Positive Direction Tour: A Story
I heard my 5 am alarm and rolled over looking for the snooze button and blanket for warmth. My alarm taunted me 3 minutes later, judging me for not getting up and meditating.
I open my eyes and see one of the tiny humans I created had snuck into my bed. I soaked in his peaceful, perfect face. I admired the freckles that started to show up on his sun kissed nose. My very own earth angel.
At this point, I started to come onto the grid of being awake a little more. I feel wetness down my back. I am now fully awake. I realize that this earth angel has infiltrated my bed and peed on me. He suddenly seems less angelic.
I put dry clothes on him, strip the sheets and wrap him back up in all ten comforters I keep on my bed. I kiss that boy and try and slither out. My attempts to be stealthy are thwarted when I tripped over my dumbbells and fell into a bag of toy musical instruments from kids yoga.
The pee monster hears me. “Mom, is it morning?”
“No. No. It’s the nighttime. Close your eyes.” I say lovingly. Then I snag my lap top and flee the scene. Head directly to coffee, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
Finally, I make it out into the morning quiet of my deck. The early morning hours are a daily pocket of creativity, where the world is calm.
I pep talk myself. You can do this Britt. Five minutes every morning will change your life. Practice what you preach. Yadda Yadda Yadda…
I finally settle into a seated position and take a deep breath in. My brain is swirling and all my thoughts from yesterday start crashing in on me as I am attempting to calm my mind.
Thoughts like.. Okay, one friend bought the yoga studio where we all teach. Another friend opened her own studio across the bridge. This is good news for you and your community. Yet I sit and wonder.. what am I doing? I know, so narcissistic, but we all do it.
I started to wonder, did I want to buy the studio? No. It still resonated deeply that brick and mortar is not this part of the journey. I can’t spend my days marketing to get people to come to me. No, I knew the calling was always to infiltrate.
I want to infect our schools. I want to sit in rooms with communities who have lost their way. I want to inspire teachers to keep up the good work and give them tools to take care of themselves in the process. Teaching them to fuel themselves from the inside out so that they can best bring their gifts to our youth.
No, I didn’t need to buy a yoga studio. What I needed to do was to take yoga classes at these awesome studios. Get a really strong core, so, therefore, I could start to rock the education boat.
I grabbed hold of my diarrhea jamboree of a thought process and realized how far my brain had run away. I began to focus on my breath. I started a little Gabby Bernstein action..
I said out loud..
“Where would you have me go..
What would you have me do..
What would you have me say and to whom?”
Slowly. Quietly. Softly.
Saying the words out loud is like a pacifier to me. It’s soothing.
“Show me a sign.” I say out loud. “Hello whoever is out there, whatever is out there. Show me a sign. I am on board to be of service, but I need help seeing where this goes. Thank you.”
I sat and breathed slowly. Listening to the world around me.
Startled by the sounds of my phone alarm, I opened my eyes and the pee monster was standing silently in front of me like he was from children of the corn.
I shout. He shouts. I laugh. He laughs. Welcome back to motherhood.
Get the homies to school. Crank up the music and head down Route 6 to Provincetown. This morning was my Leadership Cape Cod class. A class that took us to a different area of the Cape each Thursday. Each week involved a topic in our community such as government, education, environment, business, and so much more. This particular week we were scheduled to be at the Provincetown Community Center for a panel of speakers on “Community” on Cape Cod.
Each week there were three speakers selected to share. This particular week there was a guy name “JT.”
Now when JT had his turn to speak the room immediately perked up. He was magnetic, hilarious, and owned the attention of the room. He reminded me of Kevin Hart with the booming presence and body movements that enhanced his stories.
JT shared his passion for our community and has even been dubbed the unofficial mayor of Cape Cod. As the mayor shared his stories and his dreams for our community, every face smiled in the room.
JT told stories about opening for New Kids on The Block as a teenager. He shared heart warming moments about navigating parenting and raising teenagers. But every hair on my body began to stand up when JT began to explain that he was in the process of planning a speaking tour through the schools of Cape Cod. That his intention was to go into schools and talk to young teens about positivity, self respect, self care, self love, motivation, community, and soooo much more.
HI BRITT! Here’s your sign…
This is a regular comment I make to my friends. “I want to go speak in the schools. I want to help kids build solid foundations of who they are. I want to use yoga and self care as a foundation, not told to use it when everything is crashing and burning. They are great tools in those moments too.
Addiction is a huge issue in our society, what are we doing differently so that the next generation of kids does not just walk into the same pattern again?” *exit soap box*
As the class ended, I made a bee line for JT. I bobbed and weaved around my classmates trying to exit like adults. I even gave a few the Heisman in order to beat them to the speakers. I entered his space with a bang and didn’t waste any time.
“Hi my name is Britt and I’d like to open for you like you used to do for New Kids on the Block. I teach yoga. I want to help kids learn about their bodies and have tools and strategies for emotional regulation.”
We began to speak rapidly and use a lot of big hand gestures. We walked out the building and to the parking lot together. Our alignment and intention for impacting the youth on Cape Cod was instant and epic. We shouted things with our hands in the air. We for sure waved them around like we just didn’t care.
He handed me his contact card and said, “no mistakes.”
As he walked away, I shouted “No mistakes!” He shouted it back. We laughed and yelled in a giant parking lot. Very well knowing that my classmates were all getting into their cars as well. This was week 9 though, so they were used to me by now.
Also, if someone judges you for expressing joy, excitement, or love, leave that judge Judy in the dust. Their fear and low self esteem has no place on this rocket-ship. I will always shout happy things when I leave my friends and family in parking lots because guess what? All the best people shout right back.
Five months later, we kicked off Positive Direction Tour.
I stood on stage in front of 800 8th and 9th grade students and told my story. With the addition of Nicole Briggs, the digital expertise of CIL Digital Marketing, and Barnstable High School welcoming us, we were ready to rock and roll.
I got to share my story. I looked out and saw many kids talking and being teenagers, but those kids didn’t matter. Yes, I felt compassion for them that they were missing out on such epic tools, but what mattered was the faces looking at me with frozen expressions.
I knew those faces needed to hear our stories. I knew that every time I stood up there and the result was that at least one kid felt less alone, then we have succeeded.
Before my time was done, I got to introduce JT. I don’t know what I said. I’ll have to check the video.
I do know what I am saying today. JT is an energy creator. He knows how to teach people to have fun. How to make people feel seen. How to speak about positivity, but in a real down to earth way. He isn’t afraid to talk about the hard stuff, but has no problem bringing the community together to get back to the good stuff.
I am so proud to be part of the Positive Direction Tour.
I sit here and realize that life is all about choices. I made a choice to go up to JT and start a conversation.
I started to live in a mindset of, what’s the worst he can say? “No thanks.”
Well, then I’d be back to exactly where I started. No better, no worse.
What if we lived brave enough to put ourselves out there? To being fine with someone saying “No Thanks”?
