If there were ever a time that I have felt that my cup runneth over…NOW would be the time. The dreams, tears, laughter, the love, fear, expression of gratitude, and authenticity are spilling into my life from so many places and so many sources.
Photo: Zig Ziglar and Sheryl Lynn - October 2006
Zig Ziglar told a story when I saw him this past year, about a water pump. You know those red ones you see at places like Yellow Stone National Park when you are camping? You pump and pump and pump and pump and you wait for the water to come – you are so thirsty, you know the water is coming, yet you get tired. You believe that just a little more pumping will bring you your desired result. Yummy cool water. So you pump some more. You want to give up, maybe let your brother or parent do some of the work – yet you know deep in your heart that you want to feel the sweet success of having the water run onto out of the nozzle and onto the ground. You keep trying with Mother Teresa effort knowing the fabulous outcome of quenching your thirst will be worth the sweat and muscle fatigue. This vivid picture of pumping a hand pump is very much like my life. I feel like I have pumped and pushed and pulled and use every last drop of energy I had to open the reservoir of love from my heart, allowing it to pour into the hearts of women. In the past, it seemed the harder I tried to create beauty, the uglier it got, the roads I went down were all dead ends. I started over, failed more and landed in a pile of poo more than I care to remember. Three years later after starting Women Celebrations though, the pumping is producing a beautiful stream, a flow of perfection that seems unending – like the feel of Cinderella and the Prince dancing at the Ball – everything in perfect alignment. Now, as I give to the heart of others, doing what I can to “eek†out a dream, a voice, a tear, an ounce of real laughter, a level of self- trust – this celebrated feeling becomes like the water, now SPILLING out onto others. The pumping is now easier and with so much less effort than before. I am feeling, seeing and tasting the sweetness of the work, of the sweat, of the tears I cried – of the times I felt so alone, crazy, silly, broke and beat up. My energy that goes into this dream of one million people living a life of daily celebration is constant…it is giving, it is endless, it is rewarding and fun–and more than anything – it is finally being received. This flow of this “water†is spreading to the other plants on the ground-watering the beautiful flower in its path- sprouting the blossoms of dreams, of hope, of kindness, of judge free environments, of softness, of love – in women’s lives, men’s lives and most importantly it is touching the children of the world. The children are feeling the love – not from families laden from verbal abuse, but from celebrated moms, dads and adults in general.So raise your glass ladies and gentlemen, and drink in the fruits of our labor. Yum Yum
