I knew I was bored,  and my skills were not being tested on a daily basis… but what was it, I wondered?

As a columnist for the Orlando Business Journal, I regularly was invited to the Full Sail University’s public and private events.  I always went full of anticipation because I learned that the events were always done up right, with  millions of extra surprises at every turn.

I had been looking into online universities to update my skills, but during that time, kept visiting Full Sail.  Finally, on a job board, I saw a post that looked interesting, and applied.  I never heard back!

So, as any resourceful person, I contacted my childhood friend there who was now a Vice President and asked her to present my resume.  In turn, she invited me to an open house the school has. That was where I officially became blown away by the school, it’s mission and where it was headed!

I decided right there to find a job at Full Sail. I found the creative people I always enjoyed hanging with and they found a way to make money at it!  I happened to run into the President of the University and introduced myself. He invited me to his office, and the rest is history.   I interviewed several places on campus and settled in at the admissions office.

I’ve now been there for about 6 weeks and couldn’t be more happy. The culture, the people, the job and the opportunity were exactly what I needed.  A new challenge, with dynamic people,  and working on a team who genuinely want to inspire people to be their best!

So if you’re looking for something new.. GO FIND IT! It probably won’t come knocking at your door. Try new things. Go to events. Show up and TALK.  Introduce yourself, and be open.

You just might find something new.. and even better than you could  have hoped!!!

I  got to the car wash and had 3 one dollar bills tucked away. I scrounged around for another 4 quarters because it costs $4 for me to wash my SUV.  I found the three, then looked and looked and looked for that last blasted quarter. I searched the car, the seats, and the bowels of my purse, to no avail.  I figured, that the good Lord always knows what he’s doing, so I guessed I was going to have to ask someone, and I knew, that because I prayed to find one last quarter and didn’t, that this was supposed to happen that morning.

So, I wandered to the next car over to a man who was starting the process of getting his money out to wash his own car. I said, “Hi, I was wondering, well, I have 3 quarters, and I have two Nickels and a dime, I mean, two dimes, and a Nickel, and I need, ….”   His response was so calm and so focused and so perfect, … he said to me, “Talk to me.”

I looked up at him, now, not flustered whatsoever and I said clearly, “can I exchange what I have for your quarter?”  He did it without even saying another word and I thanked him and walked away.

I was able to clean my car but those simple words just stuck with me.  TALK TO ME.  TALK TO ME.

How I long to talk with someone. Really talk with someone.  I would tell him about the many perils of life right now that I’m challenging or that someone in my life is  facing.  I would dump it all and then wait for the next perfect words in the world, “it’s all going to be okay.”

When I pulled away, I stopped and rolled my window down and told the man, “Your words were brilliant. You just said something that I’m going to share with everyone… you said some very profound and important words, “talk to me.”

He laughed and came over to the car and told me that women can rarely get to the point quickly and he’s found, that if he just cuts to the chase in a calm way, it wakes them up and gets them to just say what they mean.  We both had a good laugh over this, because I have taught that same communication technique to SO many women over the years, but when I’m in my own flustered state, I revert back to communicating like God probably intended.. so we’d drive the men bonkers!

We ended up talking some more and sharing about our lives and I learned about his martial arts which fascinate me and I might try at some point.

But those three very simple and profound words, that he uttered to me in just a quick minute.. will stay with me for ever, and they will be the gift that I give to others, when I know they need it.

Talk to me.

And I will listen…

Talk to me… and I will care.

Talk to me.. and I will let you know, that you will be fine, because God is really there.

Both women looked at me with a little bit of “excuse me?” look, but then I proceeded to tell them how blue green algae is an anti inflammatory and how magnets can be used for pain. I explained how my husband was able to heal his torn rotator cuff by using some energy magnet medicine by Nikken, a company in which I’m representing. I shared that my son sleeps on a magnet mattress and the day after we added the magnet mattress and water filter system, the teacher asked in disbelief, “WHAT HAPPENED?? He was a different child and SO focused!”

By this time, the ladies were asking for specific names and asked for my email and my phone number which I freely gave. I’ve learned that people are incredibly open to receiving help from strangers, even if they didn’t know they really wanted it!

When I listen to myself talk, I have to admit, I’ve finally learned a thing or two about healthy living. I know that I started on this journey several years ago, but am getting more and more serious about it. I’m finding I don’t have the patience for any aches and pains, and realize that there is a cause and effect for every single thing. If my pinky is swollen up, then I realize, I must have eaten too much sugar. If I have a symptom like my arms falling asleep, then I know that I digested gluten somewhere along the way.

