I’ve been spending time this summer tending to my bucket list of sorts. If you didn’t see it, The Bucket List was a very popular movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. They played the roles of men who met in the hospital while undergoing treatment for cancer. When faced with the realization that their cases were terminal, they set out on a quest to experience all the things they wished they had done while healthy and able.

I promise you that’s not the case for me. While I understand that life is fleeting and can be short, my goal is to ensure I experience life to its fullest in an effort to find joy in a life that can feel too long if we’re not fulfilled.

What have I been up to? In the past month I received the galley proofs and cover design for my soon to be published book, took a Soul Cycle class, and spent an all too short weekend at Canyon Ranch with my daughters. Now you may be wondering what this has to do with mindfulness?

Mindfulness means paying attention on purpose to what is happening right now. It’s cultivating an attitude of open-hearted non-judgment. When we are present with our experience, rather than caught up in constant thinking and analyzing, there is greater serenity and peace of mind. With that serenity comes the connection to self that is vital to healing and existing in a loving state of being. In that space we can experience gratitude for all the things, big and small, that make up our lives. We can more easily accept and find compassion for that which is difficult and unpleasant. When practicing gratitude, things are rarely as bad as we think they are.

The gift of mindfulness is that we can create the experience we are longing for simply by setting an intention for it. In her book, E Squared, (Hay House), Pam Grout cites many examples of how we can manifest our intentions by staying tuned in to them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to explore how our thoughts create our reality.

As for me, I am so grateful that my body is healthy enough to endure and fully enjoy a 45 minute Soul Cycle class. The book project is a dream come true and my intention for it is to share my experience, strength and hope that you, too, can re-frame your story and transform your life as you transform your relationship with food to one that is joyous, loving and free. The Freedom Promise: Seven Steps to Stop Fearing What Food Can Do TO You and Embrace What Food Can Do FOR You, I lay out how healing starts with gratitude and introduce you to the concept of mindfulness at the table. Click here for an excerpt.

As for Canyon Ranch with my daughters? Unforgettable. We started our weekend there by attending a Mindfulness workshop. There is no such thing as coincidence.

Set the intention for something you want to create for yourself. Stay tuned and it will appear.