The Beginning of Something Great

Last night brought an extraordinary experience my way. I have been working tirelessly to introduce a teen women’s mindfulness series to the city of Kingston. My intuition told me to offer this program to the various high schools as an extracurricular activity; much like the sports activities are implemented. I was optimistic that the schools would be as excited as I was about the offering of such a program to young women in our community. The cost was a mere $10 per student for 2 hours of self awareness and inner work; a gift of knowing oneself. In the attached proposal documents that I emailed to each principal I indicated that I had received, with gratitude, $600 of scholarship donations from local entrepreneurs, for students who could not afford this program. Much to my dismay, I was told by each principal that they did not have any time to dedicate to this endeavour. Some principals did not even reply to my email proposal; I am assuming that, they too, are busy.

I was not willing to give up, and as a result and with the encouragement of the participants of my women’s groups, I opted to run the program from my private business space. Last night was the first gathering of the participants of the Teen Authentic Leadership™ Certificate Program. The young women were hesitant at first but, within 10 minutes were chatting and sharing their feelings and thoughts without the worry of being judged or criticized. They were practicing Authenticity without even realizing it and all because they felt they were in a safe and trusting environment.

The Conversation™ was scheduled to run for 1.5 hours and we ran incredibly late as the participants did not want it to end. They were learning things about themselves that they were unaware of. The excitement of the awakening of possibility was obvious, and they told me that they did not want the night to end.

This is perhaps the most success that I have ever experienced. The vision that I had 2 years ago has come to fruition; women as young as 16 years of age realizing “who” they are and recognizing what brings them joy. How much better can this be? Each of these women has committed to participating in the full series of 10 Conversations™ beginning in January, and each of them is eager to spread the work. They are now part of the Authenticity Revolution inspired by Tana Heminsley of Authentic Leadership Global™. Bit by bit we are moving toward mindfulness and consciously practicing our true nature.

These young ladies are both remarkable and courageous. I applaud them for thinking of themselves and for knowing that there is something better out there. When I said “good night” to each of them and watched them walk out the door, I heard one of them announce, “That was amazing”. The others agreed and the hairs on the back of my head tingled; I couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the evening. This is the beginning of much greatness. xoxo