.  Stress blocks our ability to be in charge of our lives on all levels.  It affects every aspect of our lives especially our health.

Since we seem to have more and more choices available to us every day we are beginning to also understand that the way we made choices in the past is not going to work in the future.  We made choices by analyzing the situation, looking at the pro and cons and making calculations about what outcomes we could expect.

With all the choices we have to make in our daily lives today it is becoming more and more obvious that we do not have time to analyze all of our options, so we need a better way to know how to make our choices.

In order to live a happy fulfilling life we simply have to develop our intuitive abilities.  These are what we call right brain abilities.  They are innate in all of us, but developed and experienced by only a few.  There is a process for developing our intuitive, right brain, abilities and it is just the opposite of what we have done to develop our analytical left brain abilities.  Left brain abilities are developed through teaching and learning, but right brain abilities cannot be taught they have to be discovered deep within ourselves.

Many years ago I discovered a process for releasing the stress that block our ability to know ourselves on a deeper level and connect with our right brain, intuitive abilities.  I have described this process in detail in my book entitled Unlimited Futures: How to Understand the Life You Have and Create the Life You Want. 

 If you are ready to develop your ability to intuitively know whatever you want to know, get the book and start working with this simple, enjoyable process.

I have also created a CD, DVD and Companion Workbook to help you get started working with this process.  We also have a course that we call our Core Course, which has helped thousands of people discover how to create much healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives for themselves.  You may download a free introductory session of this course by simply clicking in the box on the side of this page requesting it.

We saw a TV show last night on Oprah’s new network OWN that was most impressive.  It was about Jane Fonda’s life as she described it.  If you missed it, I will give you a brief overview of her story.  She had a very lonely childhood.  She always knew it was dangerous to be around her mother, who lived with severe depression and actually killed herself when Jane was very young.

Jane’s dad, Henry Fonda, cared for her and she had a great relationship with him when she was very young, but he went into the military after her mother committed suicide and when he returned she said he was very withdrawn.  Jane lived in total abundance and met many of the top celebrities and leaders of the world, but she said she was just there, no one paid any attention to her. Therefore, she grew up pretty much on her own.

As you know, Jane was a strong activist in the 60’s, was married 3 times and just recently divorced Ted Turner.  She said on her 62^nd birthday she realized that even though she had everything material in life she had lost herself.  She divorced Ted Turner and moved into the small guest room at her daughter’s house.  She knew she had made the right decision even though it was difficult and sad.  As a result of seeing through all the glitter to what’s important she has discovered her own wholeness.

I thought this was a wonderful story that everyone should see.  So many people are trying so hard to get all the external things in life, believing that it will bring them happiness, but it never does.  If we are fortunate enough to obtain enough to help us realize that what we are searching for, the happiness we seek is not out there somewhere, but right inside each of us, only then will we have, like Jane, discovered our own wholeness.

All of our rushing around trying so hard to be successful usually creates much stress for us.  And the more stressed we become the less capable we become of fulfilling our goals regardless of what they are.

Many years ago I discovered a process for releasing stress which allows the mind/body system to heal itself from the damage it does to our health.  Then it begins to strengthen itself and we automatically move into a much more advanced level of understanding, function and experience.  Working with this process over time brings us to a clear realization of our own wholeness, where we can experience a truly fulfilling life.

In time we begin to clearly see that our external world is just a reflection of our internal world.

If you are interested in releasing your stress, taking charge of your life, discovering who you are and living a truly fulfilling life, you will want to get my Unlimited Futures book where I have described this process in full.

I have also created a CD, DVD and a Companion Workbook to help you start working with the process.

In addition we now have our Stress Release & Personal Growth Core Course on DVDs so you can be guided through this process right in the comfort of your own home.  You may download a free introductory session of this course by simply clicking in the box on the side of this page requesting it.

In my last few blogs I have been telling you about some of the new things I have discovered over the holidays.  It is fun to share new discoveries, and today I would like to tell you about a woman I met a couple of weeks before Christmas, her name in Susi Roos.  She lives in the Chicago area, but vacations here in Marco Island with her mother each year.

