Living with the scroll marked 1

It was just five weeks ago that I asked a former student who's become a here & now friend for advice on how to put structure around ideas that long to move out of my heart & head, into reality.

Andy Adams is quite an impressive fellow - tall, broad shouldered, with a sunny face & an open manner.  A person who's used adversity instead of crumbling.  He's a successful entrepreneur who seems focused on doing his best to nurture the potential & dreams of others as much as his own.  From what I can tell, he feels his potential & dreams are tied directly to doing just that!  He has a terrific wife & kids, the pride of his life.  Aka - a great role model.

What Andy shared with me was the title of a book that he said had changed his life - The Greatest Salesman in the World.  He also noted that I might not read it the way he had, which had taken him almost a year. 

Well, if I ask someone for help, it would be foolish to blow off the very first thing he says simply because it is a book, rather than detailed steps directly related to my challenge. 

It was quite a shock to hold the small, slim volume in my hands.  THIS book took Andy over ten months to read?  Seriously?

Yes, it did.  It's taking me over ten months, too.  Because readers are asked to read each scroll (chapter) for thirty days before going onto the next. Instead of thinking that reading it straight through would at the very least give me the essence of Og Mandino's classic, I knew instinctively that it has to be read as intended or don't bother, just drop it off at the local thrift shop.

Last night, I finished my first thirty days, reading the scroll marked 1, although I confess to not reading it in the prescribed manner.  I read it on awakening, I read it - out loud - before heading to bed, but I did not make the time to read it after lunch.  That changes with the scroll marked 2, which I will read as Og prescribes.

My life is different than it was four weeks ago.  John's seen it, I've felt it.  There have been nights when I've felt so tired, it was a chore dragging myself to The Retreat, my reading room.  As I read the words of the scroll, could feel my energies revive, yet I never went to bed feeling jazzed.  And last night, the night after my final read of the scroll marked 1, I dreamed of vineyards.

My heartfelt thanks to Andy for suggesting the book.  Much to my amazement, I have NO interest in reading ahead. I have this one shot at reading the book the way the author intended, the way it made such an impression on Andy.  With this next scroll, I will read it precisely the way Og prescribes.

Today I am born anew and my birthplace is a vineyard where there is fruit for all.

Today I will pluck grapes of wisdom from the tallest and fullest vines in the vineyard, for these were planted by the wisest of my profession who have come before me, generation upon generation.

Today I will savor the taste of grapes from these vines and verily I will swallow the seed of success buried in each and new life will sprout within me.


























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