Synchronicity and Purpose

It's funny how certain stories, songs and dreams stick with me over the years and continue to guide and inspire. One such story is from a book called "Tales of the Dervishes: Teaching Stories of the Sufi Masters Over the Past Thousand Years," by Idries Shah. (See Amazon.com link below.) The story is Fatima, the Spinner and the Tent, a tale of a woman who underwent many unplanned changes in her life, tragedies really, and yet went on to fulfill a historic destiny.

Fatima was the daughter of a prosperous spinner, whose father taught her his trade and took her on business trips in the hopes she'd find a wealthy husband. Tragedy struck when she was shipwrecked, during her travels and her father was killed. She was tossed ashore in Alexandria.

Fortunately, she was taken in by a family of cloth-makers, who also taught her their craft and treated her like one of their own. Unfortunately, one day while strolling by the seashore, she was kidnapped by some slave-traders, taken away and sold to another country.

Fortunately, she was purchased by a man looking for a handmaid for his wife. This man built ship's masts. When he hit a spell of bad luck, Fatima was enlisted to learn this new trade. Again, his business grew and prospered, so he sent Fatima to Java to sell his wares for a profit.

Guess what happened! Off the coast of China the ship sank in a typhoon. I underlined this sentence: "Once again she wept bitterly, for she felt like nothing in her life was working in accordance with expectations. Whenever things seemed to be going well, something came and destroyed all her hopes."

Well, what Fatima didn't know is that there was a legend in China that a woman, a stranger, would come who would make tents for the Emperor. One day the call went out through China to see if this woman had arrived. It just so happened that was the day Fatima had arrived.

So she was summoned before the Emperor and asked if she could make a tent. Since there was no rope, she had to spin some. Since there was no canvas, she had to weave some. Since there were no tent poles, she had to make some. Then wracking her brain for the memories of all the tents she's seen in her travels, she designed one.

When this wonder was revealed the Emperor gladly granted her any wish she wanted. She chose to remain in China and married a handsome prince, of course!

"It was through these adventures that Fatima realized that what appeared to be an unpleasant experience at the time, turned out to be an essential part of the making of her ultimate happiness."

Wow! I take heart from that.

What unexpected twists and turns in your life took you down the "road less traveled" and made all the difference?

Annette Vaillancourt, Ph.D. - Corporate Trainer and Motivational Speaker
EnterTraining Seminars: "We Learn You Good!"
Peak Performance, Stress in the Workplace, Conflict Resolution and Communication Skills
1-877-549-7681

Oh, here's the book containing the story and many other great teaching stories from the Sufis!

2 Degrees of Separation from Oprah

My dream has always been to get on Oprah, or at least "hang" with she and Gail and talk about books and ideas, like how to best utilize the life circumstances and talents we are given for the greater good of all. She certainly has done that, which is what I admire most about her. She's alittle bit of what the Buddhists call a bodhisattva, one who pledges their life for the betterment and enlightenment of all. Oprah and I are the same age and at the same stage in life where giving back to others and leaving a legacy becomes more important, so I think we should meet.

At the very least, I'd like to be an audience member and have my picture taken with her after the show. I sometimes "joke" with my clients and make the following agreement with them: when I help you become more successful, whomever gets on Oprah first has to bring the other one along! So, I am VERY motivated to see my clients succeed. It increases the odds for Oprah and I to meet.

So, in thinking about this goal of mine, I wondered who I knew that knows Oprah or has been on Oprah. Then I remembered! About 6-8 years ago, I was home working on my computer when the phone rang. The woman calling identified herself as a Vice-President of something or other at Harpo Productions. She was calling to discuss an idea for an upcoming show on verbally abusive relationships..

Of course, my first thought was, "who is this REALLY??" Which one of my girlfriends was playing a joke on me? But I continued to listen politely, until it dawned on me that this really was a legitimate call. I was flabbergasted. I had to ask how she found me to contact me about this particular idea for a show. Turns out it was through the website for my psychotherapy practice. Well, if this doesn't demonstrate the power of the internet to reach beyond what you think is possible and bring new opportunities into you life, I don't know what does! Although the result of the call wasn't the dreamed of invitation to appear on Oprah, it was the first of my 2 degrees of separation from the woman herself.

Then, I got thinking some more. If you've read the book, Megatrends 2010, on page 76 author Patricia Aburdene mentions Judi Neal, founder of The Association for Spirit at Work (ASAW). Aburdene writes, "ASAW was born at an Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) Conference back in 1992, when Judi Neal says she 'felt electricity shoot through me, just thinking about Spirit at work.' When fellow conference goers shared their Spirit at work stories, Judi followed up with a newsletter distributed to about ten people." ASAW now gives out the International Spirit at Work award to pioneering organizations who foster spirituality in the workplace.

Besides mentioning what a great cause this is, I have to tell you, I was one of those 10 people hanging out and dialoguing with Judi at that IONS conference in Chicago in 1992. I remember coming home so fired up about Judi's ideas that business is the new frontier for spirituality. She was just starting to think about writing a book on her ideas. Now I see that she has published Edgewalkers. So if Patricia Aburdene or Judi Neal has been or will be on Oprah, there's my second experience of 2 degrees of separation.

The morale of the story is to pay attention to who shows up in your life, as you never know what they will bring to you. They may be the harbinger of your dreams!

Tell me your stories of whom you have met that brought gifts into your life that opened doors to the life of your dreams. What was your "brush with greatness?"

Annette Vaillancourt, Ph.D. - Corporate Trainer and Motivational Speaker
EnterTraining Seminars: "We Learn You Good!"
Peak Performance, Stress in the Workplace, Conflict Resolution and Communication Skills
1-877-549-7681