This past Friday I couldn't believe I actually made a conscious decision to attend a seminar in Scottsdale instead of going to the Amphi football game in Tucson. Now, this wasn't a regular season game, this was the first round of the 4A-II Arizona high school playoffs! But, a very good friend of mine hooked me up with free passes to a 2-day motivational/business seminar valued at $500 for each pass. After the past 6 months of my life I figured I needed as much positive energy as I could get. What I didn’t realize was that attending the seminar would help to clarify that, by trusting my instincts for the past several years, my life was right on track.
The first day was long. I showed up to the event at 6:45am. Registration started at 7:00am. I got to the location 10 min before even the event staff. After registration was completed and the seminar was under way I began to realize that I might have made the wrong choice. The first two speakers spent the last 20 minutes of their allotted time trying to hard-sell their programs which claimed million dollar results. All for the bargain price of between $1000 and $2000. Yeah, I was clearly visualizing my checking account miserably short of the "discounted" price by about $1000 and $2000. I began to look at my watch and think, "If I left now, I could still make it to Tucson by the end of the 1st quarter".
About that time they introduced Les Brown. I had heard of Les Brown before but never had the pleasure of hearing him speak. I was transfixed from the moment he took the stage. He is charismatic and has a tremendous amount of passion in what he believes in. He talked about his experiences growing up and how he was inspired to achieve success in his life. What really struck me though was that towards the end of his allotted time he didn't pitch a book or another seminar...he simply shared his vision of where his business is going. I was shocked to hear him say that he was "shifting" towards a more "spiritual" focus. I was floored! This was exactly what my life had shifted toward over the past several years. I have felt inspired to use my natural abilities to connect with people, to reach out and share what I have learned in my life. After Les had finished on stage he went to the back of the room to answer questions and take pictures. I walked up to him and simply stated "Mr. Brown, your words were very inspirational to me and someday I will share a stage with you!". He looked at me and smiled and said "Now that’s the right attitude!" At that point, I knew I was coming back for day 2.
Saturday started a little rough. Since I had back surgery about 2 months ago, my back was very sore and stiff from sitting through the previous days presentations. I had tossed and turned throughout the previous night and, of course, I slept right through my alarm Saturday morning. So, by the time I finally got to the seminar I had missed out on two more sales pitches. No biggie. In the early afternoon they introduced Mark Victor Hansen, co author of "Chicken Soup for the Soul". About 20 minutes into his speech he began to relate a moving story from the thousands that are submitted on a daily basis to his offices. He was visibly chocked up and struggling to get to the end of the story. I was moved as well, and could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as he finished. He then began a presentation of slides along with commentary on the service he was selling. Throughout his entire presentation he was using terms that had been resonating with me very deeply for the last few years. Terms like "source energy" and "manifesting", which I had been referring to in every aspect of my spiritual beliefs. Many of the spiritual books and programs I have consumed over the past 8 years deal directly with these concepts. I felt as though I was watching myself up on that stage.
The past 3 years have been very difficult. I struggled through a divorce that lasted for almost a year. I walked away from a successful career that many had felt I was born to do. The only problem with my career was that I didn't feel fulfilled. Of course, it was my father’s fault that I walked away from my position selling insurance for Aflac. My father spoke at a luncheon during the year of my divorce, and during his speech he said words that I have heard him say over and over again while I was growing up. He simply stated "I am the luckiest man on earth. I wake up everyday and get to go to a job that I love, and I am married to the love of my life"
Now, I had heard him say this a thousand times, but for some reason, this time, it resonated with me very deeply, and it was at that moment, that I realized that that was exactly what I wanted.
It has been about 3 years since that day, and from where I am sitting things are looking right on track.
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