One of the reasons downhill skiing is one of my favorite activities is because Mother Nature has so much to do with the experience. If She is so generous as to provide some sun and fresh powder, who are you to ignore her and remain at your desk all day? You simply must heed Her call, drop all plans, break any engagements, and seize that day.
Over the years, I’ve found that it has been these days — these impromptu gifts — that make me feel the most alive, the most grateful, the most happy.
I was riding on the chairlift on one such “bluebird” day feeling completely at peace when the phrase “Carpe Skiem” just popped into my head.
After that, any winter morning where whatever plans I had gave way to the call of the mountain became a Carpe Skiem! day for me. I even used the name to describe a group outing I led this year. I thought the phrase perfectly captured the energy and spirit I wanted to convey.
Soon after a very joyful Carpe Skiem! Weekend, the little hamster in my head quickened his pace in the wheel. Why not come up with a cool logo and turn this catchy little phrase into a brand? T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, stickers, calendars, coffee mugs… you get the idea..
I could see this happening pretty easily. I quickly made a call to my snowboarding buddy and resident business advisor Warren. He loved the idea and would handle the number crunching. Warren also made the observation that even if the venture wasn’t profitable, the worst thing that would happen would be that we would take business trips to the coolest places to ski! Oh, yeah!
I then called my friend Lexi. A graphics and marketing expert, Lexi was the perfect person to come up with a logo and design. She was in as well! Woo Hoo!
My next call went to my college roommate Dan. My old friend is now an attorney in the trademark office in Washing D.C. and he would be able to put the final piece of the puzzle together for me — trademarking the name.
“I don’t believe it…” Dan said with a laugh. “Someone’s already trademarked it, and for the exact reason you want the name.”
I couldn’t believe it either. My great idea was already taken! How could this be? After all, this was going to be so easy! Hadn’t all the energy been lined up?
Although I was disappointed, I didn’t dwell on it too much. I sent word to Warren and Lexi, yet somehow I just felt as though this idea wasn’t dead.
FOUR MONTHS LATER….
An e-mail appeared in my inbox with the subject “Carpe Skiem.” I figured it was someone interested in next year’s trip. I was very pleasantly surprised to read that this mail was from the owner of the trademark. Her name was Maundy and she had come across my website after doing a search on her phrase.
“Not to worry,” she assured me. She said she liked what I was doing and that she would even like to help organize a trip. How very cool, I thought.
We traded e-mails and she told me she had recently been approached about selling the trademark for Carpe Skiem. She wrote that she didn’t see that happening and then asked me the magic words… “maybe we could work together somehow?”
Whoosh! All the energy from this idea rushed back into my body. My whole body was vibrating. I wrote her back some of my ideas and we scheduled a meeting where I would drive a couple hours to meet her and see how things clicked. The project seemed more alive than ever. I thanked the universe for making such cool things happen for me!
And then.
And then as the date of our meeting approached, I got another very pleasant e-mail from Maundy. I had mentioned that I was heading to Ireland and she wrote me of some wonderful places to check out. How very cool, I thought.
I had to read the next paragraph several times before the information sunk in. She had received a check from the person who wanted to buy her trademark. Since her asking price was met, she believed the right thing for her to do was to keep her word. The trademark was sold.
I just keep staring at my computer screen, stunned.
How could this have happened? I could see this soooo clearly. Didn’t I convey that to her? I should have called Maundy instead of e-mailing her. I should have driven right out there. Why didn’t I do more to make her better understand how great this was going to be?
HOW? WHY? WHAT IF…? BUT! IF ONLY… Those sorts of thought flooded my head. Being in the feel-good business, I was hyper-aware that none of these thoughts were making me feel good. I knew I needed to put an end to this negative-thought loop.
After a few moments (okay, hours), the answer came to me.
The negative thoughts were persisting because I had forgotten about my biggest and best buddy. My unfailingly reliable friend. My ultimate partner who always, always, always wants the very best for me. The Universe.
I had stopped trusting. My first tip-off that I was failing to trust in the universe was that I felt bad. I was judging my actions and Maundy’s decision — none of that felt good. I desperately wanted to fix everything and all the energy around that felt unattractive as well.
My ego had gotten the better of me. After all, I could see it all couldn’t I? I knew best, didn’t I? All of this was meant to happen the way I saw it, right? The real truth is that there is a power out there that is not blinded by ego, a power that understands all.
We’ve all had the experience of a “blessing in disguise” (they’re such a part of our collective experience that we even have a phrase called “blessing in disguise.”) There really are no disguises. Only blessings.
The universe is complete perfection. It’s our thoughts, our judgments, and our failure to trust that creates those disguises and the bad feelings that accompany them.
We may never know the answers to why certain events happen in our lives. Sometimes we get a clear answer as to why things happen, sometimes we do not. In the big picture the knowing doesn’t matter — only feeling good matters.
And when we begin to judge events as being “wrong” we feel bad. We feel bad because we have disconnected ourselves to our Source — the infinite organizing intelligence. This disconnection is in fact why we feel bad — not whatever events have occurred. We are missing the greater truth that the universe is always operating on our behalf, even when we do not understand how in that moment.
No worrying. No second-guessing. No trying to fix.
Just let go. Trust.
Complete freedom and joy awaits you in this place. Choose it and you seize LIFE…