I’m starting to recognize the symptoms in others. When someone has dark circles under their eyes, I ask them if they have checked what food sensitivities they have? If someone has eczema, I ask if they’ve heard about how gluten in the diet can cause skin issues? More than once, I’ve gone up to individuals with severe acne and given them my vitamin formula that knocks out even the toughest form of acne!

The interesting and exciting thing is that there is SO much to learn about healthy living. I will never know everything, but I’m learning many things. It’s a fun course of study, and although I’m doing it because I’m a mom and raising a child, it’s something that all of us can do to benefit ourselves.

My family is already gluten free, and mostly dairy free, and moving more towards a plant based diet. It’s hard to eliminate mean 100% of the time now, but we’re cooking more and more fish, and eating more beans and alternative meat products.

It’s exciting, and hopefully as we age, there will be some other rewards, like healthy living, and of course.. looking much younger than I really am!

Everyone in our world is dealing with Stress. There is no way to remove the stress from our lives. As a matter of fact, eliminating all stress in itself is stressful. But we have to learn how to recognize the stressors in our lives, and learn to say NO to ourselves and to others so we avoid certain stress.

The human body is designed to handle fear or danger. Any time it senses fear, it reacts defensively. For instance if your child is running out in the road, your body will kick into action and take whatever steps necessary to go into action. It will automatically take defensive measures, such as secreting adrenaline, in preparation to handle the crisis or to avoid it.  This is called Fight or flight. Your body is preparing to stand up and face the situation. This is how we’re able to do super human tasks when in danger.

Also, you don’t have to be in a life or death situation for your body to react. Just thinking or dreaming aobut something can cause your body to produce the same physical, mental or emotional responses. Lets try it out.

You were brought here to do a workshop on avoiding stress. But, in reality, you are all about to do a public speaking course. Each one of you is going to give a speech today about your favorite hobby.

JUST joking! The power of the mind or thought is just as real as the physical realm. So, we should make every effort to ward off stress and worry every day.

Effects of Stress:

What happens when you have something stressful is that it sends impulses to the brain.  The brain combines, integrates, emotions with reasoning.  With this process, the person reacting to the stressor analyzes the situation and if it’s scary then the body continues in the flight or fight response.

The nervous system responds in 3 ways. It directly stimulates certain organs- the heart, muscles, and respiratory system, with electrical impulses to cause a quick increase in heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension and respiration.  It signals the adrenal medulla, a part of the adrenal gland, to release the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline, which alert and prepare the body to take action.  This reaction begins a half-minute after the first but lasts 10x as long.

The nervous system also stimulates the hypothalamus in the brain to release a chemical that stimulates the pituitary gland.  The pituitary gland releases a hormone releasing adrenaline and noradrenaline and to begin releasing cortisol and corticosterone which affect metabolism, including the increase of glucose production.  This third, and prolonged reaction helps maintain the energy needed to respond in a threatening situation.  Nearly every system of the body is involved, some more intently than others, in response to the stressor.

Therefore, every time we get upset or excited, or stimulated, even tho we don’t realize it, our entire system is gearing up either for fight or flight to defend itself from the perceived threatening or dangerous situation.

Then, when we calm down we get out of that emergency state and start to function normally again, in the way that we’re supposed to normally.  Then, if we get stressed again, the whole process starts over again and then we calm down and it goes back to normal.  The effects of that excessive stressing and unstressing has long lasting consequences.

Challenges and difficulties affect everyone differently. Often times we carry around the stress in our moods. We’re moody and don’t know why. Often times we’re rushing through life so fast we haven’t taken time to slow down to even process events that happen. Sometimes, as caretakers of kids and families, we are just physically drained.

Other times, unresolved issues from childhood and beliefs we developed, conduct how we live our lives. If we had an overly dominant parent, we may view people in authority with distrust. This simple attitude may cloud relationships that otherwise could have been productive in our lives.

Studies show that our own health is affected by our emotional baggage. Blood pressure can be elevated, physical symptoms of disease manifest, and our immune systems break down.

The grace and gratitude workshop can be the breakthrough in people’s lives that they need! It’s the chance to evaluate their life in a positive way and to take past hurts, turn them around to see them in a new and different, more positive way.

In this workshop:

This workshop can be the start of the participants living a new life of freedom and joy. And while this workshop can address serious issues and relationships in life, the participants coach each other through. Conversation abounds and is fun and full of energy.
Here is a recent comment:
”We feel especially grateful to have found you and heard your story. It effected me personally and has me considering why I eat the way I do…..I feel a big change coming on.” Carolyn – Orlando Fl