A friend of ours met her last year and told us about a book she has written entitled Harnessing the Power of the Mind for Healing.  We read the book and found it most interesting, and told our friend we would like to meet Susi when get was back in our area, which she arranged.

Susi is a registered nurse and works in a cancer treatment center.  She told us that she has been observing cancer patients for many years, and has done much research on what seems to be the most effective means for defeating the problem.  She talked to many patients who told her they had tried natural means of dealing with their problem.  She inquired as to what they had done, and found that it was different for different people.  It seemed that they just did what they had heard about.

This encouraged Susi to put together a holistic approach to cancer treatment, and she founded her own company which she calls “Evicting Cancer” and taking back your life.  I especially liked one of the statements I found on her web site, which said cancer is a word not a sentence.

We have a special friend who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and I was interested in meeting Susi and learning what she has discovered about ways to assist people move through this kind of challenge.  If you are interested in checking out Susi’s work her web site is www.evictingcancer.com

I have told you about how our former daughter-in-law recovered from breast cancer and how she and her husband both improved their health tremendously through the Unlimited Futures Core Course.  We have watched many people heal themselves from all kinds of health problems through the use of the healing and personal growth process that I discovered many years ago.  We think of it more in terms of prevention than cure, but what the process does is help people release the stress that gets built up in the mind/body system, which underlies practically all illness.

The mind/body system has the ability to heal itself given the proper care, and in addition, once the healing is complete it strengthens itself, thereby moving one into a much more advanced level of functioning.

I have just finished a new book entitled Understanding Stress: How to Relieve the Stress, Boost Your Energy and Discover a Whole New Life.  You may get a copy of this new e book free by simply going to www.unlimitedfutures.org/stressebook

In my first book entitled Unlimited Futures: How to Understand the Life You Have and Create the Life You Want, I explain in detail the process I discovered for releasing stress and provide diagrams and step-by-step guidelines for working with this process.  I have also created a CD, DVD and a Companion Workbook to help you get started.

We also now have our Core Course on DVDs so you can experience this amazing course right in the comfort of your own home regardless of where you live.  You may also download a free introduction of this course by simply clicking in the box on the side of any page on our web site at www.unlimitedfutures.org

Once you start experiencing this healing strengthening process we also provide courses that you can attend to accelerate this natural evolutionary process.  

Last week I told you about the choice my husband, Dean, and I made to discontinue giving gifts to our family and friends, and how much more we have enjoyed the holidays since.  I am not suggesting that everyone should make that same choice, but that it is important for all of us to start thinking for ourselves rather than just following the crowd.

When we get strong enough to start taking charge of our own lives rather than just continuing to do what we are “supposed to do”, life is much more fun.

Last week since we did not have to shop, we had time to go the Phil Harmonic one evening and we saw one of the greatest shows we have ever seen anywhere.  The name of the show is the Million Dollar Quartet.  They are impersonators and they are truly amazing.  There was an impersonator of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and the female I believe was supposed to be Ann Margaret.  She was introduced as Elvis’ girlfriend, and the owner of the record company who got all of these legends started in the recording business.  They are touring the country and if they come to any place near you this show is one of the best.  If you are a fan of any of these people you wouldn’t want to miss it.  Their talent is amazing.

Then on our way to my regular eye exam, we stopped at a restaurant that we had not tried before.  We have so many fabulous restaurants in our area it is hard to know where to go.  This one was on the corner of one of our upscale shopping centers.  The name of the restaurant was Capital Grill and we thought it was probably just a nice casual restaurant.

It turns out to be one of the most elegant and best run places that we have ever visited.  We have eaten in many elegant restaurants around the world and this was among the very best.  It was much like a private club, the space was perfect, the service outstanding and the food was perfectly done and elegantly served.  Even the bathrooms were perfect.  Whoever designed this chain of restaurants thought of everything.  At the end of the meal the waiter gave my husband his card, with the locations of all the Capital Grills around the country, and he gave me a beautiful red rose.  If there is a Capital Grill in your area and you want to go out for a great celebration that is the place to go.

We also met some interesting people this week, which I will tell you about in my next blog.  It has been a most enjoyable holiday season for us and we plan to continue to celebrate into the New Year.

