COURAGE
It’s The first time I shared my horror story was to a colleague in a bathroom at an event and she cried her eyes out telling me, “Vanessa this is your message! Your story is not about the mops!!! Let go of the freaking mops!”
Well I wasn’t convinced. I wasn’t ready to show the world just yet. Then God sent me a psychic lady to tell me, “Vanessa you’re going to transition into a huge new movement, you’re going to write a new book!”
I told her, “You have got to be kidding me there’s no way I’m writing another book. The first one nearly killed me!” It’s a big job writing a book and I didn’t want to do it. I continued resisting for a few years.
You see it’s not always convenient to show up and say yes to God. We have other ideas on how it’s supposed to go, how our life should unfold. Still, God is just waiting for you to obey. By being obedient, showing up and surrendering to God’s will for your life, is what turns the magic key that opens the door to your greatness. It’s not always convenient, let me tell you! It takes courage to show up and leap into the unknown, to let God handle the details and continually take the next step to what feels right and good.
A few weeks ago, I lost my dog while hiking with him on the Kalalau Trail, which is this magical vortex, located on an 11-mile hike along the Nā Pali coast on the island of Kauai that leads to an ancient valley and the Hawaiians consider it to be sacred. I simply consider this trail as pure magic. It is a place where there is no veil between thoughts and instant manifestation. I took my new dog Houdini that I rescued from the humane society out to Kalalau. He’s such a little trooper, he makes it all the way, all 11 miles! The following day he gets spooked hearing some men hiking on the trail and pulls a Houdini, he literally vanishes into thin air, poof gone! We look everywhere for him, all the hippies living in the valley are alerted but no one has seen him. Devastated I hike back without my little cookie cruncher.
One day I post a rant about my roommate on Facebook and this writing coach Les Kletke, whom I met a few years prior at an event held by the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, messages me, “Vanessa you have to write a book about this! Women so need to hear this!”
I tell him, “Les, no way I’m writing another book, look if God wants me to write a book he’s going to have to pay me to write it!” Remember I’m always wheeling and dealing with God and I was seriously resistant to writing another book.
Soon, Les partners with Kevin who is a savvy marketing dude and we all jump on the phone a few days later and they fill me in on a beautiful strategy to help coach the book out of me, Kevin will market it and we all split the profits, no money out of pocket and each one of us doing what they do best by collaborating for the greater good. I said, “Yes!”
There is a Hawaiian saying I got off my coffee cup one morning, which goes, “A’ ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ai.” Translated it means, “No task is too big when done together.”
The next phone call I receive immediately after this decision is with a random woman who friends me on Facebook named Jennifer. She tells me she is very intuitive and that I should connect with this woman Erin Saxton who is a PR and speaking rep, booking big names in the speaking industry such as Lisa Nichols and Jack Canfield. I said, “Yes.” Heck, if I’m going to do another book I have a feeling it will be a big one especially since God’s behind it - so let’s go all the way. She connects me with Erin.
The next phone call I have is with a lovely lady named Sheri Rosenthal who runs a website called Journeyofthespirit.com that markets spiritual adventure retreats. I had paid her to market my Kauai retreat 2 years ago when I had first decided to run the retreat. As it happens, it wasn’t the right time and the retreat didn’t happen. Still, it’s all good because that is what brought me back to Kauai. Sheri agreed to market my retreat to her list of 7,200 active subscribers for free. We’re in the midst of celebrating, reconnecting when I look down at my phone to see that I have four missed calls and a text message from someone claiming to have found my dog!
Houdini was missing for 20 days! Here, I am showing up saying, yes to God, yes I’ll write the book, yes I will go out and speak, yes I will do the retreat, all these big risks that are inconvenient, with no real guarantee of reward and God was like, “Yeah you’re going to show up and obey – Bam, here’s your little dog back!” Kabam!
The funny thing is, the day before three dogs randomly came up to me on my favorite beach in Ha’ena at the end of the road close to the Kalalau Trail head and I was thinking, “Oh my gosh I miss my little cookie cruncher.” Lo and behold, he was found 1 mile down the road the next day. A tourist’s son had seen a flyer I posted at the Last Chance store and gave me a call telling me that he gave my dog to the storeowner. I received a phone call from the storeowner, who was all excited. He and his wife were leaving for the airport and they let me know that Houdini was left with the cleaning lady. I then had a message from Janice the cleaning lady, called her up and drove right away to pick up my little dog!
