When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But what do you do when a friend shows up at your home with hundreds of apples? That’s easy….You make apple juice!

Last Friday evening my friends Tom and Sherry stopped by our home for a visit. For the last few weeks they’ve heard me tweeting, blogging and raving about my new Vitamix machine- and they had an idea. They live in Montana next to some wild open space that happens to be the home of a very abundant apple tree. Sherry and Tom showed up at my home with several hundred small greenish yellow apples, each about 2″ in diameter, providing the perfect opportunity to put the Vitamix to the test.

John Barnard, one of our Inspirational Luminaries and the grandson of the founder of Vitamix, taught me that the best way to eat an apple is to eat ALL of it- in a Vitamix. That includes the peel, the stem and the core, including all of the seeds, as lots of fiber, vitamins and minerals are found in the parts of the apple that most people put down the garbage disposal.

Hearing John’s voice in my head, Sherry, Tom and I decided to blend the apples in the Vitamix machine. We started with a little water in the bottom of the machine then tossed in nearly 20 apples, one at a time, while blending. The apples quickly turned from golden green globes to a pale yellow juice, bursting with flavor and with life. We spent the next two hours blending, pouring the juice in containers and freezing more than 50 quarts of fresh pureed apple juice!

I had no idea what I was getting into when I offered to blend the apples, but now I have delicious apples for smoothies all winter long. Tom and Sherry have already used some of their juice for pancakes, cookies and oatmeal. I use mine each day in my green smoothie. Just starting my day with something so healthy gives me such energy!

If you can’t tell, I’m in love with my Vitamix machine! So much so, that I want to give one to you to experience too. Here’s the deal. If you already have a machine, I’m sure you have a Vitamix story. We’re gathering them for a book to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Vitamix, and invite you to please share your story with us now.

If you don’t have a Vitamix and you’d like to WIN a FREE VITAMIX please enter our contest!

– Just complete the sentence…. “I want to win a free Vitamix because…..” (in 100 words or less).

- Email your completed sentence to vitamix@inspiremetoday.com and tell us in 100 words or less, why you’d be the perfect person for us to gift a free Vitamix 5200 machine, valued at $500.

- Perhaps it will be health related, or maybe it will allow you to follow your dream to be a gourmet chef.

- Whatever the reason, be creative and remember, stories that inspire us and give us goosebumps get extra points.

- We’ll only read the first 100 words so please, make your words count and keep it under 100 total.

- All entries must be received by midnight on September 10th.

- The winning entry will be posted on InspireMeToday.com on September 13th.

That’s it- simple, easy and fun! If you need some ideas on what’s possible with a Vitamix, please go read some of the comments or watch a video or two on the Vitamix website. It’s full of information that can help you become healthier and more creative.

We look forward to reading your entries and awarding a Vitamix to one lucky person very soon. Someone has to win- and it could be you… so submit your entry now! Thank you for your participation!

For the last month I’ve been consulting on a project for one of my favorite companies- Vitamix. I’m helping them compile a book of inspirational stories to celebrate their 90th Anniversary. When I was first approached about the project, I have to admit my first thought was, “a book about a blender?” Boy, did I have a lot to learn!

I recognized the name from seeing them at Costco or at the fair, but I’d never taken the time to stop and listen to the presentation, let alone sample the wonderful concoctions they create in the Vitamix.

I flew back to their home office in Cleveland, Ohio, and I was inspired with the product, the people and the company. They’re an American company celebrating 90 years, still family owned and operated, with loyalty like I’ve never seen. Some of their employees have worked at Vitamix for nearly 40 years! Some of their customers still have a machine that is more than 50 years old!

I started reading story after story of people who changed their lives- because of this machine. From a woman losing 120 lbs by eating healthier, to a critically ill grandmother that lived another 5 years due to the ability to be nourished with blended food through a feeding tube, to the entrepreneur chef who expanded his empire because he had the right tool- everyone loves Vitamix. I discovered, they don’t just have customers, they have raving fans!

But, I wanted to learn for myself so I took one home with me. Now, I’m in love with my Vitamix and can’t imagine a day without it! I find I’m reluctant to travel because I’m not sure how I’ll get my green smoothie in the morning!

And yes, I did say GREEN. I’ve learned that morning starts with two handfuls of greens- spinach, kale, chard or whatever happens to be in the refrigerator, toss in an apple- seed, core and all, some grapes, a banana and some ice, and I’m in heaven. I feel like I’m drinking life itself. Yum!

The really good news is… YOU have a chance to win a Vitamix!!! We’re giving away a Vitamix right here on InspireMeToday.com, so please stay tuned for details in the next few days.

After using this machine for the last month I truly believe that the world would be a better place if everyone had a Vitamix. It’s not just a blender- and maybe, like it did for me, it takes the experience of using a Vitamix to truly understand the difference it can make in your life. I’m so inspired and I want to share the opportunity with you to be inspired too. So, please stay tuned right here for the chance to win a Vitamix…. details coming on Monday!

Living in Montana definitely has its perks- especially this time of the year- during huckleberry season. A few days ago, my son, his girlfriend and I went into the mountains of Montana in search of huckleberries. We drove for a few miles up a dusty, dirt road, then parked the car and hiked into the woods. For those not familiar with huckleberries, they grow on bushes usually not more than 18″ off the ground and produce a somewhat tart berry, most closely resembling a blueberry.