I was also able to finish my new book entitled Understanding Stress: How to Release Your Stress, Boost Your Energy, and Discover a Whole New Life.  I am very excited about it and I believe it contains some very important information that can help people understand the importance of their choices and possibly make better ones.

My choice about gift giving doesn’t apply to internet friends, so if you would like to get a copy of my new book you may go to www.unlimitedfutures.org/stressebook and download your copy as a special gift from me.

All I ask is that you read it and tell everyone you know about it.  They can purchase a copy on our web site at www.unlimitedfutures.org/products

Also, on our web site you will find my first book entitled Unlimited Futures: How to Understand the Life You Have and Create the Life You Want.  In that book I describe a process that I discovered years ago for releasing stress, healing the entire mind/body system and moving one into a much more advanced level of understanding, functioning and experience.

We also now have the course we created for helping people to work with these principles on DVDs.  Check it out at www.unlimitedfutures.org/products.  You may also download a free introductory session of this course by simply clicking in the box that requests it on each page of our web site.

We wish you all a very Happy New Year and we would love to be a part of it.

I want to wish you a very happy holiday season, and for a quick look at stress and choices I will share with you my Christmases Past and Christmas Present.

Christmas Past

I grew up with all the Christmas traditions and when there were children in the family it was fun buying them gifts.  It was easy.  I knew just were to find them and they liked everything I bought them.  But later when everyone grew up it became more difficult.  I wanted to buy presents that people would like and enjoy, but what?  All the people in our circle of family and friends usually bought anything they wanted for themselves.  Farther more, I didn’t know what they had or, for the most part, even what they liked.

I spent weeks running from one store to another trying to find some presents that the people on my list would like.  I remember lugging all my packages around the stores and making trips to my car to leave some gifts off so I could shop some more.

This, of course, had to be done in addition to my usual work since we didn’t take a month off for Christmas.  By the time I had decided and purchased the gifts it was time to pack for the flight home.  I threw all the gifts in a suitcase along with wrapping paper, ribbons etc, and rushed to the airport to get a crowded flight home.  Got there the day before Christmas and I would usually be wrapping gifts at midnight on Christmas eve.

The next day, Christmas day, it was time to open presents and that was even more stressful.  I almost never cared for the gifts I received, but I knew that the person giving me the gift had, like me, tried very hard to find something that I would like.  So, I had to pretend to like my gifts.  I could also see that others were doing the same thing.

By the day after Christmas I found myself coming down with a cold.  The stress had taken its toll and I had to take the next week off to recover.  It seemed to happen every Christmas.

So, one year I made a choice to stop this stressful practice.  I informed all of my family and friends that I had realized that this gifting practice was not beneficial for any of us, and that I was going to opt out in the future.

Christmas Present

Since making that decision my Christmases have been much more enjoyable.  It is fun to go downtown just to see all the beautiful lights and decorations.   In a totally relaxed state I can watch all the people running around like crazy, and be so grateful that I made a choice not to do that anymore.

I sometimes buy something if there is something that I need or want at the time, but I totally avoid the stress that I formally put upon myself during the holiday season.

It is great listening to the Christmas music and enjoying the decorations, and it is always fun to get together with family and friends for Christmas dinner and the walks afterwards.

My Christmas present and all of my Christmases since I made the choice to remove the stress of gift giving has been so much more enjoyable.

As you can see, I am into eliminating stress.  I have just finished a book entitled Understanding Stress: How to Relieve Your Stress, Boost You Energy and Discover a Whole New Life.  This new e book should be available on our web site by next week.

As you may know, many years ago I discovered a process for releasing stress and strengthening our nervous systems, which when practiced over time moves us into a whole new level of understanding, functioning and experience.  I put together the Unlimited Futures Core Course which has helped thousands of people create better lives for themselves.

I have described the process in detail and provided step-by-step guidelines for utilizing it in my book entitled Unlimited Futures: How to Understand the Life You Have and Create the Life You Want.

I have also created a CD, DVD and Companion Workbook to help you get started working with the process.

In addition we now have our Core Course on DVDs so you can experience it in the comfort of your own home.  You may download an introduction session absolutely free by clicking in the box on the side of this page on our web site requesting it.

