Synchronicity... How One Blog Affects Another Blog...

So... Mike read a blog this morning by Annie Burnside... and he said that I should talk about my qualifications and my desires in terms of my career. He mentioned that the blog talked about the "need" to be certified for doing what you do.

Well, in relation to me and my life THAT was the point. While I did attend a prestigious business school and it did qualify me to do the kinds of business things I was doing... that truly was not where my heart was. As I got older I began to realize that big time!!  But, you know there is all this pressure around you to keep going in the direction you are on, so you just keep doing what "seems" to be working. So, there was my family, there were my "failed" relationships and there was my boss. Powerful combos to keep doing what I was doing. Of course, there were also subtle health issues, failure to establish a new solid relationship and dissatisfaction with the ethics of my business climate that also added to the equation that was me. And, of course my bff ever, Alex, would ALWAYS give me the straight scoop. And, of course, I always initially resisted her wisdom!! Apparently, I wasn't fooling anyone but myself. You know, the German Shepard thing... just because my head is hidden and my butt is sticking out, no one can see me! My point being, you need to get honest with yourself... brutally honest. You look at yourself in the mirror and see little "laugh" lines that aren't so funny. You take a GOOD and honest look at your face and you see, yes, literally see, the stress in it. Then the question pops in your mind... WHAT THE HELL are you doing GIRL!! That was a satori moment for me. A moment of "enlightenment".

For me, I need to plot things out... I pulled out my computer and started to look at my holdings to see what would happen if I quit my job. I chatted with Alex who basically needled me. And, you know I can't blame her. Things were pretty obvious.

So, here's the deal. I hadn't finished my PhD, in psychological studies, but I really wanted to contribute to "transpersonal psychology". Like, how do you go about doing that? Well, I'll tell you. You become very clear on exactly what you want and then go for it!! And, as I've said in other posts, sometimes the "overnight" success could take 20 years... and that's okay as long as you are ALWAYS moving to your goal... whatever that is. For me, I had the money to do that and move quickly. Well, there were sacrifices I needed to make initially. For most people they would be trivial. You know, I had to give up my house help... shudder... and my Lotus... shudder... shudder... well... that was tough for me!! You could at least offer a hanky!! Hey, that was as difficult for me as, say, giving up Starbucks fancy drinks.

My life got better and better. In fact, after a few months, the reduction in my stress just let me smile ALL the time. Not to mention my meeting the coolest people on the planet and taking a deeper dive into me. Oh yeah, things were still stressful at times, like when Ross flipped out over lack of sleep at the lab. But, remember, we were doing things we loved to do. So, well a little overload here and there is a small price to really enjoy who you are and what you are doing!!

Then too, I was the needle for Ross. That's probably why our paths crossed. Well, that's another story... sort of my "pay it forward"!! 

We Further Interrupt This Blog.... for Mike Vecchio's 115th Dream... Land of Hope and Dreams

Since, once again, this is outside the scope of Montressa's experience and she has graciously allowed me to commandeer her blog...

I was driving back from Florida this past week in an effort to beat the storm to my hometown... and I did get there before the storm did.

I have some select tunes on my phone - and I connected by Bluetooth to the radio errr..."entertainment console" of my car. I played the Bruce Springsteen song, "Land of Hope and Dreams" and something came over me - is the best way I can describe it. To provide some back story, my mom lived in Asbury Park a few blocks from where Bruce Springsteen lived and one night friends of hers and I were chatting and telling stories about Bruce. One told about how they used to see the neighborhood kids gather at his porch and Bruce would come out and jam with them. This was during the early 80's at a time he was struggling to make headway with the E Street band. Fast forward, I watched the show he appeared on with Jimmy Fallon one night and then we attended his "Wrecking Ball" concert in Pittsburgh in Oct. 2012. and watched him perform live and crowd surf the audience... so I feel very close to Bruce...

As I listened to the lyrics of the "people's poet" I marveled at his greatness.  Suddenly, Bruce and I were hanging out at a small dinning table. He had a warm cup of coffee in front of him, his hands wrapped around the cup and I could feel his calm and almost self-effacing energy. He was staring at the cup, almost mesmerized in the moment. So, I told him, you know this song is great. He shrugged his shoulders... "It's what I do, you know? There isn't another way."

In another instant, I was immediately transported to the previous week. I was sitting side by side with my son who was looking at and processing my daughter's marine biology diving pictures on his MacBook. His fluidity with it blew me away. I then saw I was sitting next to greatness. The Greatness of who my son is... and the Greatness of who my daughters are and the Greatness of their significant others... I was transfixed at this realization as I drove... and I returned to Bruce then and asked to no one in particular... what IS Greatness?  By this time, the honor of being allowed to see all this greatness caused tears to well up and run down my face as I drove.

Then I asked again - So what is this Greatness?

Please... please really get this...

Here's the answer:

"Greatness is about the "excellence" with which you approach who you are..."