I met Candace a couple of years ago when I signed up to receive a weekly vegetable box from her CSA organic farm. Instantly, I knew Candace was a person whom I wanted to know for a long time to come.
Her cheerful outlook, inspiring comments and contagious enthusiasm are qualities I felt drawn to. I knew at first meeting that Candace would be an awesome role model and that she was destined for great things.
And so my friends, I’m very excited for you to meet my friend Candace and hear her inspiring story of healing and transformation through her personal journey from organic farmer to happiness coach.
1) How did farming heal you? Transform you?
When I went into farming I had no idea how it would transform me. Farming was just this dream I carried with me for so long, I really had no intention of going into it to be transformed, but that is what happened. Farming helped me to come alive. To see life differently, as a miracle, and to see myself as an extension of that miracle (simply for the fact of being alive!). I experienced for the first time the miracle of life…how a tiny seed turns into this bountiful plant, and how when I eat that plant it turns into me. I saw the ‘oneness’ of everything and this transformed how I thought about and approached food. No longer was it just something I did, without paying much attention to the bare minimum signals of hunger my body gave me, but it became this living connection to the earth. I had so much more respect for food, the environment, and life. I saw and ate it with so much more gratitude and appreciation. I naturally wanted to nourish myself with the ‘right’ foods, no longer was dieting necessary.
Through mustering up the courage to live my farm dream this too transformed me. I never thought I could do very much before this…I felt inherently flawed, unworthy, and incapable of living out my dreams (and just as a human being). Although other people encouraged me, I always had this internal dialogue that said, ‘if they only really knew what I was capable of, they wouldn’t encourage me to do it!’. But when I crossed over that threshold of fear to the other side…I realized that YES, I was capable, I can do it! I felt confident in myself (even with my flaws) and I was filled with a joy and passion for life that I had never experienced before. All from knowing that I could do it, my dreams are possible, and that life is there to support me. Wow…it left me with the belief that if I could do it…really anyone can do it!
2) How do you experience the miraculous?
Wow! Hmm…sometimes I lose it, but for the most part when I consciously stop and observe life around me…I can see miracles everywhere. Miracles aren’t usually the BIG things as we have become accustomed to thinking, but often small little things that we often overlook. I believe miracles surround us in every moment. The ability to send a message to someone on the other side of the world in seconds, the transformation of a seed into a plant, the rising and setting of the sun, an egg hatching into a little bird, the fact that we can eat, talk, think, and breath ALL at the same time! Wow…life is incredible, we are so blessed, we just need to remind ourselves to appreciate it.
3) What inspired the act of faith to leave farming and move into the unknown?
I was hearing a calling. A little feeling in my heart, a little chatter in my mind…that was causing me to question my path. I started noticing how I was always doing my best to lift others up, to encourage them, to inspire the people around me…I even started saying to my customers and volunteers, ‘happiness first, vegetables second’. I noticed too, that rather than picking up books on farming, I was drawn to books on personal growth and development … spirituality and God. Then after going to a meditation on happiness, I had a friend mention to me how he saw me as so happy already, and that he thought I should really be the one teaching the class! This made me pause. I knew there was something there. I knew that despite how much I loved farming…what I really do best is not growing plants but growing people! Farming was there on my journey to ground me in myself, to enable me to believe in myself, to help me uncover my true gifts, and to teach me the life wisdom (from nature) that is essential to the message I now have to share. So I felt that to really honour this ‘calling’, I had to leave the farm behind. I needed to be able to devote myself 100% to where I felt I was being led.
4) What keeps you going when you are discouraged?
Gratitude. An appreciation of even the small things in my life. Even when nothing seems to be working for me, I still have so much to be grateful for. Even the little things…like a comfy bed, a loving dog, a family that loves me, food for my belly. All of it counts, all of it is important. Choose to dwell in a state of positivity and gratitude and I believe more will be given to us.
It also helps me to remind myself that my thoughts are a choice. I could choose negative self-defeating ones or I can choose positive uplifting ones. It may seem like our perception of our experience is ‘the truth’ , but when we can humble ourselves enough to see that others have had hard times too (many of the same underlying things as us), and some of them can still be so positive about it. I found this really empowering…it helped me see that they just saw it a different way, in a more positive way…so if they could see it that way, why couldn’t I choose to see it that way too?
Lastly, during these trying times, I remind myself that everything in life is truly a gift. It sure may not seem like when life gets hard, REALLY hard, but it is true. When I look back on my life I see that all the times I hated, felt cheated, felt betrayed by God…these were the times that I’m now so grateful for. They helped shape my character and transform me into a much stronger, more resilient, compassionate and loving human being. These times are a true test of our character. It is our job to affirm during these times the values and character traits that we really want to possess and do our best to live them…be loving even when we feel like hating, be patient even when we feel like things are happening too slowly, give even when we think it is our turn to get. Do this…and we will have inner peace no matter what…we will let shine that person we truly are at our core. And we will be transformed from a ‘victim’ of our circumstances into a ‘victor’.
5) What do you hope to inspire in people through your new business as a happiness coach?
Well, to me this feels more like a ministry than a business. I feel so passionate about the wisdom I have to share. It comes from inside me but also from my connection to spirit. Everything I feel called to share is from my own personal life experience. I feel that it is my duty to remove the cloak of shame I carried around, and make my life an open book for others to learn from. To see that no matter who we are, we all have weaknesses, vulnerabilities, parts of ourselves we aren’t proud of, but that doesn’t make us less of a person. We grow by exposing those parts of ourselves so that they can be healed. Our shames may be different but we ALL have them. Realizing this can be incredibly liberating. No longer are we trapped trying to hide parts of ourselves, but rather freed to be fully human (flaws and all)…the fear melts away and LOVE takes its place.
So what I hope to inspire in others is a sense that they are enough, they are special and have amazing gifts to be shared with the world (no matter how ‘extravagant’ they may be). That we are all in this human experience together, and deep down we all want to be loved, feel worthy, and have a sense of purpose (that our lives matter!). My desire is to help us be true to ourselves, overcome the fear that hinders us, to heal these ‘dark’ parts of ourselves, to honour the gifts inside us, and to trust and love ourselves. To see ourselves, our lives as miracles…not to be wasted but to be LIVED fully.
Thank you Candace! Your love lifts us higher.
Candace Wormsbecker: A student of life. She writes weekly messages that inspire us to think differently about our lives, to trust life, to have confidence in ourselves, and to live life authentically and passionately…to live the lives we have been called forth to live.
Please visit Candace’s website, Joyfulsoulhappiness.com to find out about Candace’s Love Yourself, Love Your Life program. Also visit Joyfulsoulhappinesscoaching Facebook page.
Related article • Miracle Stories: The Miracle IS You!
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.
How do you experience the miraculous? What makes you come alive or ignites your passion? How do you overcome discouragement?
If you enjoyed this interview, please share on your favorite social media site. As always, thank you so much for reading. I hope the articles on Miracle Mama inspire you as much as it inspire me to share!


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