RSS News FeedShift is in the stores. Shift has gotten press. We are getting orders on our website. The word is getting out. The holidays are gearing up. I took a bath last night. I’m working at 6:30 am on Sunday, but I know that it is worth it. I’m stressed, I’m happy; I’m getting stuff done while the rest of the house is asleep. No matter what the day brings, I will enjoy it because I can.
It seemed that all is well – the game is off to the printer, we have our fulfillment costs determined, our shipping costs look good, the website is phenominal and I am learning something new every day. Let me digress and thank the many people – really experts in their respective fields – for helping us make Shift a reality. We made our first, not cold but luke warm, call yesterday and appeared to be turned down flat. As much as we try to say “their loss”, “must be a bad day for them”, etc we cannot help but be affected by this. Nikki and I take turns telling each other – no worries. But what is our next step? How do we help others understand the power and significance of this Game? We started to discuss PR and how we can get the word out. Do we start now or do we focus on pre-sales?
In the meantime, I read in the paper yesterday that Deepak Chopra is opening a spa in Westminster, Colorado – just down the road from us. He is actually going to be in town to unveil the project! Deepak Chopra – a man who could be a champion for us, who has enfluenced so many lives through his writings, The Chopra Center and his practice – all are in perfect alignment with Shift. To witness your thoughts is to be able to change your reality.
I tell Nikki, we should try to meet him – to be in his presence, to hear his voice. I think she agrees, but doesn’t really think it would be possible. A columnist with the Denver Post writes he tried to meet with Dr. Chopra and was told that “there would be little hope” that would happen. I am a firm believer in Karma, if we are meant to be in the same room as Deepak Chopra tomorrow, it would happen. I make a few calls and get the most beautiful voice of the company that is developing the spa with Dr. Chopra. Yes, there is a Press Event tomorrow with a lunch to follow. Would we like to attend? Are you kidding me? Now we need to find the right clothes to wear…and all is well. Watch for the next post!
I watched What The Bleep Do We Know? with my middle son, the chemistry major. Alot of the early parts of the movie were just Greek to me, but my 21 year old son tried to expain it to me. The next day I tried the principle of visualizing my day. I wanted to start out with something simple and, as suggested, specific so that I would know when it happens. I laid in bed, 5:30 am visualizing that when I walked the dog I would hear something beautiful on my walk. This was pretty specific and hard because I usually listen to talk radio during my morning walk. I get dressed, grab the dog and my portable radio. As we walk in the dark under fading stars, I switch between talk radio and the only FM station I can get. Commercials, talking, and more commercials. Just as I round the corner back to my house, I switch back to the FM station and hear a song I have never heard before with the words "You are so beautiful at night in the sparkling city" or something close to that. Then my radio died.
As the mother of four very busy children, my life-year would start in August with new beginnings and a well rested summer of fun. As a stay-at-home-and-always-working Mom, I could plan on losing 10-15 pounds each fall as I kept up with activities, volunteer committments and the usual up keep of a large household. In the last two years that all changed.
On 9/11 in 2001 we were all devastated by the attack of the World Trade Center. I was working at a job I loved in the Career Center of my children’s high school in Boise, Idaho. We had lived in Boise over 17 years, our two youngest children were born there, we all grew up there enjoying the "good life". I could be a mother to not only my own children, but all their friends and over 2,000 other high school students. We were the Kool-aid house. Our friends were all around us. We would live out our days in beautiful Idaho.
We got through that day, the swim meet and band practice that evening to go home and watch television while letting the emotions wash over us. We were truly blessed. Two years later, to the day, I started a new job, in a new city with no close friends or family nearby. My husband, Dennis, had been released from a job of 20+ years in an industry where he was highly respected and loved. He quickly found a new job, we sold our beloved home, left great friends behind and started fresh with our youngest two children – twins who were juniors in high school – to Boulder, Colorado. Our oldest two were away in college.
Initially, a person just exists; get through the day feeling totally out of place. Smile; make new friends where you have no history. Nobody knows your name. We were the "new people" continually lost while trying to find Target. On 9/11 in 2003 I started working 40 hours a week for the first time since our first child was born. I stopped exercising, no time for self-reflection, less time for family activities. But, Boulder has a way of changing a person. Through my employment, I create bonds with some of the most incredible women that I have ever crossed paths with - Nicole Casanova and Kristen Werning.
Fast forward to another beginning, August 2004. My closest girlfriend is fighting cancer. Our youngest children are starting their senior year in high school. We are working hard to get them into the colleges of their dreams. Dennis and I will be "empty nesters". I have advanced in my job, but I am lacking the passion due to situations beyond my control. Dennis’ step-father succumbs to lung ailments in October, leaving his mother alone in another state. Our oldest son will be graduating from college with his Master’s Degree in a technology field – will he have a job? My father, the patriarch, is having serious health problems and is diagnosed as terminal in April. Our middle son is struggling and wants to transfer closer to home. I drive to Boise one more time to help him move home and I re-live the separation from Boise. We are working on our home in anticipation that relatives will come for our dual high school graduation celebration. We plan our vacation to our oldest son’s graduation in California and a side trip to Yosemite. With three to be in college, I worry about money. All our appliances seem to be breaking.
We drive to Kansas over Memorial Day to bury Dennis’ step-father’s ashes. I can see peace for the first time in months in a windswept cemetary on a Kansas prairie down five miles of dirt road from the nearest hamlet. I see peace again in the waves off the California coast, I see peace in Yosemite Valley and I see peace in my father’s dying eyes. I start to question my purpose, what drives me, my passions, where is my peace? I pulled out my books, The Four Agreements, The Purpose Driven Life and anything written by Marianne Williamson.
I needed to shift. As I cared for my father under the guidance of Hospice, I received very clear answers to questions I had been turning over in my mind. I am not a religious, church affiliated person, but I never felt closer to Spirit in my life. Prior to the last extended visit to my father before he passed, I gave two week notice at my job and asked The Universe where she needed me. Answers came quickly, including improving my personal time management and health, spend more time with family and friends, work with people who inspire me, be able to see purpose in my work, be passionate, enjoy what I do and, most of all, have faith. This was my dream. With the moral support of my family, who built my home office while I spent a week with my newly widowed mother, I have been given the gift to share my talents with Shift the Game. I started formally working with Nicole and Kristen in August. My life-year begins again. Somethings don’t change.
At some time in our lives, we all need to evaluate. Being a participant in the creation of Shift the Game, I have been able to determine where I would find my dreams and I have been given the opportunity to help others do the same. Dare to shift your life – you may be surprised by the outcome.
