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You Can Make A Difference …

January 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You can make a difference.

My friend Sean Anderson has lost 275 lbs, the right way – reducing calories and increasing exercise. It didn’t happen overnight. He didn’t make People Magazine’s annual “Half Their Size” issue. But he’s helping a lot of people. Sean has blogged for nearly all of the three years of his weight loss journey. He’s created some unique tools for himself, such as the “Steel Curtain Zone,” the “Calorie Bank and Trust.” In his journal today, he relates how the Rachel Ray show sought him out and then turned down an opportunity to have him on their show. Their loss.

So, Sean won’t be a celebrity this week. Instead of being a guest on the Rachel Ray show, he’s busy helping people, one at a time, to experience a shift in their thinking toward healthy weight. He writes, “My goal has never been fame and fortune. My goal is very simple: Reach as many people as I can with my experience and to communicate it in such a fashion, that somehow, maybe, just maybe…it’ll make an impact, shift someone’s perspective—the tiniest amount, but enough to help them facilitate their own “click.” Because I’ve found a sweet freedom and it would be selfish of me to keep it to myself.” I feel the same way about helping people to find a spiritual approach to living, one person at a time.

There are some great spiritual people out there – Joel Olsteen and Wayne Dyer, people who really affect the masses. There are also weight loss heroes who will make the People magazine special issue. And then there are the little nobodies like Sean Anderson and me. I wake up every day and ask God to show me how to be of service to Him and to those around me. The opportunities are often subtle and if I’m not on my game, I’ll miss them. Sean touches thousands daily with his 3,406 friends on facebook, and counting! And he’s captured his dynamic story in his recently released book, Transformation Road.

This morning I got up and made two pots of coffee – a decaf and a regular. My husband’s brother is visiting for a few days. He likes the high test, so I dig out my second pot and fix some regular for him and decaf for me. It’s the little things like that which make me feel good about myself. It’s a small spiritual moment and my brother-in-law doesn’t even know that he contributed. It can be that simple. It doesn’t have to be People Magazine or the Rachel Ray show. It can be a friend, a spouse, a co-worker, a sister or a stranger.

Can you make a difference today?

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“When I lose weight, I’m going to …”

October 8, 2011 By 2 Comments

“When I lose weight, I’m going to ….”

“When I retire, I’m going to …”

“When  …. “

What am I waiting for?

I was in my late twenties when Elvis was playing at the Lakeland Civic Center, a short hour drive from where I lived. I loved Elvis, and thought that maybe the next time he played there, I’d go to see him. Well, there wasn’t a next time. Elvis died before I had a chance to see him perform on stage. It was too late; I waited too long.

That happened over thirty years ago, but it caused a shift in my thinking about things I wanted to do. In 1978, Tom Jones came to town and I went to see him, not once but twice!

In 1991, I was still rather obese, but wanted to learn to SCUBA dive. I guess I could have waited until I lost weight but what if I never did? I took lessons and became a certified SCUBA diver. It was difficult when I weighed over 250 lbs, requiring nearly a 40 lb weight belt to counter the buoyancy of all that fat. But under water, I was weightless! I am so glad that I didn’t wait. To experience drifting along a pristine coral reef and hear nothing but my own breathing remains one of the highlights of my memory!

After twenty-five years as a community association manager, I woke up one morning and knew it was time for a change. I knew that if I had to tell another person in a million-dollar house to clean their driveway, I would not do it in a pleasant manner. I talked with David and decided to give a nine month notice and find a new career.

What would I do? I prayed. I asked God to show me how I could be of maximum service to Him and still make a little money. After three months, a friend told me about Life Coaching, and I hired a coach to experience it for myself. I knew that this is exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my working career. Today I not only enjoy coaching but I also teach for World Coach Institute.

