Enjoy Every Sandwich: Living Each Day As If It Were Your Last by Lee Lipsenthal, M.D. - Gratitude

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Are you comfortable discussing your own mortality? Are you interested in exploring the journey of one man facing his own death from cancer? If you answered yes to these questions, you're destined to read, Enjoy Every Sandwich: Live Each Day As If It Were Your Last.

In July 2009, well-known, California-based physician, Lee Lipsenthal, found himself on the other side of the table; diagnosed with cancer of the lower esophagus. He knew it was an aggressive disease with a dismal prognosis.

Enjoy Every Sandwich is Lipsenthal's chronicle of his cancer passage. The title was inspired by singer/songwriter Warren Zevon who died in 2003 of lung cancer. Appearing on late night television, Zevon revealed how he'd learn to enjoy every sandwich he ate. Ironically, Lipsenthal's cancer was detected after experiencing pain while eating a sandwich.

Once diagnosed, his wife and colleagues encouraged him to fight the disease. Lipsenthal declared that he planned to approach his cancer on his terms: "I had no desire or will to fight cancer. I just wanted to be with cancer."

Books titles like Anticancer and A Cancer Battle Plan and today's healthcare system, perpetuate the belief that cancer is something to attack. Lipsenthal disagrees: "Can you imagine a health care system in which the main goal is to enhance peace, vitality, and the joy of living, a system that views dying as a natural process instead of something to be feared and avoided?"

Neuroimaginal is a word Lipsenthal and two of his colleagues coined. It describes the world we create in our minds and the one we convince ourselves is true. Being aware of this concept helped him experience his cancer journey.

Lipsenthal chose to make meditation a key component of his cancer treatment. He began the practice during his medical residency. He also incorporated Native American healing rituals, including the Shamanic Breathwork Process. If you have no experience with these alternative medical practices, don't let it preclude you from reading Lipsenthal's, narrative.

We've all heard the sentiments that, near death, we won't be wishing we'd done one more work project. Lipsenthal echoes those beliefs. He realized that his hard-earned work life was probably over as he knew it, at least during his chemotherapy and perhaps, forever: "The moment I was able to accept that my life's work might die, I had an unexpected and surprising sense of freedom."

Lipsenthal advocates the importance of practicing gratitude daily: "When we practice gratitude each day, life becomes sweet regardless of our life circumstances." He suggests keeping a pad or journal at your bedside. Each night write down three things that you are grateful for that happened that day. You'll begin to look for things that are right in the world instead of wrong. After about three weeks you'll have remodeled your brain to be grateful, even optimistic.

Lee Lipsenthal died on September 20, 2011. Read Enjoy Every Sandwich, and at book's end, his obituary is heartfelt. Lipsenthal's cancer journey reminds us that life's inconveniences like traffic jams and cancelled or delayed flights are inconsequential.

Lee Lipsenthal reminds us to practice daily gratitude. To find ways to express gratitude, check out 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life by John Kralik: http://365thankyounotes.com.

Timothy Zaun is a blogger, speaker and freelance writer. Visit him online at http://timzaun.com/.

Created To NEED A Help Meet by Michael Pearl

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Michael Pearl certainly has an uncanny way to reach out to the hearts of people-in this case, particularly to men who are having problems with their marriage or relationships. There are two important elements that I've come to notice as soon as I started reading this book. It is direct to the point and honest. I think that these factors made Michael and his wife Debi, successful in turning their marriage life into a literary art that can effectively help individuals who are seeking to have a harmonious and peaceful relationship with their spouse.

This self-help book starts with an introduction about the author's personal experiences and dilemmas that center around the opposite sex. All of his shared stories are personal and quite truthful. It is something that you have also experienced at some point in your life which makes this book all the more special because you know for a fact that Michael knows and can relate to what you are going through. He starts by talking about how he felt when he first felt attraction to a girl (he was nine years old) and continues to share similar stories as he was growing up. He explained how hard it was for him to overcome these physical temptations but his faith made him stronger and he details what happened in the end. He is very explicit about the difficulties he needed to endure and the sheer effort that he needed to exert, giving the readers not a perfect life story, but a realistic one-with all of its ups and downs-that everybody goes through.

You will find that his words are simple, making it very easy to understand. Although the author has bravely used some archaic terms, which is also the focal point of the book (the help "meet"), he made it a point to be coherent and clear by writing a section that elaborately explains the meaning of the word "meet" through several examples (excerpts from the Bible) that are matched with follow-up captions. His style makes it extremely easy for anyone who would want to read the book regardless if that person is a Christian or not.

Overall, Michael Pearl has done a great job. This is a top-notch book that all men (and women too) must read, especially when you want to become a better partner to your wife and a better, more matured person in the long run. It is a book that will make you realize some awkward truths about yourself. These realizations can lead you to self-forgiveness and acceptance that then result in a happy marriage as long as you will let the book help you.

So if you're willing to be open to improvement, get the book, digest it, and put it to practice so you can start experiencing the rewards like I am beginning to. You can find it online at http://shop.nogreaterjoy.org/created-to-need-a-help-meet-book/