It’s not easy staying true to one’s dream in a small resort town with a perceived bottomless pit of money that nobody seems to actually have. It’s a place where many business owners see you not as an asset but as a threat, assuming you’re using them to rise above them.
What these people don’t realize is that those who meet us with open arms are rewarded with big, tight bear hugs and a goal of driving business to their establishments, whatever it is they do.
The difficulty lies not so much in the ask (which gets easier the more we grow and help people) but in the determination to bust past childish egos that are rigidly suspicious of what they could lose by letting us in. Which is what, exactly?
We lose all the time, announcing members of our team and then losing them as they get whisked away by corporate entities with money (which we will SOON have). But we celebrate being the platform that lifts people up so they can fly off. Many of our team members remain loyal, spreading the word about all we’re doing to raise money for others and drive traffic to their stores. Others unfollow our channels and sneer at us from above. It’s always a choice.
I’m not saying it’s easy to stay loving, open and celebratory when we lose members of our team. In fact, there are many days when I hide behind my desk, feeling immense frustration with the selfish people of the world and wanting to quit. But all it takes is daily meditation and a rocking yoga class where I recharge by sweating it out to outrageously fantastic music that fuels the positive vibe in the room, and everything clicks back into place.
Meditation and yoga help me not to become like everyone else but to stay the me I like best: loving, caring and creative. If you stick with integrity, the rewards will come. Just keep watching. I’ll prove it… or I’ll fail. Either way, it’s about to get very interesting.