I always wanted to become a published author, but I never wrote anything! My wonderful coach, Lorraine Edey helped me to develop the discipline of writing and in less than a year, my first book, Trust God and Buy Broccoli, A Spiritual Approach to Weight Loss came off the presses! It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life, to hold that book in my hands. I was able to do a book signing at Barnes and Noble. It still thrills me to write on the inside cover for people who’ve bought my book. I’m so happy to be working with other aspiring authors today, to experience their excitement and joy of also becoming a published author!

So often, we wait for the perfect time to take a chance, and that time might never come. What  have you been dreaming about, but putting off for the perfect moment? Maybe it is right now. I encourage you to make it a goal. You know, a goal is nothing more than putting an action plan on your dreams. They can, and will come to fruition.

Don’t wait.

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Happy Easter

April 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Easter Sunrise

Good morning, and Happy Easter to my Christian friends. And a blessed Passover to my Jewish friends. We started our day out with a beautiful sunrise Mass at our little church, Blessed Sacrament in Cocoa, FL. The sun did rise with some brilliance but then disappeared behind a cloud for most of the service, which was a good thing, as we faced east.

Perhaps it is my imagination, or perhaps just my own stuff, but it seemed to me that there was alot of excitement about Easter this year. Many Christian friends posted notes throughout Holy Week, full of anticipation of the Ressurection. My reaction was more quiet and reflective on Good Friday, thinking about where I am and what I’d like to do differently. And then I awaited Easter Morning. This morning it truly felt like a day to celebrate. I don’t quite know what is different, but it feels like change is on my horizon.

We have finally outgrown the “Easter Bunny.” This is my eighteenth year of no sugar, so of course, no chocolate bunnies for me. We were shopping yesterday and I asked Dave if he wanted some candy, but he thought it’d all be half price tomorrow and he’d wait. I didn’t even decorate eggs. No grandkids to celebrate with me this year, as they stayed in Atlanta for the weekend.

Easter can just come and go for me, or it can be an opportunity to make a difference. I feel like that difference for me this year is to be more quiet.  I don’t have to be running the show all the time. I also am really going to slow down, travel less and do some nesting. The next two months are hectic travel-wise, but there are less trips scheduled over the summer. I want to concentrate on me, my almost ten-year marriage to David and our home.

So, Happy Easter to you. What will this day bring for you? Is it just another day, or an opportunity to experience the greatness of change?

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I’m Nobody! Who Are You?

January 19, 2011 By 2 Comments

I woke up this morning with a poem by Emily Dickenson on my mind …

I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

This is so out-of-context with my goals of a few short years ago. When Trust God and Buy Broccoli came out in 2006, I envisioned huge book signings; throngs of people streaming out the door to meet me and purchase a signed copy. Oprah would be calling for an interview; after all, I’d not only lost over one hundred pounds, but was also maintaining a healthy body size since 1993! I’d be on the spiritual speaker’s circuit, like Joyce Meyer and Dr. Wayne Dyer. My profound words would be quoted all over the world!

None of that happened.

Instead, the economy tanked out. I wondered where the money would come to pay my cell phone bill.  Clients were opting to buy groceries or hang onto their savings, rather than invest in coaching with me. Sobbing, I finally confessed to my husband. He assured me that I was neither a failure, nor would we be living under a bridge if my business did not contribute to our household budget. He told me that my job was to help people and paid my phone bill.

Something inside of me shifted that day. I saw my work in a different light, not necessarily creating a six figure income. That was the first and last time that I needed to depend on Dave to keep my coaching practice afloat. When my focus shifted to helping others, my business financial needs were also met, surely a God-thing.

This year’s vision board has no focus on public-spotlight grandeur – no pictures of Oprah, Joyce Meyer or Dr. Dyer. My goals now are strictly to help others to find the spirituality in their lives. The rewards are greater than I ever could have imagined. I’m happy and know that I’ve made a difference in the lives of others. As a nobody, I can make a difference. Maybe not on such a grand scale as the people I admire, but one person at a time, I am making a difference.

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