A Sweet Friday for Me

Sometimes, you never really know what energy you're sending out into the world until other people share their feelings about you -- with you. That's why I value people such as my dear friend, Jennifer, who never hesitates to touch my heart with her "Penny" thoughts. On Friday, when reading her blog -- as I do every day -- I came across these words:

"Have you ever met those people who are so filled with energy they're infectious? My friend Penny is definitely one of those people."

After reading Jennifer's blog, I was reminded of my philosophy to let other people know your positive thoughts about them when you can, because words -- positive words -- are just so uplifting. A few encouraging words can take only seconds to say/write, however, have the power to give someone a major lift for a whole day or more. The right words can turn a sour day sweet!

By the way, talking about a sweet day; Friday was certainly a sweet day for me. I went on an interview for such a cool and meaningful part-time job. Since my son will be returning to school soon, I've decided to take on some part-time work outside of the home (around my son's schedule). But, I really need to do work that feeds my soul, so I interviewed for a Food Education position at one of my favorite places -- this Health Food Store. Any place that has an Organic Juice Bar, an Organic Produce Department, Manna Bread, Veggie Wraps and Books all under one roof is pretty much Heaven on earth to me.

Because I'm so passionate about embracing an organic lifestyle and learning something new about this journey, daily, I know I'd enjoy working at a place such as Native Sun Natural Foods. As fate would have it (although I don't have the job as yet), the Special Diets Food Educator there needs someone to assist her. Wow, the opportunity to train under her and then share meaningful information with customers seeking diet changes and such could only have been a God-send for me. I love to research topics of this nature and I equally love to share my findings. In this food-education role, I'd be particularly learning about gluten-free and casein-free products and how these foods have the potential to work favorably with conditions such as Celiac disease and/or Autism.

The Food Educator, Ginny, who would teach me how to do store walk-throughs with customers, has had firsthand experience raising a child with Celiac disease and certainly knows what's what in the food department in this regard. Today, her knowledge and compassion are helping so many others. Two of several related web sites that she lists as her favorites include: www.gfcdiet.com which "gives an overview on autism and the gluten-free and casein-free diet as well as other great information" and www.gfutah.org which "explains gluten and celiac disease."

I don't know if the blessing to work along with Ginny is precisely mine as yet, but I already have begun learning from her and simply feel blessed to have met her. I guess I'll just have to wait to see if this particular job is truly in life's cards for me right now.

After the interview, I made my way over to the book section of the store and purchased 12 Steps to Raw Foods by Victoria Boutenko. You can read a chapter from the book here. I was told that the author visited Native Sun about a year ago. That's another benefit of working there -- I'd get to stay in the loop about upcoming health experts who visit the store to give lectures, seminars and such. There is so much that this establishment offers.

Before I left the store, I popped on over to the Juice Bar and purchased one of the best freshly-made juices I've ever tasted -- "The Unbeetable." It consisted of apple, lemon, ginger and beet. It almost looked too pretty to drink, but I knew I had to drink it fairly quickly to get its full nutritional value. (Fresh juices quickly diminish in nutritional value once they have been made, so drink up when you have one!) I have made some pretty tasty juices with my Jack LaLanne Juicer, but I don't think any have topped the unbeetable one I tasted on Friday.

Indeed, Friday was a sweet day for me!