I recently met Debbie Sipowicz at the Leverage Your Genius Workshop I attended. During a conversation about her work as a Food and Wellness Coach I was inspired by her commitment to her work and her vast knowledge. While I know a lot about food and wellness, it was through my conversation with Debbie that I was inspired to pay more attention to taking care of myself as I prepare for my Inspiration Nation Book Tour beginning September 13th in Los Angeles.
Susyn: What does living and inspired life mean to you?
Debbie: To me, living an inspired life means feeling gratitude and wonder for the infinite possibilities alive in each moment. It means being open to whatever comes my way and being present to the gifts in all of it. I also believe living an inspired life means taking a chance, because that’s what make’s life fun! Taking a chance forces us to face our fears, to face ourselves and to feel vulnerable. And that’s the type of person who inspires me! I believe it’s in the knowing, in the going deeper that we truly start to become ourselves. Once we do, our mere presence can be inspiring to others. That, in my opinion is the ultimate inspired life, living from a place where others are continuously inspiring you, and being a living example of inspiration for others!
Susyn: In your daily life, how do you nourish your inspired life?
Debbie: I’m constantly learning. I spend a great deal of time reading, cooking, and creating from the masters, people who inspire me. And I’ve started a business. Honestly, I believe there’s nothing quite like starting a business for personal growth! On a daily basis I come up against my fears and limiting beliefs and I am so fascinated by them. How did they get there anyway? I’m loving the challenge. I find it fun to get beyond a fear that previously was holding me back. I’m actually starting to look for them – it’s become kind of a game for me!
Susyn: What is your biggest challenge in creating an inspired life?
Debbie: My biggest challenge has been getting out of my own way and accepting my own vulnerabilities. A perfectionist at heart, I only recently discovered that that too was a way to avoid something. I find it both interesting and humbling. There has definitely been a part of me, resisting showing up in the world (until I had everything ‘just right’), now I’m done with that way of thinking. I’m not perfect; I don’t have all the answers, and that’s ok. I do have a lot of gifts to share with the world and absolutely know that there are many women out there who are waiting for them.
Susyn: Who/What has influenced you in living an inspired life?
Debbie: My inspiration came from having an opportunity to face my own mortality 10 years ago (at 41) when I was diagnosed with cancer. The doc said it wasn’t life threatening, but I don’t believe anyone could hear those words and not feel like your life has been threatened. It changes everything. Now, looking back, I see the experience in some ways, as the best thing that ever happened to me. I appreciate life at a much deeper level; I’ve learned an incredible amount about what it takes to create a body that cancer (or other chronic disease) doesn’t like. And, now I spend my days doing what I love to do, cooking, eating, inspiring, and teaching others how to do it, while getting paid for it.
Susyn: What are you working on now?
Debbie: I’ve just created a 4-week Teleclass, HipChicksInMidlife: Becoming Younger Next Year that I’m very excited about (beginning September 7, 2011). It’s a class for curious, intelligent, women in midlife who want to stay healthy for the second-half of life naturally (and easy ways to do it), so you can do all you want to do (and have the energy to do it), rather than become burdened by chronic disease, dependent on others or constrained by pain and medications.
Susyn: What words of wisdom do you have for someone who desires to live their inspired life vision?
Debbie: Take action, any action, because any movement is better than staying stuck. Life’s way to short to spend time in ‘stuckness’! There are so many people out there who can and do want to support you with whatever challenge you’re facing. Take a chance. Because you never know, that next person you meet or that next bit of information you learn, may be just the one thing that changes your life forever.
Visit Debbie’s website: Hip Chicks In Midlife