I am just back from four days at Canyon Ranch in Tucson. They were exhilarating, empowering, renewing, healthy, healing days. They were just as I'd imagined they'd be. And more.

Founders Mel and Enid Zuckerman say their commitment -- Canyon Ranch has been serving guests for 25 years and features destinations all over the country -- has set the standard for what has become a very large spa and health and wellness industry. With a focus on nutrition, stress management, preventative care, fitness, and a whole lot of pampering, the Zuckermans have inspired thousands of guests. I'm one of them.

I am spilling over with insight and motivation and wisdom I gathered at the Ranch. I want everyone to know what I know -- and I can't wait to start sharing my lessons for healthy living.

So the professionals at Canyon Ranch get the credit they deserve for beginning to transform my life -- and maybe yours too -- I will call my Canyon Ranch posts Worthy Wisdom. When you see these two words, you'll know the information that follows flows from the Arizona desert. I will also name Canyon Ranch in each post and will link to canyonranch.com where a wealth of wellness resources await you.

"Canyon Ranch measures its value by what you do after you leave the Ranch -- what you take home in new awareness and a sense of control about issues in your life," writes Mel Zuckerman in The Canyon Ranch Story: A Passion for Healthy Living.

What am I going to do now that I'm home? I'm going to spread the word.

In 1967, when Beverly Hlavka was 12 years old, her mother Naomi Poppe Kopke was diagnosed with breast cancer and given six months to live. She remembers how helpless she felt wanting to help her mother and not knowing what to do.

Earlier this year, Beverly lost a friend, Holly Elizabeth Remmers to breast cancer. Again, she had felt helpless because she did not know what to do for her friend as her friend struggled to survive cancer. This is when Beverly decided to create a way to help others help women facing breast cancer. Based on the Pay it Forward concept, made famous with the book and movie, she has launched Gift it Forward.

"If people have done nice things for you, don't give it back, Gift it Forward. This project is a way for people to give money to a cause, receive a fantastic piece of fabric art in return and help women diagnosed with breast cancer." From the money raised, individual women with breast cancer will receive a new mastectomy bra; visit to a wellness retreat; new wig; facial, massage, manicure or pedicure at a day spa; tank of gas to get to chemotherapy; some pretty jewelry; new outfit or makeup; phone card to call the grandkids or anything that puts a smile on her face.

Beverly's intention in Gift it Forward is to help women with the issues that surround keeping a positive attitude, self-esteem and concentrating on the idea of wellness instead of the disease of cancer. She includes instructions on how to make a fabric postcard and how to start a Gift it Forward project of your own. For more information, visit Gift it Forward.

I have angels. Two angels. Chemo angels.  One lives in Indiana and the other lives in California. They are both women, with families and jobs and busy lives of their own. And while I don't hear from them much anymore, they showered me with love and compassion during my aggressive chemotherapy for breast cancer last year.  They sent cards and letters and gifts. They brightened my days and lifted my spirits during a difficult time.  Every week when I checked my mailbox, there was something waiting for me from my angels – a token of empathy, a distraction from the madness of cancer.

My angels are volunteers with Chemo Angels, a volunteer organization dedicated to brightening the days of those experiencing treatment for cancer.  Their mission is to correspond with patients through the mail with the understanding that they may never hear a word from their recipients who are expected to merely soak up the pampering without any responsibility of returning the favor.  No thank you notes.  No return letters.  No obligation.  Angels and patients can become pen pals if they mutually agree to do so but otherwise, this is a one-way relationship.  A gift for the cancer patient.

I have graduated from my own chemotherapy, and my angels have moved on to help others in need. They continue to check on me now and then and their loving spirits are still fresh in my mind. I have saved their notes and presents and written warm wishes.  Reminders of their angelic ways.

I hope to become a chemo angel once my own medical journey slows down and I can give my full attention to the care and support that my angels shared with me. I want to be someone's angel.  Some day.