I Am…

Here it is not only VFT, but also Kyle’s 24th birthday.  How does THAT happen?  Whatever you dream, Kyle Zipp, I hope those dreams come true.  So far, I would say you are doing pretty well in the “realizing dreams” department!

Yesterday I watched Oprah and saw someone else talking about their dreams coming true.  A new movie called I Am opens and the producer, Tom Shadyak,who earlier made his mark when he cast a young Jim Carrey in his first (and subsequently many other) movie.  Shadyak became quiet famous, and quiet RICH.  He had a gorgeous mansion with 17 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms and everything he could want for, but still he felt a void.  He wanted more and what he wanted couldn’t be bought.

I am always impacted by a simple line in a Cher song that says “we’ve got more than enough,” and in a similar line from an old Monkeys song that says “how much do we really need?”  If you know me at all, you know that I am far from a materialistic girl.  I think I live below my means and think that I DO have more than enough.  With a great life partner, 2 healthy and mentally solid grown sons, friends,  a business that I love, a dog, a cat, a home, a car…I have WAY more than enough.  Watching Shadyak talk and talk about how he changed up his life, sold the house, downsized to a 2/2 with an office in the back for working and unencumbered himself from all his THINGS, I thought of how many gazillions of people have way too much, and many more gazillions don’t have nearly enough.  I have never felt this is right and I am thrilled that he is bringing this to the big screen.  His message is basically that if we “take” just what we need, there will be plenty left to fill the world and balance out this horrific inequity.  He clearly lets us know how much better and easier life is for him, with less, too.  I have always felt the more we have, the heavier our load to carry it all.  Less is definitely MORE!!!

Shadyak talks a lot about the ripple effect.  I have given so much thought to the ripple effect these past 6 months, but this put a MUCH more positive spin on it.  While I came to realize how one bad choice could impact so much of life and so many people, Shadyak points out just the opposite…how one small act can cause a positive ripple effect that goes beyond our wildest dreams.  We saw how in 2003,  3 young college friends from California set out on a road trip to Uganda.  Once there, they witnessed the otrosity of children being kidnapped and turned into child soldiers.  These children (or nightwalkers) would travel in massive packs trying to get away from their abductors, and mostly just trying to stay alive.  The 3 students, so impacted by what they saw, filmed footage, came back to our country and brought the story to the attention of the rest of the world.  The film Invisible Children, has not only been viewed by an estimated 5 million people, plus, but has also sparked a non-profit organization, mobilizing thousands of American teens into action to raise money to rebuild war-torn schools in northern Uganda and provide scholarships to African youth.  3 kids on a college adventure…ripple effect, enormous.

Shadyak and Oprah spent some time talking about the vagus nerve.  Without getting into physiology too much, it is the nerve that is “touched” when you feel a pang in your heart, your eyes well up and you get that “feeling.”  The kind of feeling you get when you watch a touching story, good or bad.  We all experience that as it really is our nature to want EVERYONE to be ok.  Humans, like dogs, cats and other animals are truly compassionate beings.  Sometimes we just need to take a giant step back from all the external “stuff” in our lives, to allow ourselves to truly feel.

I hope you will consider doing just one positive thing today.   Just changing the way we do ONE thing can have a ripple effect, the likes of which we could never even imagine.

If you have a chance, check out the trailers for I Am… Ask yourself who you REALLY are and what makes you TRULY complete.  In finishing the sentence I am…on this vegan feast Thursday, I can definitely say I am a women who feels so much more at peace eating the way I do, then the way I once did.  I am also a women that understands that less is definitely more.  You finish the sentence, now and have an awesome day.

**SilverSneakers update:  I spoke with our class member, Jerry Gordon, yesterday after classes.  He was at 24 Hour Fitness and had just spoken with a corporate rep at the home office in California.  He said it could take a few days, but someone should be calling me to discuss the situation.   As for Tamarac Fitness Center, we have placed an equipment order and are ready to get started…I am just holding out to see if I hear from 24, before I make a definite schedule.  I definitely am going to do a Monday and Wednesday class in Tamarac (and Carol on Thursday) to start, but am holding off on the exact class time, until I hear (or don’t) back from 24.  Somehow I would love to be able to be in both places so that I can see ALL OF YOU, just can’t be two places at one time so have to give it a few days before I make a definite schedule, but I am still looking at that 11:30ish hour in Tamarac at this point.  I AM DEFINITELY going to be teaching SS in Tamarac, so get in and register soon!  Tell Ron or Wendie I sent you.

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• Invisible Children (moaimartialarts.com)