Grateful for the Unexpected Honor!

The 8th Annual Go Red Luncheon in Tacoma, Washington was earlier this week. Prior to the luncheon there were two hours of VIP pampering for 100 of the 250 luncheon guests. The pampering included hand massages, parafin wraps, a light buffet, blood pressure tests and the first chance at the silent auction.

Our Go Red Ambassador program, which I am extremely grateful for as it gives me a place to serve in honor of my late husband, Lee Oberbeck, started late last year and this is the first year the Ambassadors were at the luncheon. I was moved and delighted by a very inspiring fashion show made up of our Go Red Ambassador survivors, ranging in age from about seven to seventy-six years of age. They each did a wonderful job of sharing their personal story of survival and walking across the stage in an adorable outfit from Macy's, one of the sponsors of the luncheon.

During the program I was surprised by an unexpected presentation. I was honored as the first, Go Red Ambassador of the Year. The words, Founding Go Red Ambassador, are inscribed on the beautiful Tiffany bowl I was given. It was an amazing and humbling honor to receive this award for doing something that I am so passionate about. I am grateful for the honor, the acknowledgment and for the pleasure I receive from being with and working with the many amazing women I am so honored to serve with.

Here is a video I made as a tribute to all the Go Red Ambassadors I have the pleasure of serving with. It explains "Why We Go Red". My husband, Wild Bill Jones, who is our Go Red Mascot and Guy Friday to all the ambassadors took the videos during the luncheon. Some of our ambassadors were not there, this is in honor of them too.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1-fTsl7Kyo

What do we do as Go Red Ambassadors? We give presentations to different organizations and businesses in the South Sound region. Our presentation consists of a short power point where we share the warning signs of heart disease, show what a heart attack is, share the risk factors and show what you can do to take actions to prevent heart disease. After that we share our personal stories. Each one of us has a very different story to share. I became a widow in an instant when Lee died suddently of a heart attack, Victoria is a heart transplant recipient, Tina is a heart attack survivor, Carol is a sudden cardiac arrest survivor, Lori is a stroke survivor and we have many more brave and courageous women who share their stories in the hopes of saving lives.

Most of us, including me, are not professional speakers. Here is a video of one of my Go Red presentations. Several of us spoke at the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency in Olympia, Washingtom on April 13, 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZEx6-31zUI

Do you know that heart disese is largely preventable? Since January 2010 our Go Red Ambassadors have talked to over 1000 people in the greater Tacoma area. We have the intention of saving lives and we believe we have an impact of increasing awareness to the warning signs of heart disease and how to prevent one in the first place by choosing to live a heart healthy life. Please support any Go Red movement in your own community or start a Go Red program of your own. The life you help to save may be that of a loved one or someone you never meet. We never know who we will impact by sharing these stories of survival.

With Love and Gratitude,
Dyann

I am feeling a Go Red Gratitude tonight!

Tonight fifteen Go Red for Women Ambassadors met with Trina Jones in her photography studio in the Old City Hall building on the edge of downtown Tacoma. With us was our friend from the American Heart Association, Connie Hara, who is the guiding light that arranged this photo session for us. Trina was masterful as she arranged all 15 of us for a group photo with the intention of having the perfect photo for billboards around town. I was delighted and thrilled to see so many dear friends, all in red, when I arrived at Trina's studio at about 5:00 pm. As more Ambassadors arrived, hugged our hellos and got comfortable, Trina's studio became a beautiful sea of red filled with bright happy faces.

Each of the Go Red Ambassadors, who range in age from their early 20's to their early 70's, has had a personal experience with heart disease or stroke. Many have suffered one or both of these themselves and have lived to tell about it. It is in the sharing of these stories that we hope lives can be saved.

When we go to an organization for a Go Red Ambassador Presentation we have a short power point to highlight the situation: That heart disease is the number one killer of women, that a woman dies every minute of heart disease, that one out of three women will die of this disease and that it is largely preventable. Then we tell our stories. It is the stories that make the audiance want to listen a bit harder and know a bit more. They become still and serious looking until one of our ambassadors says something funny and the tension is broken with laughter. Each group we speak to is different and often they have a lot of questions for us afterwards. We stay as long as they want to talk with us and we always leave feeling like we have done a good thing.

