Friends We Haven’t Met Yet
Something became very clear to me at a weekend workshop I recently attended called, The Art of Listening. A significant portion of the participants in the course, more than I’ve seen in a long time, were new people who came in from all over the country. The workshop was vibrant, alive and fresh in a way that was very new and exciting to me!
I had heard it said many times before at other workshops I’ve attended, that the new people attending are the “lifeblood” of Transformation. This time, it became a very real experience for me to hear that. Like all of us at one time, they never knew this possibility existed for them and are intrigued and excited by it. They remind us of how rare it is to discover living in the moment and how we each make a huge difference. Those of us who regularly attend Monday night seminars and workshops “live” transformation as a lifestyle. The new people we invite are the fresh air, spark and fire that keeps it going and reignites the excitement of discovery.
Since the Workshop, I’ve been finding myself frustrated by the lack of new faces at Monday Night Alive! I’ve been sharing my experiences with people and inviting them to the workshops whenever I can. And they’ve been showing up!
I’d like to encourage, even challenge us all to look and see where there are people seeking something in their lives and want to be found. I can’t imagine what this community would be without all the amazing, new people who’ve begun attending workshops this year. I’m inspired to believe that if each of us invites a few more people every week, we can easily have over 100 attendees at Monday nights and on weekends. It’s absolutely within our capability; it can be easy and feed us all. It’s time to look and see what is possible and how many people we can reach.
I thought it would be useful to share my thoughts on “reaching out.” Hopefully it will open you ideas and how you can offer creative suggestions for us to play this game together.
I have five confirmed guests coming this upcoming Monday Night Alive. Even if some may not show up, I’m continuing to invite more people. Today, I invited my chiropractor (who had heard of Ariel and Shya!), the nurse at my doctor’s appointment and I left stack of postcards at the Starbucks near my work. I’ve invited almost every person at my company (including new employees as they show up) and my co-worker Matthew is coming back a second time this Monday and trying to make it to the weekend. I’ve been inviting him for 5 months. I invited my friend on a first date and she loved it and is considering the The Freedom to Breathe and The Art of Being a Healer weekend workshop. If she can’t attend, I’ll encourage her to do the Passion weekend in January. I’ve invited the lady who works two floors above my office at work every time I see her in the elevator. Last week I invited my piano teacher, who checked out the website and the audios. I even offered to reschedule my appointment and give up the last 15 minutes so that we could walk over to Monday Night Alive! together.
Whether in casual conversation with strangers or talking with someone I know, I love to start off a sentence at any point in the conversation with, “Hey, I’m going to a workshop on Monday Night that I think you’d really like. It’s about living in the moment and having more fun and there’s some great people there. You should come!” I get excited when I give Transformation away.
There is a world of chiropractors, nurses, co-workers, and neighbors everywhere who would love to know about this. I’m going to start opening my eyes even wider to find them and make this possibility available. I encourage you to do the same and really go for it to further expand all our lives with amazing people; friends we haven’t met yet.
With Love,
Dave
