Barb’s vacation, part II: Michael Hyatt is counting on me…

Barb’s vacation, part II: Michael Hyatt is counting on me…

by | Aug 2, 2013 | Reflections

Wow! Friends, you have wrapped me in so much love! Thank you for your congratulations and support. Who knew that a story about God and a girdle could be inspiring- ha! (By the way, if you missed that blog post and you’re dying to know who a girdle changed my life, I’d love to share it with you! Just click here!)

So, the next part of my wild-n-wacky vacation trip is about meeting social media juggernaut, Michael Hyatt. Clearly, I was looking forward to hearing his keynote address…

my tweets about michael

I’m one of the 250,000 people who listen to Michael Hyatt’s leadership podcasts each month. His podcasts get me through my morning runs. I hate running. But when I listen to Michael’s podcast, I hate my run a little less. Additionally, I learn important wisdom from Michael in hopes that those that I lead might hate me less as well.

So, you can only imagine how high I clicked my 3.75″ blue, chevron-patterned wedge heels when I met Michael Hyatt and his lovely wife, Gail last Friday.

After listening to Michael’s soup-to-nuts talk about how to get our God-inspired messages noticed in busy world, I joined the stampede of women who were invited to his Platform: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World, book signing. Normally, I am a digital girl – I’ve got hundreds of books on my iPad Kindle app, but sometimes this girl’s gotta buy a hardcopy!

As I scanned through the table of contents, I looked for the chapter that I was most likely to NOT want to read. Then, I found it: Chapter 9: Think big…No, BIGGER!

I like dreaming big. It’s dreaming “bigger” that freaks me out. “Bigger” dreams like: having my own television show, writing two or three bestsellers that bless women and draw them closer to God, taking a cruise around the world… and losing 25 pounds. For me, these “bigger” dreams make my heart flutter and bring a smile to my face. But, they also scare me. It’s a good time for me to turn the tables. How about you?

What do you dream about? If you could do anything and not fail, what would it be? It’s probably the thing that you’d never say out loud because you don’t want people to think you’re crazy, out-of-your-league, conceited, delusional or any other word that basically means the following: #notachance. But, if you are brave enough to share your dream, you can tell me – I won’t tell 🙂  Leave a comment or inbox me on FB or Tweet me. Let’s dream together!

And that’s why I knew I without Michael’s help, I would probably skim right past chapter 9.  I can get overwhelmed at the thought of dreaming bigger and actually attaching goals to my dreams. Because once I take that dangerous step, then the Failure Monster comes a knockin’ and starts singing his “You can’t win” song (which I think he ripped off from Michael Jackson, who sang it in the classic movie, “The Wiz.”)

Here are just a few fears I’ve been beating back in the past week: What if the publisher changes her mind about my proposal? What is I start writing the book and turns out, I HATE it? What if I finish the book and then they HATE it? What if I write this book and no one cares?

So, after shaking Michael’s hand, I asked him for a little help:

“Michael, instead of signing the book cover, would you sign Chapter 9 for me? It’s the chapter that I will struggle with the most.”

In his graciousness, Michael went to work signing Chapter 9. His notations included some underlining and script on that page. Michael finished his quick note with the words: “Barb, I’m counting on you to do this.” Whew. I just wanted some encouraging words and Michael scripted out a challenge. And I would see that challenge every time I picked up the book. Sometimes, you get what you ask for, right?

In that brief interaction, Michael made me believe that whatever God–inspired dream was hidden in my heart was important enough to overcome my fear of failure.

Then, I asked Michael and Gail if they would take a photo with me. Juggernaut Michael, lovely Gail and GIANT Barbie. Seriously, could I be any taller! Sigh. (My friend, Bobbie, took the photo from me and told me to stop calling myself ‘Giant Barbie.’ But, if the size 11 shoe fits…) Then, disaster struck!

Michael Collage

The next morning, I realized my autographed copy of Platform was missing. What the what!  After an unsuccessful inquiry to the wonderful She Speaks conference team, I was truly bummed. My book was gone – right along with Michael’s unique encouraging message to me. Gone.  And I didn’t get a picture of it.