Once you start experiencing this process, we also provide courses that you can attend to accelerate this natural evolutionary process.

Here is another blog from Valerie

Greetings! We left off where Bobbie gave Gary and me the set of DVDs and workbook they were packaging to make available to the world, (their Core Course) so that I could get out of my depression.  And so Gary could retire and have the business he always wanted in Florida, but also one more thing.

Gary had had a heart attack back in 1992. I didn’t know him at the time, but it was massive where his heart stopped twice. Now, in the past three years, he had to have stents put into two arteries and he was getting chronic bronchitis every winter because of the cold and dryness. Then because of all the coughing, his back went out. He lost too much weight and I could see him getting weaker. So Florida was looking better and better. But how could we get there?

Because of all the bills from the cancer I had and investments in real estate that crashed along with the “crash” of 2008, our financial situation was not the greatest. Bobbie’s course could not have come at a better time. “Call Bobbie,” was truly divinely inspired!

We didn’t work the program with fear or desperation. Each chapter we went through, we became stronger in our belief and “re-belief” that everything we wanted would come to fruition. We just knew. It helped propel us forward. Each day we woke up wondering what good and wonderful things the universe would bring to us. And we were never disappointed!

As Gary was doing all the paperwork for his new company, which was now contracted to him, we needed to get his heart checked. He had a stent put in, in March and this was now June; four months after we started the program. The doctors were pretty much ready to put a pacemaker in, and though we were affirming for his health, there was something in the back of our minds that told us to prepare for the possibility. He had his tests and then the results, for which I was there. Well. Not only did he no longer need a pacemaker, his blood pressure was under control, his oxygen ejection fraction had gone up considerably, which meant more oxygen was being manufactured by the blood and getting to his heart, and his heart had created some smaller off-shoots of arteries to help carry more to his heart! The doctor was amazed. We were beyond happy!

As I write this, we are living full time in Naples, Florida! Gary has the company he’s always wanted and got his first “big deal” a few months ago. It’s been a year since we’ve moved down here and he has never been sick. We’ve both gotten off some of our medications, and reduced the dosage of others.  We are not nearly as medicated as before! Our goal is to get off of all medications and take natural supplements to help nourish our bodies.

We do have stressors in our lives, but it mainly has to do with family…I have an aging parent, and Gary has a son who has heart issues. If we miss a meditation or our series of exercises and visualizations, we feel it. Things just don’t go as well. But when we stick to the program, we notice things flow so much easier. Doing the program really does help manage the stressors.

It’s not “just” meditating. It’s not “just” exercising or visualizing, it’s understanding about strengthening our nervous systems so we can better handle the stressors in our lives. Everyone has them. But we found that they don’t hit us as hard now. And there are fewer, or else we just don’t notice them as much! When we do feel stressed, we just continue with the total program, ask what it is we need to know, and act.

This program taught us both how to focus better. How to really believe in what it is that we want to create. To know there is an unlimited universe and everyone gets to win! We are now living in a lovely home with a pool on a lake only minutes from the ocean. Not bad for two people who were sad, sick and cold worrying about money!

Our thanks to Bobbie for going above and beyond what she needed to in getting this out to the world. There is no secret to any of this. Bobbie helped us and so many others unlock the key to what exactly the seven steps were to creating the life we want. Our mantra now is, “Just do it!” And it works!

Note from Bobbie

If you would like to release the stress in your life and develop your ability to create the life you want for yourself, I have described this process in detail in my book entitled Unlimited Futures: How to Understand the Life You Have and Create the Life You Want. I have also created a CD, DVD and a Companion Workbook to help you get started.

We also now have our Core Course that Valerie and Gary used to turn their lives around, available for you to experience in the comfort of your own home.  You may download an introductory session of the course free by simply clicking in the box on the side of this page requesting it.

Once you start experiencing this growth process, we also provide courses that you can attend to accelerate this natural evolutionary process.

Blog by Valerie Lower

Unlimited Futures gently challenges us to create the life we want for ourselves. We have to believe, know what we want and focus, yes. But what my husband Gary and I found that makes UF different is that in order to create these wonderful things, we need to strengthen our bodies, minds and spirits. In other words, release stress from those areas.