I have grown to love these women and as our group of Go Red Ambassadors grows there are more women to get to know and fall in love with. For that I am very grateful indeed!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Grateful for the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce

This morning I went to a Lakewood Chamber of Commerce meeting that was for their Ambassadors. The Chamber Ambassadors are volunteers that welcome new members into the Chamber community, greet people at Chamber events and spread the goodwill of the Chamber everywhere they go. I was surprised to see several Ambassadors I already know and was intriqued by their wanting to help in this way.

This is the third Chamber meeting/event I have attended since joining a couple of weeks ago. I am so grateful for having joined the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce because everyone I have met so far has been absolutely delightful! The Chamber has a commited staff and they really know how to create events that are not only wonderful networking opportunities but they're fun too!

Thank you Mary Ann Miller for introducing Wild and me to the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce! You and your sidekick Linda Smith really rock!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

How Do I Decide What I Am Grateful For?

When time is limited and I want to acknowledge gratitude...where do I start? It is easy to write the first thing that comes to my mind so today I will do just that.

Today what comes to mind is: I am grateful to USANA Health Sciences.

Why am I grateful to USANA today and every day? I feel and look great. My husband feels and looks great. My friends that use these products feel and look great. I have made so many wonderful friends through USANA. I love the lifestyle I am living and creating. I am so appreciative of the opportunities, inspiration, education, celebrations, associations, health, wellness and wealth that are all available to me and others.

Thank you USANA Health Sciences and its Founder, Dr. Myron Wentz.

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Grateful For Saturday Night!

It is Saturday night and I have my honey, Wild Bill, all to myself. The music is on, the candles are lit and did you know that the Sense Shower Gel makes the most delightful bubble bath ever? It has a tangerine scent that fills the room with the scent of orange blossoms.

I hope that your Saturday night is turning out as well as mine!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Grateful for Dr. Myron Wentz

A special letter of gratitude to the founder of USANA Health Sciences.

Dear Dr. Myron Wentz,

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the many gifts we have been blessed with since first learning about you and joining USANA Health Sciences in October 2002.

Dyann has been pain free for seven years and has been able to keep her weight down from where it once was. Wild Bill is off all his heart medication and his other health issues are a thing of the past since May of 2003.

Every day we thank you for the gift of health and the opportunity for wealth. What an awesome combination!

We wish you and Prudence a long healthy life as you continue to share your many gifts and love with the world. You have created so many wonderful possibilities that would not exist except for your generous spirit and commitment to making the world a better place to be.

With our love and admiration,
Dyann Lyon and Wild Bill

Grateful to Be.

I love acknowledging my gratitude in writing. As a daily practice it has many benefits. The main benefit I experience is that I feel gratitude more fully and I am more connected to my spirit. I also notice so many wonderful miracles happening all around me and for that I am even more grateful. Gratitude brings in more things to feel grateful for!

Lately I have become so much busier than I have been in recent years and it becomes more challenging to write in this blog on a daily basis. None-the-less I will do the best I can and write as often as I can. Which is very much like my exercise. I have an intention of going to the gym at least three times a week. Some weeks I get really busy and it is harder to keep that schedule. The key is to allow things to happen and keep the bigger picture of my intentions in perspective.

Life has a way of happening even while we have made other plans. John Lennon said something like that didn't he? I am grateful to be able to go with the flow and do the best I can without being hard on myself. Everyday is a new adventure and things come up that need attention. Whether it is a friend that needs a hand, a new customer that needs an order placed or a new business partner that needs some training and help, I am happy to re-prioritize and adjust my schedule.

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

So grateful for Monday!

I love Monday's. Monday represents new beginnings. On Monday I get to start all over again. Today, I had a wonderful workout at the gym and it allowed me to feel like I am back in charge and on track again for my well being. I am grateful that there is a gym close to home and that I enjoy going there. I saw an old friend there this morning and I hardly recognized her because she looked so fit and trim. That was inspiration to me, to work out as often as possible and stay commited to being physically fit!