I decided to Tweet the Proverbs 31 team and mentioned Michael in my tweet, knowing that there was minimal chance of finding the book. Still, I didn’t have anything to lose. The next morning, I checked my phone. Imagine me falling out of my comfy hotel bed when I saw Michael’s response to my Tweet. Here’s a photo. His response was short and gracious. But, his timely response meant the world to me.

framed blog Michael Hyatt

The replacement copy will be sent to my office and I’m non-chalantly checking the mailroom each day for it’s delivery. I’m excited about seeing the autograph, but at this point, I really need to read Platform! The competitive part of me knows that all of the other ladies at the conference have a jump on me because they didn’t lose their copies.

Thanks for reading my story. I want to end this post by sharing something Michael said during his talk about waiting for perfect conditions to take action. I hope this thought motivates you:

“Perfectionism is the mother of procrastination. The world doesn’t need it (your idea/dream/plan) to be perfect, it just needs to be out there.”

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering Ellie…

Remembering Ellie…

by | Jul 6, 2013 | Reflections

My dog, Quimby and I were out on a walk. I was preoccupied with dark thoughts of disappointment and frustrations while Quimby checked the neighborhood canine newsfeed along the trees.

As we walked down the street next to ours, my eyes focused on a particular home. I quickly remembered a date: June 6. The front door swung open and my eyes shifted. I saw a couple walking down the sidewalk toward their car. I only speak to them once every few years or so. It happened that today would be one of those days. I took a deep breath and spoke: “Excuse me.”

As the couple turned, I felt uncharacteristically bashful, but pressed on: “I just wanted you to know that at this time every year, I remember your daughter.”

Their daughter, Ellie, passed away in early June about 10 or so years ago. Ellie was only eight or nine – the age of my oldest daughter. On our nightly family walk, I would see her parents sitting on their front porch next to Ellie in her wheelchair. Her body slowly draining from the tumor that was ending her life.

We didn’t know their family well, actually, but we heard stories of Ellie’s funeral. A neighbor told me that Ellie’s mother, an school administrator, wanted an over-the-top celebration her daughter’s short life because Ellie would not have a graduation party or wedding to plan for.

A mother’s greatest fear is the loss of a child. Out of that nightmare and through the tears, Ellie’s mother birthed a celebration, complete with beautiful white doves. And I have quietly admired her all of these years for her strength and determination.

This morning, Ellie’s parents were leaving for a birthday party. Yet, after I spoke, Ellie’s dad got out of the car and walked toward the house. My heart sank because I thought that my words may have been ill-timed. Then, Ellie’s mother said: “Thank you. Sometimes, we feel that no one remembers Ellie anymore.”

I stood quietly and looked at the ground. A moment later, Ellie’s dad walked up and extended his hand to me and said: “I’ll give you this and you hand me that.” Well, this was a beautiful flower in full bloom and that, well it was a bag of dog poo. Yep. Hardly an even exchange – but I gratefully accepted the gift anyways.

It was a blurry half-mile walk back to my house. In my mind, I reflected on the hurt that I harbored on this morning’s walk. The pain was real, but as I thought about life’s regrets, mistakes, pain and suffering, I looked through my tears and gazed at the beautiful flower in my hand. The flower that I held was created by the same God who created me. It is fragile, like me. It could be crushed, like me. Yet, it was created to bloom…like me.

Ellie flower

Here is the flower that Ellie’s dad gave me.

Then an ancient verse came to mind:

To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.* 

We all have bad days. Tough days. And, today is one of mine. So, I reflect on this verse and know that the promise that the scriptural author made long ago to the captive people of ancient Israel is the same promise that is recorded in many places later in the Bible for believers today.

Even after loss, life goes on. After heartache, life goes on. After struggle, life goes on. But, the question is how will it go on?

Will your life go on in hope or despair?

I choose hope. I’m not just wishing things will get better, I have hope that they will. A proven hope in a God that sees things from beginning to end and isn’t daunted by my failures or the failures of others.

Ellie’s life might have ended on this earth many years ago. Yet, today was a moment to remember her life and gives thanks to God for the lesson that it taught me.


*Isaiah 61:3 (New Living Translation)

 

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