Virgin No More!

Several days ago I lost my virginity-- again!

It happened in a public place; lots of people
milling around and talking, and I wasn't concerned
in the least.

My hairstylist and the L'Oreal color wizard lovingly
stroked my short, now curly, VIRGIN hair--FINALLY
long enough to add some red with bright blonde highlights.

After 16 rounds of chemo last year, what a welcome change from
being solid bald, sporting snazzy wigs & my pink
baseball wig-hat with the velcro'd-in blonde pageboy
since April a year ago.

And so funny to hear them ooh & ahh over an adult
female's hair that's never been colored! (At least not
on this go-round of hair growth).

What a blessed relief!

Wigs are a pretty good disguise, so for awhile I felt a bit
gawky and gangly, like a newborn colt acclimating
to the world, gaining my footing as this "short & sassy"
version of me. (And curly! My hair has been bone-straight
all my life!)

All this hair angst in preparation for presenting at the
International Speakers Network convention last weekend,
where I was greeted enthusiastically, presented
"Sinfully Simple Secrets to De-Stress for Lifelong Success,"
and was re-introduced to a GREAT formula for
setting realistic, attainable goals.

The 3% of the population with written goals will out-income
everyone else by 10 to 100 times.

For those of you who are in the process of complete
Personal Reinvention and you want to discern whether
a goal is really right for you, as I am, read on!


Love & Well Wishes,
Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love

PS-- Soon, very soon, you'll see the new look, I promise!



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FEATURE ARTICLE

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SEVEN STEP GOAL SETTING

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1. Write down everything you've ever wanted to do, and
choose one goal with which to engage in this process.

2. Ask yourself, "Where am I now? What strengths do I have?
What experiences, skills, support, networks, belief systems
and foundation will support me in achieving this?"

3. Write down the obstacles to the goal.

4. Write down the steps & paths to overcome the obstacles.

5. Write down WHEN you want to get there.
Create mini-deadlines. (Even though I'm the farthest from
a football junkie, this made sense to me-- on a
football field, every 10 yards the players get a new life--
plus they can even mess up twice in that process and
get three downs). Mini-deadlines are easier to achieve.

6. Write down what rewards you expect--and bring them
to life with a picture involving your five senses.

7. Ask yourself, and write down the answer:
"Am I willing to do whatever it takes? Is it worth it?"

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CURRENTLY ACCEPTING
A LIMITED NUMBER OF VIP COACHING CLIENTS

If you're interested in having me work with you as a confidante,
cheerleader, resource, accountability czar and trusted friend on
the journey, please contact me at 404-294-9333 or
pdcom@mindspring.com and put coaching in the subject line.
I'll send you the application form and we'll see if we click!

http://www.therenewalexperience.com/reinvention.htm


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Consider the caterpillar crawling across an oriental carpet.
At times we may feel like that caterpillar as we crawl across
a large dark area of the rug, and mistakenly assume that our
life is destined to be bleak forever.

Imagine ... if we put ourselves in the caterpillar's place:
When we enter the chrysalis we must go into a time of
complete isolation and total darkness, away from the
distractions of the world. It's only when we emerge from
the chrysalis and are able to spread our gauzy wings that
we can fly over that oriental carpet and see the amazing
pattern of the big picture....

In that time of seeming stillness with its inactive appearance,
the deep wellsprings of creativity are tapped and our next
new beginning germinates.

--BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy
by yours truly! from the chapter "Avoiding the Void"
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MOVE YOUR TOMATOES!

I love the lessons & metaphors that come with gardening.

My first tomatoes are a great one.

It's easy to love a vine-ripe, luscious, juicy red tomato
that's warmed by the sun and fresh off the vine.
CRAVE them, in fact.

But, believe it or not, I've never grown them. Too paranoid.

Up until this year.

I didn't have the right soil in a sunny spot.
I felt like it would be too frustrating -- and painful--
if they didn't produce.

They'd mess up my floral motif (mostly perennials requiring
little or no care) with their careful tending needs.

My neighbors both grew tomatoes and I'd get their occasional
offerings, so why bother.

But this year, I had what seemed like the perfect spot--
heavily amended dirt at the back of the garden, where
nothing else was planted after a new camellia didn't make
it through our very harsh winter.

And so I planted them. Three Better Boy tomatoes. Got directions
from my neighbor, the tomato expert.

About a week later I noticed that they really weren't getting
the proper hours of sun way back there--shaded from the
east by the tall hollies and from the west by the giant magnolia.

And so I started stressing about it. For at least three days.

If I moved them, I'd have to move some flowers around. My
well-entrenched pink perennials, busting loose all over, would
have to relinquish their sunny spot.

What a relief when I finally admitted that it was OKAY to
shift things around.... to make way for bigger fruits with the
changes that I was so tentative to make. Glory, hallelujah!

Why do we do these things to ourselves?
Preventing forward movement and better outcomes
by stubbornly clinging on to "the way it is?"

As one of my sheroes, Susan Jeffers, says,
"Don't protect, correct."

She's right.

If you're ready to move your tomatoes, but
don't exactly know what or how to do it,
contact me about my proven
Personal Reinvention & Renewal, Life Transformational Process
at www.therenewalexperience.com/reinvention.htm