The past weekend I worked right through the weekend at a Health Fair and catching up with several projects I am working on. I found myself unprepared for eating healthy. When poor choices were offered, instead of saying no and having my own solution handy, I ate what was available. I paid for it by feeling unhealthy and bloated. Yuk!

Mondays are also the perfect time to get back on a healthy eating program. I love being in control of what I eat and that means losing those carb cravings that come in no time if I make certain poor choices. Today, I feel back in charge and ready for a week of healthy choices.

Monday, Monday...So good to me!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Two steps back...

I am grateful for the headway I have made in the past few years. Getting out of being in judgement and being compassionate is a skill that I work on daily. I have made major headway and for that I am grateful. Yesterday was another matter. As my husband was trying to return a camera that we bought over 90 days ago, I could see the people behind the counter were not going to budge on the 90 day policy. My body language, if not my total conversation, was clearly showing my doubt of my husband's ability to move them off their stand. If I had been compassionate, rather than being judgemental, I wouldn't have felt so crappy and immoveable and my husband would have been able to work his magic without interference.

After we returned home, with the original camera, he made a few phone calls and, as is usual for him, worked that magic wand and was able to return it for a different model. What I am grateful for is his patience with me, his dedication to our relationship, and my ability to see where I went wrong and get back on track to where I want to be...loving and compassionate.

Today is another day and all is wonderful in my world!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Wild about Wild Bill!

May I share my gratitude for the same person two days in a row? Absolutely! I could write about the gratitude I have for my wonderful husband every single day of the year! Yes, it's true. Every day of the year!

I have been told that we, Wild and I as a couple and Wild and I as individuals, are just too positive to be believable. I presume their question would be: How can you two be so happy all the time? Perhaps they wonder what we're really like behind closed doors. Well, the truth is we're pretty much like we are in public, except sometimes we don't look as good. That's because we are so comfortable being comfortable with each other. I am filled with gratitude to be living with a man that loves me exactly as I am, no matter what that might look like at the moment.

We are fortunate that both if us are willing, and able, to dig deep and explore whatever is going on with each of us and as a couple. We have long conversations, always starting the day with one, and often sit in our living room like two friends that are catching up after an absence. I am so thankful that each of us is willing to give the other our best, that is, the best we can do at any particular moment. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would actually experience a relationship, let alone a marriage, like this one.

Yes, we sometimes get a bit cranky and we know when to give each other space. We are always willing to talk it out and stay current with each other. I am often amazed at how kind my husband is, not just with me but with everyone he meets, especially kids and people needing any type of help. I love who I am with this beautiful, kind, funny man I am so grateful to share my life with!

With love and gratitude to my dear Wild Bill,
Dyann

Love is in the air!

Oh yes! Spring is in the air and it is so beautiful everywhere I look. The blossoms and bulbs came up early this year because of just the right amount of rain and blue skies. As I drive through town I am amazed at all the daffodils and tulips in full bloom and trees filling out with new growth and fresh green leaves everywhere. Spring is in full bloom right now! I am so grateful for Spring, my favorite season of the year. There is a feeling about Spring that is filled with the promise of fresh and new. A quality to the air that is irresistable, like love.

Do you feel the pull towards love this time of year? There is something about the fresh, sweet air of Spring  that makes me feel alive and wanting to fall in love! I am so fortunate to be married to the man I love and I am happy to fall in love with him over and over. He is easy to love and as the fresh Spring air makes my fantasies unfurl, he is right there, ready.

I am so incredibly grateful to be married to my best friend. I am pinching myself!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

So Many Amazing People To Thank!

As I reflect on my post from yesterday I am present to how far I have come in the past year. Yesterday I was feeling a bit nervous, with a low grade anxiety and hot cheeks, as I thought about speaking to a crowd of approximately 180 people last night. Yet when I was on the stage I was present to the audience, what I wanted to share with them and not at all nervous. How could that be? I have heard that the number one fear of most people is speaking in front of an audience. You know what...I just realized today that I bought that story. And, that it is...just a story.

