Happy Anniversary To Me and To You! Happiness *IS* One Moment At A Time!

Happy Anniversary To Me

When I started blogging three years ago, it was because I wanted to inspire people. I had just published my green lifestyle book, and I felt that I needed to reinforce the passion I felt for the healthy changes that I made happen in my own life – that maybe if I could inspire even one person to work towards helping our environment, helping themselves, and perhaps help to make a difference for the world, then my life on earth would be well spent.

It all began in nature and with a garden. A few years before I wrote the book I suffered through horrible illness and allergies. I went from taking over a dozen prescription meds per day down to two per day by living greener and more organically. It was a dramatic change and I wrote my book to inspire others to make that dramatic change in their own lives. Ripping out all the grass in my yard and planting a vegetable garden to feed the hungry was just the beginning, soon it became about how to teach people to live more water sustainably, then to live more green in their households, then to cook meals that would cost less and be healthier for their children.

Things really changed when I got outside in nature to garden on a public throughway. My neighbors – people I had never met before – began hugging me when I was working in the garden. They thanked me for helping improve our community. They honked, waved, and laughed with me. They left me love letters and gifts. Some days I would meet cancer victims as they walked past the garden and would break down in tears after they told me their stories. These neighbors were all walking, driving, and bicycling past my garden because it connected them with nature. It made me feel great.

Having these people touch me, both emotionally and physically, changed my life forever. Suddenly I knew my path. I knew there was more to life than just existing – there was LIVING. It became a driving passion to inspire as many people as I could so they would understand there was a way to live healthier and happier which did not involve gimmicks or expensive solutions to achieve happiness. I worked tirelessly on trying to achieve that goal and began touring the world speaking internationally on the benefits of living greener. My subject matter expanded to more than simply green living – I focus on eco-travel, culinary, green lifestyle, and organic gardening. All centered on the idea of inexpensive living and positive health for everyday people like you and me.

Before I knew it I was traveling around the world on eco-adventures having the time of my life and inspiring people at the same time (top photo is a self portrait series of me clowning around while filming in Mexico this summer). I suddenly had Amazon book sales, a newspaper column, two blogs (one on gardening and one on greening), over 13,000 fans on Twitter, 3,800 fans on two FB pages, 158 videos on YouTube with over 201,000 views on these videos (as of today), tv show appearances, spokesperson appearances, PBS TV filming multiple times in my garden, my organic garden and photos in books and magazines, and thousands of people sending me notes to tell me that living a little greener every day has helped them.

::tears in my eyes::

I could have never imagined all of this would happen. I, in all sincerity, was hoping that I could maybe just get one person to LIVE a little healthier and to feel a little happier. Believe it or not, I am not an extremist when it comes to green – I just do my best one day, and one project, at a time. I believe I have discovered at least one component to the secret of happiness – it is “one moment at a time”. One person at a time is how you make a friend. One activity at a time is how you build a greener life. One smile at a time is how you feel less depressed. One day at a time is how you make a difference for the world and change your life forever.

Happy Anniversary my friends! Thank you for supporting and caring for me. Thank you for allowing me to meet some of the most loving and interesting people of my entire life – it has been so very rewarding. Thank you for making this the fun-filled, laugh-a-minute, downright happiest job I have ever had (proof is in “The Jump” below – my crew and I were loving life and nature so much we jumped into the ocean together in Mexico.). Thank you for the thousands of emails, calls, and letters I have received. Thank you for your love and passion to help your own family and communities grow healthier. YOU ARE AMAZING!!

Remember all it takes to make a difference for yourself and the world is one moment at a time.Go out there and jump into it right now!!

Happy Anniversary To Me