After several years of battling cancer, the surgeries, chemo, radiation and all the side effects, I was pretty wiped out. I could only walk for twenty minutes at a time, and at a slow pace. I had been used to walking 90 minutes a day in 45 minute intervals. I had let my spiritual counseling practice go because I didn’t have any energy. And I was depressed. I understand this happens a lot with cancer survivors and I did get on an antidepressant, but I wanted to do more than survivor. I wanted to thrive!

During meditation one snowy February day when the last thing you want to see is snow, I asked the question, “What do I need in order to move forward?” And I heard, “Call Bobbie.” Well, Bobbie had been my dear mother-in-law and I hadn’t seen her in years, after my former husband and I parted ways. So I asked the question again and again I heard, “Call Bobbie.” It took me most of the day thinking about it to finally do it! I knew she and Dean lived in Naples, so I found her number and called.

I was met with such warmth and kindness, I knew immediately it was the right thing to do, though I still didn’t know why. I didn’t think I would be able to attend the Introductory Class because I didn’t have the money to fly down there. But I trusted. We talked for awhile and she said she would get back to me. A day or so later, she called and made me a very generous offer. She said they were working on getting DVDs made of the course and it was in rough form, but she would send us the whole package under a couple of conditions: 1. that both Gary and I would do this together and 2. that we would report back to her every two weeks to let her know how we were doing and if we had any questions. It didn’t take me long to say yes.

Since I had done the class with her many years before, I thought it would be a breeze. And mostly it was. But there was information I had forgotten and it was great to be reading it and hearing it again. We never fast forwarded through anything because each part had a purpose and I was so thirsty to get it all, as was my husband.

Each morning Gary and I would get up and do the exercises, meditate, and then do our affirmations. He decided he wanted to retire and move to Florida because he had been sick quite a bit during the previous winters. I wanted more energy. We made a “map” of what we wanted with palm trees, tennis shoes, oceans, sunshine, fresh fruits and vegetables, things like that. One day on my walk with a friend I said, “Let’s do an extra 10 minutes” and it felt great! Gary found he could start a microscope franchise down in Florida, something he had been dreaming of doing for years! We looked at each other and said, “This stuff works!” We were committed to doing it morning and late afternoon, even when he traveled for his work.

Eventually, I got up to a 45 minute walk and it felt wonderful. And many more exciting things were beginning to happen. I can’t wait to share them all with you in future blogs! Yes, this “stuff” truly does work!

Note – by Bobbie

I have described the process that Valerie and Gary experienced in detail and provided step-by-step guidelines in my book on Changing Your Life.  I have also created a CD, DVD and a Companion Workbook to help you get started working with the process.  In addition we now have our Core Course completed and on DVDs so you can experience it in the comfort of your own home wherever you are located.

Once you start experiencing this growth process, we also provide courses that you can attend to accelerate this natural evolutionary process.

In this blog Valerie is sharing with us her experience and stress with going through chemotherapy for her breast cancer.  Many of you may be able to relate to similar experiences, if not personally, maybe with someone close to you.  We hope Valerie’s series of blogs will help you relate, not only to the stress, but also see how to free yourself from stress and move forward in your life.

———Bobbie

Blob by Valerie Lower

As you can imagine, looking forward to doing chemotherapy was not high on my excitement list. But I knew I needed to do something to make the experience mean something. I searched for just the right place, i.e. hospital, cancer center, etc., that would help me on this journey. Some oncologists laughed when I said I wanted supplements to help me stay as healthy as possible. Others told me to eat whatever I wanted to when I said I wanted to keep my weight down (as I had heard that people gained weight on chemo now because of the steroids that are added to help with nausea), and others just said not to worry about it until the process was over.

I therefore, chose a cancer center that promised to nourish mind, body and spirit. I really believed I had done everything I could to choose what I thought would be as good an experience as possible. I had to travel by plane to get to the cancer center. The morning of my first chemo, September 2, 2003, I stood by Lake Michigan. The sun was rising, the wind was blowing through my shoulder length hair and I was prepared for what was to come.

