Why I said, "YES" ... surrendering on the 4th of July

Fourth of July
July 4, 2008

Preparing for a summer road trip with my daughter, I played with the idea of our 4th of July location for months. I thought the ideal situation would be a hotel in St. Louis, MO within walking distance to the Arch. Westward Expansion. What a great symbol to celebrate Independence Day and the expansion of ourselves on this journey.

But, the hotels were booked. I checked the hotels regularly. I thought there would be cancellations and a room would open in downtown St. Louis. Nothing...

The idea of parking and crowds and traffic was not appealing to me.

I reviewed the hotels outside of St. Louis and finally, I chose a spot two days before our arrival. It was close to our destination for the next day.

I released the idea of going to see fireworks. It was hard to let this go. Since the death of my husband, I tried to organize a 4th of July fireworks adventure every year. When he was alive, this was his thing, along with the annual carnival in town. It was something we enjoyed as a family, but he always organized it. Since his death, I didn’t want to let Hannah down. Hannah was the youngest of my daughters, only 12 years old when her father died. I wanted to create the best childhood I could for her. Fireworks felt important.

We talked about it and Hannah said she didn’t care. I let it go. I surrendered. We checked into the hotel and both of us started reviewing pictures and writing blogs for our travel websites.

Around 8:30pm, I heard a pounding, a steady rhythm of noise. It sounded like someone banging on the wall next door. Finally, I looked out the window and saw fireworks. I called to Hannah and she looked out the window and saw them, too.

My heart felt like it was bursting . There were fireworks in four different locations right out the window of our hotel! I saw fireworks from downtown St. Louis and Cahokia Mounds across the river and two other places I couldn’t identify. I watched them for 10 minutes feeling the gratitude of the location I had chosen...or was I guided here by an inner inspiration after I surrendered?

With a full heart and appreciation for a moment of fireworks with my daughter, I walked outside to put something in the car. Right outside the front door of the hotel, I stopped and gasped. There were fireworks EVERYWHERE! I walked around the parking lot. We were on top of a hill and I saw four.. seven..twelve.. sixteen... over twenty different fireworks locations. Some were so close, I could hear the boom and crackle and pop. I could smell the burning of fireworks powder. We were in the middle of the most spectacular fireworks event I had ever seen.

I saw a couple sitting in lawn chairs with the trunk of their car open. They told me they live in the area and this is the best location in the St Louis area. The fireworks displays continued for over an hour!

I felt the gratitude of what it really meant to trust, let go and open to the inspiration to surrender. A 4th of July to remember!

Westward Expansion. Opening to the expansion and guidance from within mySelf.

Why I said, "YES" ... and stood up for a Girl Scout named Mariam

I used to think that being a leader meant being the head of an organization or a group. And then I became a Girl Scout Leader to a Daisy troop of four year old girls. The experience led me to work as a Girl Scout leader for 10 years and that changed the way I saw leadership. I learned that leadership for me was more about finding ways of empowering others and creating an environment for them to be more of who they are.

One year in the springtime a mother of one of the girls from my troop was organizing a court of awards ceremony at a large community event. Our troop was to provide Girl Scouts from our troop for the ceremony. One of the Junior Girl Scouts named Mariam came to me and said she would like to be in the ceremony. She would like to carry a flag. When I mentioned this to the mother who was organizing the ceremony, her reaction was no because Mariam was too loud and boisterous and would never settle down for this serious ceremony. The mother said that Mariam would embarrass our troop. I disagreed with her.

She was right about Mariam's energy. Mariam had a big personality and she liked to push the limits. She had all of this electric, wild power that would burst from her and she was learning to channel it into creativity. She was a very talented artist, full of life energy. For five years I had watched her grow into her personal power. I believed that if she said she wanted to do it, that she would be able to focus on the intention of the ceremony. I knew my job was to support her in becoming more of who she was as a powerful young woman. It was not to create a perfect ceremony. I stood up for Mariam, talked to the mother about giving each of the girls a chance to develop leadership skills and convinced her this was an opportunity for Mariam to stretch herself into a new situation. The mother reluctantly agreed.

I talked with Mariam. I let her know that I believed in her and that I stood up for her. I let her know that it was up to her to show us what she could do. This was her opportunity to be a leader. I also let her know that no matter what happened, I loved her and would always love her.

On the day of the ceremony Mariam was excited and nervous. I gave her a hug, reminded her I believed in her and to enjoy the experience. I was so proud of Mariam as I watched her stand up straight and proudly carry the flag. There was a moment when Mariam's best friend, Katie, began to giggle. She was also carrying a flag in the ceremony and was walking next to Mariam. No one ever imagined that Katie would be the one to disrupt the seriousness of the ceremony. Mariam did not react. She stayed focused on honoring the flag, the ceremony and herself. She led the way and demonstrated a new leadership.

Standing up for Mariam became an example for all of us to say, "YES!" to the girls and to ourselves. We supported the girls to stretch into new opportunities, new expressions of themselves and let go of perfection.