Last year I completed the Curriculum for Living with Landmark Education. The benefits continue to show up for me like a time released capsule and I am further enjoying new levels of confidence, communication skills and a better quality of life in all areas. This is amazing to me because I was happy before I ever took Landmark, yet it has made all the difference for me in every area of my life. The Curriculum for Living consists of three courses and I would like to personally thank each of the instructors I had the pleasure of working with. My first course was the world famous Landmark Forum. Check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/556pwf

I'd like to start by thanking my Forum Leader, Will Steel, from the United Kingdon. Will was the perfect Forum Leader for me as he is both powerful and kind as well as funny. I am very grateful to have had the pleasure of doing the Forum under Will's direction. His skill in listening to what people are saying, between the lines, and how he masterfully handled people that were completely stuck, was a sight to behold. Thank you Will for showing me what possibility looks like.

Included with the Forum is a ten week series of weekly seminars called the Landmark Forum in Action. I am grateful for my Seminar Leader, Christopher McCormick for showing me, by his actions, what commitment looks like and what it takes to lead a group of individuals, over a period of time, to the destination. Thank you Christopher for showing me what leadership looks like.

Then came the Landmark Advanced course with the Master Coach herself, Charlene Afremow. Charlene is love personified and after two days you can't help see the love that she is. Prior to that she wields her skills to cause each participant to dig deep and break the shakles that bind. Thank you Charlene for showing me what strength, courage and love looks like when you are really up to something big in your life.

Last but definately not least is the Self Expression and Leadership Program, referred to as the SELP. The SELP was led over a four month period by the Possibility of Love and Inspiration herself, Lisa Collins. The SELP was so incredibly rewarding as we were able to put all we had learned in the prior courses into action in our own communities. Thank you Lisa for showing me what love, inspiration, grace and ease looks like when we are up to making a difference in other peoples lives.

And I would be remiss if I didn't thank my dear friend, Cheryl Sheehan, as Cheryl introduced me to Landmark five years before I ever took the first serious look at it. I will be forever grateful for the difference Cheryl has made in my life by her willingness to take a stand for the possibilities she sees in others.

The community project I created in the SELP, the Go Red for Women Ambassador Program in Tacoma/Pierce County, started as a result of a dear friend standing in possibility so many years ago. I never imagined that possibilities would unfold as they have. And, we have only just begun.

I am the possibility of Compassion, Leadership and Joy!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Gratefully, I Go Red to Save Lives!

The first week of Project Purpose 2010, a 90 day program I am participating in, is coming to an end and I just opened an email referring to it as Hearts of Purpose. That name really resonates with me this evening as I just returned home from having the honor of speaking to the 96 beautiful sorority sisters of Alpha Phi, and their families and friends, at the Go Red Gala that this sorority puts on each year. It was a beautiful evening at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA.

The photo above shows the four Go Red for Women Ambassadors that spoke this evening and our friend from the American Heart Association, in the center, that introduced us. They are from the left: Kara Moore, Nadine Kelley, Connie Hara, Tina Blackett and Dyann Lyon. Each of us has a powerful and compelling Go Red story of survival to share and we are all passionate about sharing our story with people, groups and businesses that invite us to speak. 

The Go Red program is a program of the American Heart Association. I learned about it when I approached Connie Hara in the summer of 2009 to see if I could get some material from the Heart Association to use as handouts at offices I wished to speak in. I had the idea of sharing my story along with the warning signs of heart disease and how to prevent this largely preventable disease. Connie said that was a perfect Go Red for Women project and that there was no one leading Go Red in Tacoma. Would I be interested in leading it? I must admit that I balked at the idea in the beginning as I didn't want to limit these talks to women and my story is definitely a story for men too. Well, after talking more with Connie I really got the impact of heart disease being the number one killer of women, more than the next five diseases all added together! After several meetings with other women in the community, that have their own stories of survival to share, the Go Red for Women Ambassador program in Tacoma and Pierce County was off and running.