God wants to give you the world if you just show up and obey his will for your life. Surrender to that small persistent niggling voice, that small whisper, that intuitive bit - that thing that doesn’t make any sense perhaps, that thing that makes you wonder how is that going to work out!! Ya, that one, that’s the voice I’m talking about, surrender, trust and obey that one. Just take the first step, you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
I’ll tell you another story about when I first came to Kauai. I thought, “Ha I’m going to be a Bikini Business Coach. Live all day long in as little clothing as possible, be an internet marketing rock star and live in paradise for the rest of my life!!” Well God had other plans.
I was living with a dear friend of mine, who is an energy and lightworker, meaning she works within the energetic realm, prayer and cleansing frequencies. I love energy workers and know that the biggest work we do here is the internal work clearing and shifting agreements. She would go out on tour for two months, come back and rest, work in Hawaii for two to three months and I would rent her room or act as a caretaker for another rented room in her home. I must have moved and lived in nearly all the possible rooms within the house. For some reason I could not for the life of me find a place that I wanted to rent on the north shore of Kauai that winter. I had the money so it wasn’t a price thing. I just couldn’t find a good fit or the right home… until that is I surrendered.
It seemed like a moment that God reminded me with, “Hey, hey, hey, don’t forget what the deal is here kiddo. Don’t think I didn’t groom you for years selling those mops for nothing! Remember the deal you’re a speaker!”
I replied with, “Ohhhhhh, so that’s what you want me to do - you want me to go on tour a couple of months, speak and then come back and relax on Kauai. Ok I get it, I can do that.”
As soon as I surrendered, boom a beautiful goddess palace opened up for me. I rented the top room in a Buddha center that had a big high bed and screens all around with a big river running down below in the valley. I would go to sleep to the sound of the rushing river and awake to the sounds of beautiful birds each morning. I said yes, hit go, not knowing how it would all work out while doing a 100-day speaking tour in the U.S. I connected with folks on Facebook and everything worked out. As soon as I said yes, everything unfolded. It was a phenomenal trip; I went to amazing events, met all the right people and picked up a ton of new business. It was wild how everything worked out … as soon as I surrendered.
It does take a magnitude of courage and it isn’t always convenient however, it is always well worth it! You must surrender to the crazy idea and make a decision to do it, then commit to it and take action.
In Latin, the word ‘decide’ means to kill off all other opportunities. People say, “Oh when I have the money I’ll do this thing, when I lose the weight I will attract the perfect partner, when I feel more confident then I’ll start that career,” yet it doesn’t work that way.
The way to manifest your goals, the way to unfold in God’s divine glory is to show up, say yes, surrender, decide you will do it, commit and in your decision and commitment is created the way. Hear this - nothing happens until you decide.
Your decision has the POWER. THAT IS YOUR power! We have been granted free will to choose to go with God or resist. People also say, “Oh I have to work hard, I have to earn it and I have to deserve it.” Absolute nonsense, all you have to do is decide.
You are the master of your mind don’t forget this and don’t give your power away to your fears and lower emotions - you’re ego is always trying to protect you with fear – don’t buy into it.
Decide, commit and start taking action, just take the next step - don’t let yourself get all overwhelmed with what will happen in 5 months or 5 years down the road. Just take the next step.
It was Woody Allen, who he said, “80 percent of anything is showing up.” What have you been slacking on, procrastinating, what dreams, visions and goals have you put on the shelf? Make a list right now and check-off if you’re actively making decisions and commitments to the things that are important in your life such as health, career, relationships, travel, education and family. One of my favorite things to do is to create a bucket list. I do this at the beginning of each year - all the things I desire to do! On my bucket list, I have things like, buy a fancy shmancy camera, take a photo course, have a solo photo show and sell out! Go sky diving, shopping on rodeo drive, put 25 bikini’s into retirement (a life well lived on the beach), visit the Grand Canyon and own a vineyard in Italy.
What is on your bucket list? Write it down. Next, make a list of which goals on your bucket list are actually a priority. Put them in order. Take the top three and write out the first 3 - 6 actions you could take to get these ideas or dreams into reality. Maybe it’s doing a little research or taking a course, whatever it is, show up and say YES to it and watch your goals and dreams spring into life. Have the courage to take the first step and let God handle the details. God always provides!