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SURFING USA.

In 2008 my main goal was to go surfing.. I had spent a good deal of 2007 getting fit in preparation(I lost 60lbs). On Jan 2nd I called SurfDiva - a surf school in La Jolla, California and booked a place in a week long course. I was shaking when I put down the phone, I was scared. It was a good scared, but it was fear.

I expected a lot from the trip, I had wanted to learn to surf for so long.. as long as I can remember - I had no idea why I wanted to learn, what the universe was going to share with me as I caught my first wave, but I half expected that the heavens would open, and God would point his finger down and reveal the secret to life. I had a lot riding on that wave.

You'll have to ask me the whole story one day.. it involves a wipe-out, lots of painkillers, lots of sand-eating, a lesson learned, and a shark.. but none of those are the point today.

I wasn't the most natural surfer in the water - actually I was clumsy and awkward and hurt all over... but there was a moment or two, a few seconds.... when...

It's hard to explain... but I'll do my best here....
When you are riding a wave (even for a nano-second) everything in the universe is working together. You are, for that second, absolutely in-tune with the world, with nature, with God, the Universe, with yourself. There is no distinction between you and that wave, no separation between you and nature. EVERYTHING is working together, perfectly. Absolutely perfectly. It's all about the moment. Nothing else exists.

It was a feeling that I recognized. I knew. It was that feeling that you get when you are doing what you are meant to be. It was the feeling I get when I'm speaking to an audience and I get the connection right. It is a feeling I live for.

For Christmas, last week, I got a surfboard. It's old and bashed-up, the nose has been fixed, and there are slight dents from someone else's feet, it has seen slightly more than its fair share of wipe-outs.
It will probably never ride a wave again, but it will get grinned at everyday.  Everytime I look over at it, I remember that feeling of total oneness, of competely being in that moment and I remember who I am, who I am meant to be.

I have a friend here who calls me 'surfer chick' when he wants me to smile, he has no idea how much it means to me, how big those waves are.

Find your wave, you don't have to venture onto a surfboard to learn this, just BE YOU, Be completely YOU. It's the secret to life.

The 2009 Manifesto

manifesto 

1644, from It. manifesto "public declaration explaining past actions and announcing the motive for forthcoming ones," originally "proof," from L. manifestus (see manifest)

This is my public declaration for 2009.

Past Actions: an explanation. I set out with the best intentions, when I got it wrong or made people feel smaller than they were it was out of insecurity and lack of self-belief. It wasn't about them, it was about me. Sometimes I forgot to trust my instincts and operated from a place of insecurity and obscurity. Some days I was ambiguous about my intentions and goals and expected to achieve them anyway.

Forthcoming Actions:
Everyday I will be positive  - I will operate from a place of contentment, knowledge and belief. I will make others feel more around me, I will recognize the best bits of me in them, and them in me. I will find genuine connections with myself, with my higher power and with everyone I meet. I will forgive you when you get it wrong, I will forgive myself too. I will help as many people as I can get what they want. There is no holding back this year. NO FEAR. NO EXCUSES.

I invite you to take a risk, put out there (in public) what you want, what you doubt, lets stop hiding who we are and watch what happens.

thank you 2008, you were a blast.

This time last year I was patiently (ok, not so patiently) sticking hundreds of post-it notes onto my studio wall and filling many of them with goals for the year. 

It was a GR8 year. I got completely lost, danced in the rain (a hurricane), learned all sorts of new skills (thanks Flo for the line-dancing lesson), I got a business column, and most importantly to me... achieved my main goal, my big deal goal... went surfing! 

I missed some things... I'm a few days away from getting my personal training certification (I may still just sneak it in to 2008), I didn't milk a cow (I'm blaming Britney Spears - but you have to ask me about that story), I still don't speak Japanese and my abs are still hidden under a layer of fat, if a thinner layer. 

2008 I thank you and I respect you. I learned a lot from you.. I learned to ask for help when I need it (ok, only when I really, really need it but I'm working on it), I learned I can do anything - and I have a surfboard to prove it, I learned I have great friends - you know who you are! but most of all I learned the thing I learn every year - that just BEing YOU is the secret to life. I started a project that I'm about to resurrect, the BE YOU project and it taught me more than I could imagine. 

http://www.thatspeaker.com/beyou.htm

So this year, I'm remembering the secret to life as I know at - BE YOU. 

just to prove the post below

I am committing to updating my blog every weekday... from now on.... yes, from NOW. I'm starting before I'm ready!

"You can't get there from here"

I remember a few years ago asking directions to somewhere I was speaking and actually being told "you can't get there from here". It made me smile and I had to actually force myself to listen to the instructions as to where to go to 'start'. I didn't say anything to the helpful old Louisiana man who was speaking slowly so he could understand my English accent, but that phrase has stuck with me ever since. 

"You can't get there from here" - how many of us live our lives that way, waiting to start a new eating plan, a new exercise regime, learn a new skill. I wonder what percentage of the population are out there waiting until they are 'ready' I know I have done it (and still do)

This year I'm going to start before I'm ready - I'm not waiting to be 'good enough' or perfect at something any more. 

So all those new years wishes, plans and resolutions.. why not start them now, before you are ready.... 

Think about it for a moment, if you started exercising now you would have done 3 days worth before new year so even if you take the day off on Jan 1st you are still ahead of the game.. same for a diet, learning a new skill, whatever you want to do. 

So join me in living a little harder this year, lets start before we are ready... because there is always the danger that we will never be ready!

Big Plans for the new year (literally)

This year I have big plans (literally) - 8 feet by 12 feet big - it started with me putting up a few post-it notes and kinda grew until I had 1,529 notes. I will catch you up with some of the goals as the week progresses. Happy New Year.