Sandy Speaks…

I was out of town Tuesday night when I received the text from my room-mate/manny, just before midnight.  He was contacting me with the news that my air conditioner had died…completely.  We live in Central Florida, where we have been experiencing temperatures in the 90’s, and even in the low 100’s some days!

My immediate reaction was an expletive spoken under my breath (which I quickly asked forgiveness for).  But, then I started “practicing what I preach” in my Gratitude Boot Camp sessions.  I took some deep, cleansing breaths and started counting all of my blessings.  Then, I said my prayers and drifted off to sleep soundly (instead of tossing and turning and worrying, as I would have done in days past).

The next day, I did not allow myself to get upset at all about the broken air conditioner, even though it was happening at an inopportune time.  Instead, I focused on my blessings; remembered that I grew up in a house with no air in Florida and survived; and took action to find ways to live with the situation for a while, by getting my hands on some oscillating fans to use temporarily.  I went about my day in a calm way, knowing that “this too shall pass”.

As I was driving home last night, I kept my thoughts on all of the good things going on in my life, not allowing any negative statements to enter my brain, not even for a minute!  When we arrived home, I explained to my almost-four year old son, Jake, that he was only gonna sleep in a light shirt, instead of his jammies and socks, for a while.  I started walking towards the stairs to put him to bed.  I felt completely at ease with our situation and was ready to let the hot night take me back to happy, childhood memories.  

As I was passing by the closet that holds the breaker box for my house, I stopped to check it even though David had already done so.  The breaker for the air conditioner appeared to be lined up with all of the rest, but I flipped it off and back on any way.  It was music to my ears when I heard the air conditioner kick on and Jake squealed with delight when his Mommy started doing a very up-beat happy dance!  We danced around and sang our new “Mommy and Jake are Grateful for Air Conditioning” song for quite a while before we went up to his bedroom.  It was fun!!!

I woke up feeling extra grateful and happy today.  David is perplexed.  Jake is well-rested.  And, I am feeling the powerful sense of accomplishment that comes with remaining calm during a crises.  

Resolve, right now, that you will remain calm the next time an unexpected challenge arises in your life.  It is powerful.

With my 50th birthday fast-approaching (wow…that does not even sound possible, even as I put it in writing for all the world to see – yikes) and ever since I unexpectedly & miracoulosly gave birth at the age of 46.5; I have been feeling the need for a change in my life.  I have always felt that there was something more that I should be doing and over the past 3 years, that need has turned into a burning desire.

Through the wondrous power of social media, I was invited to attend an event that changed my life forever, by starting me upon the path of my new beginning.  The event was held the first weekend of June and was called Mega Book ‘09.  It was hosted by a man that I’ve long admired…Mark Victor Hansen.  He is a best-selling author (co-creating “The Chicken Soup for the Soul” series); the founder of MEGA Book University; a great leader & a philanthropist.

After attending what turned out to be a spiritual awakening for me, I decided that it was time to fulfill my life-long dream of becoming a writer, public speaker, and coach.  Every night for several weeks after Mega Book…I would lie in bed and, as I was drifting off to sleep, ask God to reveal to me what I should be doing right now to inspire and help others.  One night, I awoke at 2:00 a.m. with the words “Gratitude Boot Camp” practically screaming in my mind.  I ran downstairs and jumped on my computer and was ecstatic to discover that the domain names for GBC were available (and not even for a premium price…yay)!  I took this as a sign that this was what I was meant to do, at this moment.

For the past several weeks, I have been creating and am now launching “Gratitude Boot Camp” ~ A self-development program that guides attendees through positive and productive steps in order to Give, Grow, and Prosper!

During these hard economic times, it is the Mission of Gratitude Boot Camp to empower and inspire people to be aware of and focus on their current blessings and to take positive steps, based on Gratitude, that lead them down the path of Success & Happiness.

In the future, I will hold “Gratitude Boot Camp” weekends as well as offer many inspirational treats and tools such as webinars/tele-seminars.  Right now, I am conducting the boot camps on a weekly basis in the Central Florida area.  Gratitude Boot Camp covers 12 topics that are designed to help people grow personally, professionally, financially, socially, and spiritually, while having their heart lead the way!

If you are a business owner in the Central Florida area and would like to have me come into your office once per week to conduct a 12-week “Gratitude Boot Camp”, contact me today at 407.592.4663 or at Sandy@GratitudeBootCamp.com.  And…if you are looking for a Speaker who inspires and entertains the audience, give me a call!

Please visit www.Facebook.com/GratitudeBootCamp to become a GBC fan.  There you can practice Gratitude daily by participating in the ‘Gratitude and Empowerment from 1 to 10 Project’; by connecting with other positive people; and by viewing the postings for Monday’s Motivation; Tuesday’s To Do; Wednesday’s Word; Thursday’s Thought; Friday’s Feature; Saturday’s Story; and Sunday’s Statement.

It’s important to make Gratitude a habit…because your habits create your life!