MESSAGE TO GARCIA

FROM GOOD TO GREAT

          This has been an interesting week. In the reading “Message to Garcia,” I tried to figure out which employee I was…I was disappointed at what I discovered. I’m not who I want to be. The good news is…I can become who I want to be with some effort on my part. The fact is, are any of us REALLY who we want to be or do we not all desire to be something more? I know I do. That is part of the reason I am attending college at almost 50 years of age!

In Carly Fiorina’s video entitled Leadership and Capability, she talked about those people who had stopped learning and growing, how they became stagnate. That is who I was prior to my daughter’s mission. I was lazy and content being lazy and unhappy – though I told everyone that I was happy. I had become fat…I mean…FAT and I just didn’t care anymore, until Aerika’s challenge. She told me that while she was gone on her mission, she wanted me to finally do something for myself because I had always been focused on helping her. She wanted me to grow and progress. She wanted me to do these things while she was doing them on her mission, so when she came home, we would have more to discuss and share with one another. I resisted for a time, but then the BYU-I Pathway program kept being thrust before me and soon I realized there was a reason for that!

Not only was college about to be in my future, but so also was weight loss. I decided to try to lose 100+ pounds while my daughter was gone and surprise her when she got off the airplane. Well, due to circumstances beyond her control, she came home from Argentina about 4 months after I started my weight loss attempt. I was down 35 pounds and felt good. During the 4 months she was home, I gained…40 pounds! WHAT??? Yep…very frustrating and unsettling, but I was not about to give up. Once she was gone again, about a month later I decided to try again. I am down 67.5 pounds now. I started September 29, 2014 and today is June 19, 2015. I’ve not done as well as I wanted, but I’m still working hard. When I pick her up in 7 weeks, I hope to be down at least 10 more pounds (truly I would like to round that to 12.5 pounds for a total weight loss of 80 pounds before she gets home). I still have a long way to go, 63.50 pounds to reach my FINAL goal, but I will take this as a battle victory, a small win on my way to winning the war.

From college to weight loss, I am no longer the person Carly was speaking of. Now I am the “vibrant” middle-aged woman. It feels good! I have dreams now that I never had before. I feel hope for a bright future and that’s new too. I’m on my path from good, running toward great. I’m running toward our dream of owning the Howling Heart B&B and Campground, along with the Howling Heart Wolf Sanctuary. I now believe it is possible!

I believe I can become a great leader for our organization because I’m already on the path there. These classes have really helped me grow and I am becoming someone I am proud of. I’ve learned that it is super important to surround yourself with people who are better and smarter and wiser than you are because, by so doing, you will learn by osmosis and eventually, you will become like them! THAT is who I want to be. THAT is the example I want to be to my daughter and future heirs. I want them to see that an old lady like me could and did make the changes necessary to go from good to great!

(B183)