But… I’m Not Done Yet: One Moment Changes Everything

As a mentor, speaker, performer, inspirational-ist and non-denominational minister, I participate in and attend many events.  I also have a community around me that does the same.  One such individual a dear friend who is a world instrumentalist and who does things such as drum circles and mindful meditation events.  In fact, he had been hired by the city of Cookeville TN., to facilitate such events on a monthly basis and had for a year or more invited me to join him. 

For a little over a year, every date that he had that would take him to Cookeville never worked for my schedule.  It seemed as though it would never be, but somehow, June 30th ended up being the perfect day!  I could go.  Finally, after all this time I was going to meet the folks he had wanted me to meet and to participate in this amazing transformational event.  

That morning started out like they usually do.  The dogs, the cats, and the turtle!   My routine involved letting the boys out to potty while getting them all feed, changing out their water, including the turtles swimming hole, and ultimately getting my two boys, Sparkie and Sam out the door for a walk.  It was a lovely morning, not too hot, but then again it was early!  

I had a client session, did a load of laundry that I left in the washing machine to put in the dryer when I returned.  I wrote my newsletter and I did yoga, got ready and away we went.  My point? Not at any time did I ever suspect what was to come.  

The event was well attended and successful and a lot of fun, be it hot and sticky.  I met folks, I played drums, and I visited with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.  As we loaded the car and left to return to Nashville where we had another event to go to, we filtered onto the highway and sped South.  Again, never suspecting that things would take a turn, but turn they did, and quickly.  

Up until that very next moment, everything was going really great.  I had gotten very clear on my next steps regarding my business and my brand, I was shooting and editing video, sorting through material for a new album, getting out into the world and cultivating growth, serving my clients, feeling really positive and empowered, indeed it felt as though some part of me had crossed over onto a new playing field and the momentum was gathering.   

Suddenly, without warning, without an inclination that anything could happen, or even a premonition of foreboding, it happened.   I was looking out the passenger window into the woods that were moving past us at about 75 mph.  Suddenly I was looking straight ahead and out the windshield as we went off the road, it was as if I froze, I could just look straight ahead. I didn’t turn my head or move.  I heard myself yelling, then screaming… As we got sucked into the very woods I was looking at and enjoying.  The saplings slapped at the car slowing it down a little, everything was moving so fast and then boom, the crash.  

My mind was racing along with the car as it went off the road and over the tops of the saplings into the woods.  The realization came that this was it.  I was not going to make it.  I was out of here, but… Out of my soul came a cry that was deafening in my head and it said these words, “I’m not done yet.”  

Those four words echoed throughout my body and they were not comforting or soothing in any way.  They were the admittance of an all too real truth and that was that I had not yet done what I was here to do.  It felt like a cold, harsh slap.  I wasn’t done.   

I remember the impact, what it sounded like and how it felt.  The crack I heard in my head as I flew forward.  We hit an embankment that was only on the passenger side of the car and it was my side that took the brunt of the impact that was so severe it tore the wheel off the undercarriage of the vehicle.  

The moment of truth came and went as I realized I was still alive.  The next thing, I noted was I could feel my fingers and my toes.  Somewhere in those first seconds I remember calling on the Angels.  I don’t know quite know how but I got out of the car, still not knowing if I was going to pass at the scene or what would happen next, but just staying focused on what was to come.  Grateful to be alive.  Grateful not to be paralyzed. Just grateful.  

I will save you from the rest of the story about 911 calls, ambulances, x-rays and scans, because that is not the point of this story.  I shared the details I did because I wanted to take you on the journey so you could perhaps connect to what I’m about to ask you next, which is; “If you were to leave this life would you feel as though you had done what you came here to do, or would you feel as I did, that you had not yet done it?”  

I know for many of my clients the very reason they work with me is that they are seeking to discover, to reconnect, or to complete a vision they have that lives deep inside of them. But somewhere along the path, life experiences got in the way, as did belief systems.    

Everyday distractions like screens and technology bring with them some really cool opportunities, but at what price?   And today, busy is not just an overfull schedule it’s a state of mind, and dreams get swept under the rug, in some cases never to be seen again.  If any of this is you, your answer to my question can only be the truth.  If you were to be faced with leaving suddenly you would be faced with the same cold, harsh slap I was.  

The good news?  I’m still here, a road of healing in front of me, injuries, but nothing permanent, the angels were with me. You are still here too and you don’t have to go through such a traumatic event to glean a little piece of what I learned from this experience, or at least I hope that is what you will get from reading this.  

I vow to fulfill my greatest purpose and realize the vision I’ve held within me because that is what I’m here to do.  I hope you will join me.  In fact, I hope we can do this together.

Let’s not leave anything on the table, because I know “I’m not done yet” will not be my last words!