The photo to the left is of the six Go Red for Women Ambassadors and our friend, Connie, of the American Heart Association who all gave up their Saturday night to be able to speak to the ladies of Alpha Phi and their family and friends. They are from the left: .Victoria Doyle, Mary Harrison, Kara Moore, Connie Hara, Nadine Kelley, Dyann Lyon and Tina Blackett. We have other Go Red for Women Ambassadors and we are always looking for more. Whenever we have an opportunity to speak we accept the engagement. We then notify the group to see who is available to speak for that event. Each one of us has a different story to share and we always leave an impact on our audiences. 

There is so much I am grateful for in this story. First of all I am grateful for the nearly twenty wonderful years I had with my husband, Lee Oberbeck, who died suddenly of a heart attack at 50 years young. I am grateful to have met Connie Hara and for her passion and commitment to help get a Go Red program off the ground in Tacoma. I am grateful for the passionate women who have stepped forward to share their Go Red message, on their own time, to help save lives. These women have become special friends and I am grateful to each of them for the wonderful passionate hearts they share with others. I am especially grateful for my amazing and dear husband, Wild Bill Jones, and his passion and compassion in joining me on my quest to serve. He was the one that took pictures all night and helped each of us on and off the stage. Wild is our Go Red Mascot. Here he is with two beautiful women, Lindsay Ingaldson and Laura McQuay, Red Dress Gala Chairwomen, Gamma Zeta of Alpha Phi. These two did a wonderful job of putting on the Red Dress Gala 2010. Great job ladies!

With love and gratitude,

Dyann

Filled to the brim!

What I love about being in gratitude is the feeling I get, and the wonderful energy that comes, from being in gratitude on a daily basis. At the moment I am filled to the brim with gratitude, energy, excitement, purpose, anticipation, commitment and love! WOW! That is a lot of great stuff to be filled with! Would you agree?

I am so thankful for Patti Roney, for the inspiration I receive from her and for her leading Project Purpose (PP) again this year. As I mentioned on Monday of this week, the first day of the 90 day program she created, I am happy to have created The Gratitude Room blog last year during the early days of PP 2009. I realize that even though I have loved writing this blog I tended to take on some pretty heavy, and often emotional, subjects. Being the creative person I am I also wanted to post pretty pictures, mostly beautiful flowers, as inspiration. I found that all of that seemed to bog me down and I was writing less and less. I thought I really needed something special to write about and it often became daunting to even get started. As of this week I have an entirely different approach to this blog. I am taking on a daily habit of writing what I am grateful for and keeping it short and sweet. At least that is my intention. If I have something on my mind that deserves more attention, I will gladly have at it!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Surprise!!
That was the first line of an email I received today with the word surprise in red.

In the subject line it read: "SURPRISE! YOU ARE A WINNER WITH USANA!!" WOW! I already knew that, because being in USANA makes me a winner. Yet this seemed to mean something different.

The next sentence of the email had another word in red, it read: "You are a winner of the FREE airfair drawing for the 2010 Celebration at Sea!"

Yippee! I won! I won free airfare for the USANA cruise that Wild and I are going on in December 2010!

When I happened to see the email, notifying me of the free airfare, Wild and I were on the tail end of a coaching call. I didn't want to disturb him but I couldn't help grinning from ear to ear and he couldn't help noticing. Just now, I asked Wild what he thought when he saw me grinning so big earlier today. He answered, with a huge grin of his own: "I didn't know what was going on but it was gratifying to see you looking so happy." Since I am a pretty happy person, being happy is not unusual. Big grins, like the huge one I had today out of the blue, are unusual! What fun that was! Thank you USANA!

What a joy it is to be feeling gratitude, for simply doing what I love with the company I have so much admiration for, and winning a prize while doing it. Good things seem to come in threes. Just yesterday we had a call from a friend that requested we speak to her sister, who lives in another state, because her sister has absolutely no energy. Her sister wants us to arrange for her to get what our friend has, because our friend "has the energy of an energizer bunny!". What a pleasure and a gift it is to be able to help people feel better! The third good thing happening is that tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of Wild becoming an American citizen. If you want to know more about that story please read my blog entry dated April 13, 2009, with a post scipt I wrote earlier today.

