Accomplishing Amazing Things

So, tonight I am finally having a quiet moment. I have been going non-stop since Feb. 29 -- the first day of the Advanced Course -- that is 23 straight days of going non-stop. During that time, I've had incredible, inspiring conversations with co-workers, family members, friends. I've created some amazing possibilities at work and with family, and I've already seen the results. Some results are not that astounding from the outside looking in, but now I am doing things that I would never have followed through with before. Of course, they were always nice ideas, but not things that would happen this week or month or year... but maybe... someday.

For example, today, I hosted Easter at my house. I had 20 people over today including my sister-in-law's family (Mother, StepDad, Grandmother, Grandfather, brother) and my family (Mom, Dad, 3 brothers, niece, nephew, sister-in-law). It was the first holiday celebration at my new house in AZ, and it was the realization of a dream for my sister-in-law. She had always hoped that one day her family and her husband's family would celebrate a holiday together -- everyone together, and today it happened -- at my house!!! It was a beautiful day. Maybe this does not seem like much to others, but it's not something I had ever even been open to before -- "my" family, Yes, but "her" family, No. I had had a lot going on in the week leading up to today with an out of town wedding, guests staying with me the 4 days before Easter, and every reason why cancelling would have been ok and accepted. I embraced all that the preparation would mean, and I completely enjoyed having everyone at my house. It was great!!!

And, at work last week, I held a meeting for my remote video team via video conference, and again, although it sounds simple, in the 6 years that this video team has existed, this has never been done. And now it has been. It was a great moment for me and for my team. We are from NJ, TX, CA, IL and AZ. Seeing everyone at one time, whether they were in the office or working from home was incredible. Although it's not something we can touch or see now that it's over, this "meeting" was real. We made it happen. We accomplished something that had not been done before, and somehow it made our team, more of a team. That is incredible! To think that only a few months ago, I felt like this team was a ball and chain. I realized that my leadership was the ball and chain. Now that I am embracing the team, it is embracing me back and becoming more and more and more...

So, these are just a sample of the happenings in my life that are making a difference for me and the people around me...

I am having my share of breakdowns, too, but now that I see the game, I realize that maybe some things perhaps were just a bit too easy. Some "life" needed to be mixed in to make the game more interesting.