So, I'm more than curious...how's it working for YOU? Have you even yet considered the truth that in this life "We Will Find What We Look For"? Or when things get tough, are you still stuck playing the same old tired tapes in your brain that play the same old sad songs like... "JUST GREAT - it figures. What else, WHAT ELSE COULD GO WRONG FOR PETE'S SAKE"?
Well, everyone I know (heck, let's include even those I don't know for that matter), who does motivational speaking and/or writing (as I do) would love to think that their words are making some kind of difference in the lives of those who choose to partake of our offerings every now and then. Sadly however - statistics tell us, that in the majority of cases, well it's just not necessarily so. Oh, we convert a soothsayer every now and again but the stats are that for the average individual hearing the "good news" of the possibility of a' happier - healthier existence', well, it just doesn't seem to "Move Their Cheese"! If that last part of that sentence makes no sense to you, than you obviously haven't read the book "Who Moved My Cheese". If not, you should and yes, it's MOTIVATIONAL!
I believe more people are moved by hearing actual experiences than platitudes, so in my book of does and don'ts.... it's important to put some personal "meat" to the words we speak by giving specific examples of times when we've turned what could have been considered tumultuous turmoil...oh let's say a tornado for example, into a good natured fun - adventure, that has me smiling every time I think of it. So the following story comes to mind for today's offering of your 'Motivation Minute'. It came to mind as I'm preparing to leave around the first of August for a particular fitness convention I attend every other year. I was remembering what happened to me the last time I headed out for this same conference almost exactly two years ago and how I smile and chuckle when I think of it and what a GREAT TIME it ended up to be. WHY? Because I chose to make it so. WE have two choices folks. Either tough stuff stinks or it has merit that we just can't see - until that is, we learn to find how to look for it.
I hope it inspires you to think of things a bit differently and FIND FOR YOURSELF THE ABUNDANT LIFE THAT EXISTS FOR US ALL - BY GOD'S GOOD GRACE AND JUST FOR THE TAKING! Enjoy.....Candace
This was my experience early Aug. 2010-
I was exhausted! But this was an awesome kind of tired. The kind of tired you feel after having completely spent yourself helping someone experience something they never thought they’d be able to accomplish. As a coach, I think that’s gotta be the thing that keeps me coming back for more. While it may be exhausting at times, there’s really nothing else that compares to the look on someone’s face when they realize that they just accomplished what they’d always thought was just outside their reach! It’s Priceless. True to form, last Thursday when my client, who’d wanted to conquer rock climbing, hit her first challenging climb and Nailed IT, I was flying as high as she was. In addition, this “blessing of a client”, is also training for her first marathon AND has lost 45 pound to date and on her way down to reaching her goal. My job is REWARDING TO BE SURE, yet there are times…..oh you know it, when I want to PULL MY HAIR OUT!!!!! Not all my clients are this compliant! Some folks just aren't going to get it and it saddens me that they’ll miss out on the abundant life that’s within their power to take hold of..... if they’d just STRETCH OUT THEIR HAND and yank at it ,..... I call it almighty GOD controlling the universe as He sees fit and we need to learn to laugh! So, now the other side of the coin….as I said -
I was Exhausted because of all I just explained to you and I’d had several fabulous weeks just like it. Understandably, I was EXHAUSTED but excited. I was excited because when I finished climbing, I was off! So, I changed and got into my car at 4:30 p.m. to drive to DC for a four day Fitness Conference. I was really looking forward to chilling and learning, even though they can be hectic. It would be a break compared to my schedule of late. . .oh how we think we have some control over the universe. . .HA! We DO have control over our RESPONSE! Case in point. . .