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Grateful for Blogger

I am feeling a flood of gratitude for Blogger today. Last year I created this, The Gratitude Room, blog, believeing it would be the perfect place for me to express gratitude. I have many gratitude books around my home, I'll fill one and start another. Even though it is wonderful to express gratitude with pen and paper, inside of a beautifully bound journal, this blog gives me an endess supply of space in which to share my thoughts of gratitude. I am grateful for that.

I have wanted to create another blog for many months. I have actually started two different blogs in wordpress and I have never created any traction to get either of them off the ground. Within the past week I started a second blog on Blogger at: http://dyannsexcellentadventure.blogspot.com/ and I look forward to expressing my thoughts and ideas there, on topics other than gratitude. What I am grateful for today is the ease in which I am able to access both my blogs via the Dashboard. Until this week, after creating my second Blogger blog, I never fully understood or appreciated the concept of the Dashboard on my Blogger account. Thank you Blogger for making my blogging experience so easy! I believe that now I will find it much more comfortable to maintain two different blogs and have two places to express myself.

With gratitude and ease,
Dyann

Gratitude as a place to Be.

As I get ready for my day it occures to me that Gratitude is not just a list of the many things I am grateful for. Gratitude is a place to be. I feel Gratitude all around me as though I am in a room full of it. I am sitting in it as I type these words, like sitting on an invisible cloud of goodness. I am immersed in it as I become conscious of the birds singing outside my office window. Gratitude opens up a world into the many blessings that are all around me and allows them in. I am Grateful for those singing birds today. They remind me of the beauty of life that surrounds me and how precious it is. I am Grateful for the reminder that it is up to me to do whatever it takes to focus on the goodness around me.

Have an unlimited day!
With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Day #1 of Project Purpose 2010

Today is Day #1 of Project Purpose 2010, created and led by Patti Roney. Our first assignment is to start a Gratitude journal. I have one by my bed, already, that I love writing in and I have The Gratitude Room blog which I created last year. So, starting today I will be sharing my gratitude, for the next 90 days of Project Purpose, right here.

Today I am grateful to be alive, enjoying all the blessings of a healthy body, having a husband I love dearly and a life I cherish. Thank you for the gift of health that I enjoy in every part of my body, inside and out. Thank you for helping me to find USANA, the gift that keeps each cell of my body healthy. After seven plus years on the USANA supplements, meal replacements and advanced skincare I have a USANA body from cell to cell!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann

Grateful to Bob Burg and John David Mann

Recently I finished reading "The Go-Giver", by Bob Burg and John David Mann, after finally getting to it in my pile of books I intend to read. Rather than go on to the next book waiting for me I immediately ordered their newest book, "Go-Givers Sell More" and began reading it the day it arrived by mail. I have read a lot of wonderful books and do not normally comment on or review them. I haven't finished the second book, yet I want to share some thoughts as these books immediately came to mind when I sat down to write today.

Like most people I have been in sales all my life, whether I knew it or not. It wasn't until I was in my early 30's, which was quite some time ago, that I got into selling as a profession. That was when I started selling real estate, which I did happily and successfully for many years. In all that time I always wanted the best for my customers, clients and business partners. I learned early on that by focusing on the other person and their needs I was actually taking pressure off myself and I would be a lot less nervous on presentations and in negotiations.

After reading "The Go-Giver" I was thrilled to see The Five Laws Of Stratospheric Success so beautifully told through a wonderful story that is easy to read. The lessons of each law are experienced through Joe, who starts out as a go-getter and becomes a Go-Giver by the end of this wonderful little story.

As I am in the early years of a new selling profession, in network marketing, it is with great pleasure that I read these two little books. I am reminded of the purity of selling which I have always thought of as helping people get enough information in order to make a good buying decision. I am learning there are so many more ways I can help people get what they want and that I can do even better than I have in the past. By giving to others, in ways I had not actually thought of, I can help even more people in many more ways. I am inspired by the following quote from "Go-Givers Sell More": "Selling is giving: giving time, attention, counsel, education, emapthy, and value. In fact, the word sell comes from the Old English word sellan, which means - you guessed it - "to give."