The moment I walked into the waiting room with my wonderful husband, I felt as if I had entered the holocaust. Women with scarves around their heads, dark circles under their eyes, most looking very tired, a couple of them maybe smiling. It was packed in there. I breezed in trying to be positive and choked back tears. I was wearing a pretty pink shirt, lipstick and I had all of my beautifully highlighted hair. Once I sat down, I closed my eyes and breathed, trying not to concentrate on what was around me, yet also trying to send them all love, light and healing. That waiting room, however, was the beginning of what was to feel like I was being experimented upon in a mad scientist’s lab.

I would like to say here, that most experiences people have going through the whole cancer process is much better than mine. But I feel I need to tell my story so others can learn from my story which can hopefully help.

Many things were not what I expected. I had to have a subclavian inserted instead of a port. This meant that with each visit, I had to have a long extremely thin tube threaded through my vein above the right breast (the cancer had been in my left) with 2 tubes left hanging down for saline to be injected into one and blood to be taken with the other. Each time, the table was tilted backward and the doctor would say, “Pray to your maker that I don’t rip into your vein, or we’ll be in trouble.” Didn’t exactly instill trust in the doctor. It hurt like a ton of bricks had been laid on my chest. The nurse was not compassionate. So different from when I had my biopsy done. They put ice in a bag and sent me on my way.

They did the chemo over 3 days, as they said it would be less stressful on the body. This was not the case. It was more stressful, especially when they put me in a room with a woman who was in a bed, her skin the color of sheets, dying. All night long the nurses would come in to help her out, flipping on the light, talking loudly and on and on it went. Now, there happened to be six empty rooms that they could have put me in, but didn’t.

Of course I dreaded every time I was to go on the plane and take off to what felt like hell. My head was so clouded, my husband was so overwhelmed, it was difficult to know what was being done wasn’t supposed to be happening. I tried advocating for myself but was shot down each time I tried. Here’s where I should have transferred to a place close to home. I see that afterward. But I just kept going, counting down each time.

Throughout this, there were many things for which I was grateful. And I let God know it. Soon, the chemo would take even my spirit away, albeit temporarily. But I could still do gratitude. My husband was and is the best. Gary made me laugh when I needed to laugh. He held me when I needing holding. He got me mashed potatoes and tapioca pudding from Byerly’s for six weeks when I had mouth sores. And he wheeled me out of that clinic in a wheel chair on the last day when I couldn’t walk because I was so sick.

My best friend Nancy and I laughed a lot when I was home. And we cried. And we wondered, not why me, but what was this all about? She and I understood each other inside and out and she was my biggest cheerleader next to my husband. She made me what we termed “Best Bud Soup” which was heaven when I came back from chemo. Homemade chicken and brown rice soup with her special seasoning. All organic.

My neighbors hired a cleaning lady to come to the house once a week for three months! Other friends gave me gift certificates for massages. I received presents galore. Some fun, some useful, all caring. I felt loved and blessed during all of this. So many good friends! They helped me decorate my Christmas tree during radiation. Nancy helped me pick out wigs and hats. We cried some more and we laughed some more.

I tried to meditate, but the chemo just didn’t let me settle down. So I breathed. I tried to visualize. But I felt so worn out by having to advocate for myself so much, that I just didn’t. Everything I had started out doing in the beginning, I let fall by the wayside. I was discouraged. But having it happen this way taught me a lot for when I went through radiation.

Next week I will share with you the hopeful and wondrous things that happened for me during radiation, after I had put the horrible time of the cancer clinic behind me. I would even say it was a sacred time for me. It’s what can happen when forgiving the past, moving forward and staying mindful. As difficult as it was for me to live through this last part with you this week, it is laying the groundwork for all the good that is to come.

Note —–

As Valerie will explain as she continues, it was the experience of working with the Unlimited Futures Core Course that made a huge difference in her and her husband’s ability to transform their lives.  You may download a free introductory session of this course by simply clicking in the box on the side of this page requesting it.

I also wrote a book entitled Unlimited Futures where I explain this process in detail and give you step-by-step guidelines for working with the process.