As usual, I couldn’t help but relate this experience- in this case berry picking- to life. Here are some life lessons I was reminded of while picking huckleberries:

1. Timing is everything. A week too early and the berries aren’t ripe. A week too late and they’re gone. And like many things in life, you can’t make berries get ripe before their time. It helps to remember that Nature is always right- even when our timing and Divine timing are different
2. Life is abundant. It you think you’ve run out of berries to pick, just look around you. Chances are if your patch is empty you’ll always find another one just a few steps away.
3. Getting messy can be fun. Don’t worry about the purple stains on your hands, your sticky fingers, mud on your shorts or anything else. Just enjoy the moment!
4. Problems exist everywhere. What you focus on grows- and remembering that is critical. The key is to focus on the good things in life- the berries, being in Nature and the beauty of the moment rather than the mosquitoes, the flies, the neighboring thorn bushes, the heat or anything else. Choose to focus on the good things.
5. Things are always more fun when we share them with friends. When you’re heading off to do something fun, share the experience with someone you love.
6. Collaboration works better than competition. It seems like when we were each trying to fill our own bags with berries, the process was much slower than when jointly tried to fill one bucket. And, it was more fun to work together in the same patch too.
7. Persistence pays off. If you keep on picking what’s in front of you, eventually your bucket will be full.
8. Perspective changes everything. If you’re not happy- change your perspective. In the case of picking huckleberries, it’s a literal change. The perspective from above and below are quite different. Most times, the best things in life lie under the surface. If you’re standing in the forest looking down at a huckleberry bush, most times it will look like a bear has already enjoyed the feast, as the berries are hidden underneath the leaves and can’t normally be seen from above. But, when you kneel down on the ground and look up at the bushes, you will find plump, purple berries just waiting to be picked.  It’s when we turn things upside down and look at the world differently that circumstances usually change for the better in our lives as well. (In the photos below, the left photo is looking at the bush from above , and the right photo is the same bush looking up from the ground.)
9. Gratitude works. Every time I had thoughts of “no more berries”, I was consciously grateful for the berries that we’d already picked and almost immediately we found more unpicked berries. The process seems endless
10. Share. Always leave some for the bears and others to enjoy, knowing there will always be more next season.
11. There is nothing so sweet as enjoying the fruits of our efforts, or in this case, eating an amazing huckleberry pie, made with love from the berries that we just picked. When we’re tired of “working” and we’re tempted to quit, it helps to keep the reward in mind. Just visualizing that mouth-watering yummy pie made it easy to pick more than enough berries for our pie, and provided a wonderful way to spend a summer day in Montana.

Today I’d like to offer you the opportunity to participate in a challenge with me. It’s something I’ve been playing with for the last few days. I’ve named it…. How big is your smilebreaker. It’s a little game of self-awareness that helps me reflect on my own level of happiness. Please, allow me to explain.

For the past week or so, each morning as I wake up, I consciously start the day with gratitude. Rather than focusing on the problems that I need to deal with that day, I envision all the things in my life that I’m truly grateful for… the people, the experiences, the feelings and emotions. I allow myself to overflow with happiness… until I can’t help but smile.

Now here’s where the game starts to get tricky. Believing that the true value of a smile comes from sharing it…. I take my smile out into the world. The game is to see how long I can keep it before one of life’s curve balls knocks it off my face. Some days I’ve consciously made it until noon and still had my smile. Other days my thoughts around a problem or a stressful situation have made it disappear before breakfast. I haven’t made it through an entire day yet…. but I’m working on it.

We all know that life will throw one thing after another at us…. but how big will the obstacle or inconvenience have to be to make the smile disappear? If you stub you toe as you get out of bed, will that be big enough? If your car won’t start, will that do it? If you lose your job or can’t pay the mortgage, will that be your smilebreaker? How big does the problem have to be to make your smile disappear?

Each day we have a choice to be happy. So for today, join me in the game.  Just for this one day- CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY.

Choose to keep your smile and share it with others, no matter happens. The only thing that can change our smile to a frown is our thoughts- and we have control over that. We may not control the circumstances, but we do control our reaction to them.

Be conscious of your smile and your thoughts. If it disappears, recognize it and change your thoughts to bring it back to your face. You can’t share a smile if you’re not wearing one. Make it the first thing you put on in the morning and see how long you can keep it. If you lose it, don’t beat yourself up- just put on another one as soon as you realize it’s gone.

As you do this exercise each morning if will become easier as you become more conscious of it. Don’t worry if initially you realize around 9am that you’ve lost your smile somewhere that morning. Just go back in your mind and reflect on the question, “What was my smilebreaker”, and then, knowing that you traded your happiness for that thought, ask yourself these questions…..

Was it worth it?
What did I get out of that experience?
Wouldn’t I rather be happy?

Chances are it will help you to understand and see where you’re allowing yourself to be controlled by the situation around you.

You deserve to be happy- that’s why it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. You were born to be happy. Allow it to happen.

Be conscious of it…. and the more you do this, the easier it will become. Pretty soon we’ll all be walking around sharing big grins with one another laughing at the days when our smilebreaker used to be a very small, silly thought.

Please share your experience with me below. I want to know, how long did you keep your smile and how big was your smilebreaker? I want to know if you were able to keep your beautiful smile all day- consciously and intentionally, and what happened in your life as a result of it. Share your happiness and your success with us below. Just imagining your smiles and your success, I’m already smiling… so I guess this day is off to a great start.