Helping others has always given me a joyful high. Helping them get what they want even from a competitor, will now also be a joyful experience. Just this week I was talking to a friend about a product I sell. She said it sounded great but she hadn't shopped it yet for pricing. To make it easier for her I narrowed down the field, and her potential effort, by giving her the name of the only other company I could think of that could possibly give her the same quality. I had never done that before. It felt great!

Thank you Bob Burg and John David Mann. I am grateful to be able to read your two Go-Giver books and add value to others as a result. Thank you for the wonderful work that you two are doing together to make the world a better place to be. You make a difference!

With gratitude and admiration,
Dyann

I am grateful to be loving Tacoma!

I am grateful for Bougainvillea and so happy to have a photo album filled with pictures of them to remind me of the one place I have loved the most in the world, since my first visit there in 1967, Maui, Hawaii.

In January 2009 my husband, Wild, and I moved from Maui back to my hometown, Tacoma, Washington. After finally living in the land of my dreams, and even having a Hawaiian drivers license to prove it, I found myself back in Tacoma. Like a boomer-rang, only this time it is different. I am here by choice after carefully and consciously choosing Tacoma!

I love Tacoma! I really do! It delights me to be able to say I love Tacoma, and mean it! I love the beauty of the Olympic Mountains to the West, Mt. Rainier to the East, the waters of Puget Sound, Commencement Bay, Pt. Defiance Park and Zoo, The Glass Museum, the evergreen trees that are everywhere, the deer on our front lawn in the morning as we gaze out over the Narrows towards Gig Harbor and the Olympics. It is absolutely beautiful here! There is a unique quality to the Northwest that I never fully appreciated before. I think that the vast amount of travel I have done in the past six to seven years has given me a new perspective of the beauty of the Northwest. We are blessed with mild tempertures in the Winter and it rarely gets too hot in the Summer. It is beautiful here in the Fall, as the air begins to cool to that fresh crispness I love, and the deciduous trees turn to yellow, orange and red against the always present evergreens. Spring is exquisite, my favorite season, as every week it seems there are different plants, schrubs and trees that begin to blossom in the gloriously soft and gentle hues that feel like the promise of new love! Ahhh...

I am so grateful to be in love with Tacoma! This is the first time in my life I can say this with such honesty, clarity and joy! I have always wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. As my life unfolded, no matter where I went, I always found myself back here. Resigned to being here. Not wanting to admit to living in Tacoma. There was a time when people didn't even know where Tacoma was. I always explained it was 32 miles South of Seattle. When I was elsewhere I learned to say I was from Seattle. People knew Seattle and it was seemingly cool to be from there, where it often felt not so cool to be from Tacoma. I have seen a lot of changes in Tacoma. I have come to realize that it is not the changes that have taken place in Tacoma that make me love Tacoma. It is the changes that have taken place in me.

I have spent the past eight years in a constant state of self improvement, travel, self development, travel, education, travel and transformational courses. All the time telling others that I was re-designing my life. Recently I had a profound realization. It occured to me the day after I completed the Curriculum for Living with Landmark Education, that I was no longer re-designing my life. I was now living my life with conscious choice and intention.

I finally realized, and came to know, that from the moment Lee died, on December 18, 2001 at 6:15 am, while we were on Maui, (I wrote about my late husband, Lee Oberbeck, dieing in my 3-25-2009 entry) until November 22, 2009 at 10:00 pm when I completed the Curriculum in Seattle, I had been in a long process of transformation. I know the exact moment it started and the exact moment it ended. I am so grateful to have the awareness of it all. And I am profoundly grateful to now be right in the middle of my life, consciously living it full out!

My life is filled with love, gratitude and possibility. The reason that I have come to love Tacoma is because I have come to love me. I am overflowing with love and gratitude. As I write this I am reminded of something my Dad said to me when I was in my teens. He said in the form of a question, "If you don't love yourself how is anyone else ever going to love you?" Good question, Dad. Now I know the answer.

Happy New Year! May it be a year filled with wonderful possibilities realized!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann