FOLLOW THE BREADCRUMBS

Have you ever wondered…

I know I have. More times than I care to count.

Life has a way of happening. Oftentimes, things happen that weren’t planned and come completely out of left field.

What we do with those surprises helps determine if we come into our destiny and fulfill our dreams.

MY WAKE-UP CALL

On September 11, 2001, I was working in New York City.

Like everyone else, it is a day that I will never forget. That day had an impact that was far-reaching on so many levels.

The fear was so intense. It became a time to focus on what was important in life. For me, that lasted about two weeks.

I still worked around the clock and was driving myself into the ground.

One month later, I wound up in the emergency room.

That October morning, I stood outside my office building and started to cry. I pulled myself together and headed to my office. I no sooner got into my office I had such intense pain in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. A co-worker came to my aid and called 911. The paramedics arrived; and I was put on a gurney with an oxygen mask on my face and rushed to the hospital.

The stress level was so high not only from the pressure at work but the aftermath of 9/11.

A nurse put nitroglycerin under my tongue; and I was fearful I was having a heart attack. My mind was racing. Yet, I still couldn’t stop thinking about all the work I had to do. OY VEY! Talk about messed up priorities! It’s no wonder I wound up in the hospital!

Thankfully, it was only a panic attack; but after a 22-year career in the beauty industry, that scare made me realize It’s Only Lipstick!

OUT OF THE ASHES

In November, 2001, I left the corporate world behind. It took two dramatic events to get my attention that I was miserable, and changes needed to be made.

But how?

I started to follow the breadcrumbs.

Since I was a businesswoman, I decided to become an independent consultant with a firm specializing in advising small and medium-sized business owners. Deep inside, I felt this was not the right thing to do. But, it made sense.

The company developed leads for me and set up the appointments on my behalf.

I broke the record in cancelled appointments and no-shows! BREADCRUMBS!

My instinct was right. This is not where I belonged. I was beating myself up feeling like I made another mistake.

Would I allow this mistake to be the death of me?

Or. would I pick myself up and keep moving? I decided to keep moving.

It was during this time I decided I needed to have some fun. I needed to do something different that interested me. I did.

I decided to take a class at the Learning Annex in New York City on commercials for real people. I thought “I’m a real people.” BREADCRUMBS!

THE ROAD TO SOMEWHERE

I was now about to enter the next phase of my life without even realizing it.

Since I was four years old, I dreamed about being an actress. Life happened; and my dream became so buried it didn’t exist anymore.

Taking that class lit a fire in me that I didn’t know was possible. One thing started to lead to another. I started taking commercial classes which led to scene study classes and then a showcase, where and agent saw me. He called me the next day. My childhood dream was becoming a reality; and I became relentless in pursuit of that dream.

The fire in my soul kept growing and so did my dream. With that, it often felt that my dream was too big; and I was biting off more than I could chew.

I had to learn to take one step at a time and not be overwhelmed by the enormity of what I was going after. I needed to break the dream into smaller pieces so I could digest it little by little moving ever closer to its manifestation.

I celebrated each victory no matter how small. As difficult and as challenging as it is, I came to terms that I was on the right road for me; and I shouldn’t listen to the voices that tried to convince me otherwise.