Apparently while the weather was calm back home, there was a tornado, or something close to it, that went through the DC area, right where I was headed. So around 7:00 p.m., I found myself sitting in the RT 395 tunnel to DC for hours as police cars and ambulances went past. (That's interesting to see. . .a jammed four lane one way tunnel and these guys trying to get through. . .now that's a trick to behold right there!) Here's the toughest part of my story. There I was STUCK. . .folks, when you are stuck in a traffic jam in a huge tunnel, you are really STUCK. . .there is no way out until you eventually get out, right? So, I can't get through, can't move and suddenly my bladder, (and you know now, mine is diseased so this is an extra intense problem), was so full it was going to burst. EVERYWHERE, cars all around me, no way out. . .so, I took a Venti (large) very TALL Starrbuck's cup, pulled my pants down, sat up as high as I could on the cup and peed it almost overflowing…IN MY CAR ..A FIRST FOLKS! I HAD TOO! I’m proud to tell you I didn't spill a drop.. I had filled the cup and still wasn’t entirely finished, but I got enough out to survive. Finally I got to the hotel. A four hour drive that should have been one hour and peeing in a cup had already tested my pleasing disposition.... And then. . .wait for it…., the tornado had touched down so close by that time that all the power was OFF in this entire huge UPSCALE HOTEL!
There was no air conditioning, only some lights in the lobby and working computers, elevators and doors to rooms that were powered by the back up generator. A HUGE CROWD was buzzing around in the dimly lit lobby. . .all hungry, all dripping with sweat, all agitated as heck. So, I proceeded to check in, found my room on the 28th floor and opened the door. BLACK AND HOT AND NOW WHAT? When the door shut behind me, the room was completely black! I was groping around cause I couldn’t see a thing. The room had remained somewhat cool, but if I propped the door open enough to let the lights from the generator enabled hall lights shine in to see enough to finish what I’d started earlier in the car the room would get hot as Hades. I didn’t want that, so I shut it again and stopped to think. IN addition, there was no food to be had as apparently the storm had knocked out the power for several city blocks and I was starving! So nothing was working either in the hotel or in the nearby vicinity. However, I am nothing if not patient and resourceful so, here’s what I did…. I opened my lap top and ran it off battery power for at least some dim light in my room. Then, I remembered I had a mini SUPER BRIGHT flash light I'd JUST PURCHASED DAYS BEFORE in my purse! I put that on the top of a lamp and angled it outward to illuminate the rest of the room well enough to see and to move about safely!
Now, before I continue, I feel the need to explain why I did what I did next! You see, it just so happens that I've been around the block enough and been through enough to anticipate what COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN according to the appearance of the elements around me. So, as not to get caught with my knickers down, I stopped about a half hour before the traffic jam started at a store I was quite sure contained a nice salad bar and got a fabulous salad and other goodies for my “RELAXING NIGHT IN MY ROOM ONCE I GOT THERE”…or so I had thought! I put it in the cooler I had in the front passenger seat of my little car. I was organized enough to bring lots of ice, a bottle of wine and lots of good stuff to make my iced coffee in the mornings.
You see, I was assuming a traffic jam was imminent now – if not because of the rush hour time itself, because of the ominous storm clouds approaching. I knew if I did get delayed, my RELAXING NIGHT would be out the window. I had my heart set on a big, beautiful salad from the salad bar in the Giant Grocery store across the street from my hotel THAT I USUALLY ATE ALONE IN MY ROOM after check in but traditionally after 7:00 p.m. the store would often SHUT IT DOWN! I do not know for the life of me why Giant shuts down their salad bar at that time. Because, excuse me, but isn’t that considered DINNER TIME? Oh well, moving on.
I was correct...the storm hit. You already know the rest of the damage it did to my ride and my hotel. So, back to my blackout room. After the flash light was in place, I took out my cold salad and a nice glass of cool wine, and remembered I had my fully charged iPad in my bag. I pulled it out and downloaded a FREE AP of ABC TV shows. I kicked off my shoes, ate my dinner, sipped my wine by the rather delicately enhanced ambiance that a lap top aquarium screen saver and a hot little flashlight can produce. I had my chill out dinner. I REALLY NEEDED THAT . I watched the most interesting show on my iPad , finished my dinner and then turned in at 11:30….right when the power clicked ON!
AGAIN, it's not our circumstances that control our mental health, but rather our response to what we’re faced with. My attitude in this situation was, "Ok, how do I make this work.? There's gotta be a way". I had a really cool night and now, a really great memory.
Never give up, never quit trying and never stop going for the ABUNDANT LIFE GOD INTENDED.
Until next time,
POWER ON….
Candace
No comments:
Post a Comment