Your Powerful Gift!

 You have a story. In fact, you are living it right now! You may not realize it, but with every thought and action, you are creating your life experience – your unique story. What if someone was reading your story? What would they find on those pages? Disappointment? Struggle? Pain? Stress? Or would those pages be brimming with joy, excitement, fulfillment and an immense amount of happiness?

 Many people find themselves in a place of unhappiness and misery. Life feels hard and full of challenges that leave them gasping for air at times. They continually search for something better to fill them with contentment, excitement and happiness. For some, even when a good experience enters their life, it isn’t long before that “good something” becomes old, changed, broken, or simply fades away. So the cycle of searching for lasting happiness continues.

 Perhaps this is where you are at this very moment in your life, searching for whatever it is that can help you feel the happiness you long to experience.

 My heart goes out to those of you who are in this place because I understand it well. I was living a story of pain, struggle, disappointment and never-ending stress. It wasn’t fun and I was unmistakably miserable. I had moments of happiness, but they seemed to disappear as fast as they appeared. It was as if unhappiness, restlessness and low self-worth hung around my neck like a noose waiting to snuff the very breath out of me. One day, illness struck and I, the student, was ready for the procession of teachers who were waiting to teach me new ways to see and understand my life.

 Amazing things happened! I learned profound lessons from the many sages who appeared in my life. They showed me that I had an incredible power – the power of choice. I could actually decide what I wanted my life to be and create it exactly as I imagined it! Do you think this is impossible? That’s what I thought. But I promise you, it truly is possible. How can I make you that promise? Because I learned to use my inborn power of choice. I made the decision to step out of my old story of struggle, pain, disappointment and unhappiness, and create a glorious life that is better than extraordinary!

 Now a life coach and teacher, my goal is to help you experience a life that is filled to overflowing with joy, fulfillment, freedom, peace and happiness! I imagine this is exactly the life you want to experience. My passion is to help you understand this truth – that you can leave your old story behind. You can let it fade into the distance and create the beautiful, rich and happy life you’ve always dreamed of and deserve.

 So with God’s assistance, I have gathered together seven stories from ordinary people, just like you, who have experienced some very difficult challenges in their life. From the selfless Samaritan who ended up in a wheelchair as the result of his good deed, to a heroin addict who has become a role model citizen, each vignette reveals the universal tools we can all access to gain triumph over tragedy in my newly released book Seven Roads to Glory. 

 My life is extraordinary now, and I created it by leaving my old story behind and creating a new one – the one I really and truly want. It doesn’t mean that I don’t experience challenges from time to time. However, I don’t view the challenges as problems, but rather as gifts to help me grow stronger and wiser. How you perceive your own challenges will determine whether you experience them as “positive” or “negative” life events.

 My heart’s desire is that each of you reading these words will fill your existence with immense joy. So I am inviting you to join me. Make the choice to step out of your old story right now and begin creating what you truly want and deserve.

 “As strange as this may seem at this time, I can tell you with all the sincerity I possess, that this great universe of ours awaits your simple and sincere decision, so that it can begin to fill you with all the power you need to make your dream a reality. It’s a matter of truly making that decision and then opening yourself up to receiving that invisible assistance,” says Rick Beneteau as he shares his collection of life stories in Seven Roads to Glory.

 Seven Roads to Glory is a powerful guide to restructuring, rebuilding and renewing your life, and will provide you with a five-step roadmap for realizing your best life. In addition, you’ll be inspired and uplifted with the courage, fortitude, perseverance and simple faith of these seven ordinary people. Their insurmountable difficulties did not stop them from moving forward. Instead, they made the choice to walk away from being the victim and became the victor. You can order the book Seven Roads to Glory at www.sevenroadstoglory.com or www.drcarolynporter.com. It is also in our gift shop. You will receive the ebook entitled Agelessness, absolutely free.

 So your most powerful gift is simply the power of choice. You have the inborn ability and right to choose what your life is to be, because it is your thoughts and actions, and only yours, which are creating your life at this very moment. If your life feels like a struggle, or is disappointing or stressful, make the choice right now to step away from that life and choose to follow your dreams. Our dream is that you join us on the Road to Glory.

Meet Harry O'Brien - a Human Being Extraordinaire!

            It was a beautiful fall day in early October, October 3, 1983 to be exact. The sun was shining brilliantly and the crisp coolness of autumn filled the air. The day had presented only wonderful visions of fantastic possibilities.

            Harry was quite content with his life. He and his wife were happy together and he was doing things that he loved to do - rebuilding older cars, playing bass guitar in a traveling band, and was a technical assistant in a recording company. He loved music and loved to dance. In fact, as Harry drove away from his morning meeting, he was smiling and singing along with the music that floated to his ears from his car radio. He was en route to see about purchasing another "over the hill" car so he could "fix her up."

            Happily cruising as he hummed the tunes, he noticed a car sitting by the roadside with a man looking under the hood. Harry signaled to pull off the road to see if he could help this man in distress, since fixing ailing cars was one of his specialties. The man was obviously quite pleased to see help arrive and asked Harry if he would jumpstart his car. Harry hooked up the cables between both cars then went to prime the man's carburetor. He was standing in front of the man's car, priming the carburetor, thinking he'd have this guy on his way in short order. But suddenly, in a split second, his life abruptly ended as it had been.

            There was a loud explosion and flames engulfed Harry's face, head and chest, for the stranded man had decided on his own volition to crank the engine. Remembering a creek he had seen over the embankment when he walked up to the disabled car, Harry turned and darted straight for that creek. Not being able to see anything as he felt his flesh burning, he literally dove into the creek head first, quickly extinguishing the flames that were searing his chest and face.

            The man's car at the top of the embankment was rapidly burning, flames skyrocketing out of control. Harry couldn't move. As he came up to the surface of the water he noticed his legs, coming from behind, falling over his head. He felt nothing, absolutely nothing of his legs. He knew he wasn't dead, at least not yet, but he wondered if he was in the process of leaving this earth. He had hit the top of his head on a rock that he couldn't see, and his head hurt. He attempted to get up but nothing happened; he couldn't move. He thought of his wife and his family and prayed they'd be okay. His diaphragm was tightening and his breathing was shallow. He felt he was floating away, far away somewhere. Then, a man appeared out of nowhere, talking to him, asking how he was. It wasn't the man who Harry had helped that was by his side, it was a passerby who stopped at the sight of the burning automobile and noticed Harry in the creek. In fact, the man who Harry stopped to help never came to help him or ever got in touch with him at any time thereafter.

            Harry invalidated the odds and lived, even though the doctors gave almost no hope he'd survive. He spent two weeks in intensive care and four months in two different hospitals recovering. Scars from the burns were almost non-existent; he had accomplished what he set out to do as he ran for the creek to extinguish the flames. But what he didn't ever expect, couldn't possibly have dreamed would occur, not in a million years, was that now he was paralyzed from his chest down. For Harry, just 28 years old, a wheelchair became his legs. His life began all over again.

            Excruciating pain, grueling hours of physical therapy, learning to do simple, take-it-for-granted things like handle a fork and feed himself, became Harry's way of life. Life was seen through different glasses now. But people saw no bitterness. How could this be? How could anyone survive something so devastating, altering ones present life experience so completely, and not be bitter?

            During the few moments while Harry laid in the creek-bed, feeling nothing, waiting for someone to come to his aid, he had a spectacular spiritual experience. During our interview, Harry expressed it so beautifully as he said, "I felt pure peace envelop me, like someone was hugging me. I began noticing nature all around me and it felt like nothing mattered, nothing at all. At the same time I had a sense of tremendous excitement - like a kid getting a new toy - and I had this sense I was going to learn more about myself than I ever could have dreamed of before. I remember thinking this was nuts, but that's what I was feeling."

            Harry ran the gambit of anger as anyone would, questioning "Why me?" But Harry was strong, and he had now gained an inner strength he didn't know he had before. His story was carried in many cities across the country by a journalist named Lewis Guissard. Hundreds of letters poured in from well-wishers, and a letter came to him from the White House, written and signed by President Ronald Reagan, citing his remarkable humanitarianism and courage. The President and Nancy Reagan prayed for God's blessings on him as he continued his journey of healing.

            Harry's life changed so dramatically in a way most of us will never have to face. He and his wife divorced after a while and Harry discovered he could no longer play his bass guitar in the band - his fingers just didn't work the same. But he continued fixing those older cars and has a beautiful 1968 Impala Super Sport in burgundy and black sitting in his garage at this very moment. And he drives it as well! He continued at the recording studio, finding a place of fulfillment until one day, he decided it was time, time to move out on his own.

            He bought his present home in Kennesaw, Georgia sixteen years ago and created his own recording studio within those walls. Adorning one wall are two impressive plaques signifying his recording of Tap Team's "Whoomph, There It Is," a recording that rocked the world as it hit triple platinum status. He's recorded both not so known and known musicians, one being Travis Tritt. Even his garage displays recording equipment of all description where he has cleverly created a ramp that extends from his den doorway into the garage, making it wheel-chair accessible. He told me he has had entire bands in his garage recording many times.  

            Harry didn't allow his catastrophic physical challenge to get in his way. He's created his life that shows the world he's not a quitter in any sense of the word. He lives alone and manages his life without inhibitions, knowing that everything is perfectly orchestrated, even if he doesn’t completely understand it. It was through my search of a recording engineer that I became acquainted with this extraordinary man, a man that shows the world how to live in spite of.

            As an author and a publisher, I now have the privilege to assist Harry as he writes his story, a story of courage, determination, never giving up as he came out on top. I wonder if we could have done the same? He's known for some time he was to write a book but didn't know where to begin. Since neither of us believes in coincidences, we know our paths crossed so this necessary element of his life could come into reality, commonly known as synchronicity.

            Harry has many dreams. One is to move his recording studio outside his home which he is in the process of making that happen. This will put him out more with people, something he's been fighting but knows now is important for his life.

Harry has many friends and loved by many. He continually touches lives and hearts and believes, as I do, that there are many more lives to touch in magnanimous ways. He wants to inspire others, particularly those with physical challenges, so they can plough through their challenge, all the fear and pain, and become stronger because of it. He wants these individuals to know that hope for the future is indeed bright if they can just see it, and he wants to help them see it.

Harry is a model of undaunting courage in overcoming what seemed to be insurmountable obstacles. We get so caught up in our own stories of misery, yet it's doubtful your story comes close to the hurdles Harry has faced. We forget how richly blessed we already are because we focus on the problems and not the blessings. Harry could have focused on his challenges and experienced a life of victim. But he didn't. As I am in his presence I become humbled, realizing my great blessing in simply being able to swing my legs over the side of my bed every morning and stand up.

So I ask you, "Is Harry a victim or a victor?" I believe you know the truth. Truth stands tall as the victor! Where is your life…focusing on the difficulties or your magnificent blessings? When things in your life seem difficult, I challenge you to remember your blessings and become the victor as is Harry. It's always a choice!