Gypsy in a Bottle

Trapped--not just by a glass ceiling but by glass walls as well.

Once I was a Corporate gypsy, traveling the nation’s corners and all points in between. My company sent me out to speak and train, and as long as product sales were strong and client evaluations high, no one bothered me…beat me…or bribed me into performing. I was at the top of my game because I wanted to be. I was trained on strong mental attitude and proper selling techniques. I was publicly exalted and financially compensated for my efforts and performance. I was honored and proud to be part of an organization that was dedicated to improving people and their lives; an organization that focused first on empowering and pleasing employees so they could in turn empower, please and satisfy clients.

Today I’m trapped. Trapped into the expectations and limitations of a company that talks a good game and professes to “play by the rules” of integrity and high morals but in reality falls short. We have a bold corporate mission that involves helping and ministering to people but attitudes and practices that treat the employees as if they were expendable. Employees are bombarded weekly by numbers and sales goals, beaten and bribed with the proverbial carrot on a stick where the carrot is yanked faster than a Charlie Brown football when quotas aren’t met. Management talks about playing fair but then changes product rates for clients based on whims, discretions, and how much money we need to make to cover the bottom line. It’s an effort to survive and play the game let alone be my personal best.

I’m not interested in reaching the top. The ceiling is not too high, it’s just too hypocritical. Management preaches faith, support, and charitable giving to our clients, knowing that philosophy leads to bottom line profits. But our company leaders withhold those very profits from its own employees choosing instead a “do as I say not as I do” practice. Our CEO is making $970,000 this year yet I was forced to take a 50% pay cut. My yearly income, with a college degree and 25 years of experience, is now at the poverty line.

The walls are closing in.

Gypsy Gems: Inspirational Sayings

Prayers, Blessings, Affirmations, and Inspirational Sayings

Gypsy Gem 1:

Good Things Take Time;
Great Things Happen in an Instant

Say this affirmation every morning, especially if it feels like you're waiting for something good to happen. This affirmation also reverses the superstitious rule of "bad things happen in threes." Remember, if bad things can happen, good things can happen as well--in three, thirties, and three hundreds!!!

Gypsy Gem 2:

Good Morning God,
What's Happening?
Count me In!

Use this affirmation to tap into your morning feelin'-good mojo. It opens and expands your awareness to what's around you. It amplifies your intent to live fully committed and open to all of life's riches. Add a long, full body stretch before jumping out of bed and see if it doesn't raise your disposition and positive expectation levels.

Excerpts taken from the book Grab Bag Wisdom: the Surprise is Inside

The "Road Map" of my life is covered with People

I've been traveling for 8 years--every other week, a new location, a new destination, a new place, and new people. My friends used to ask me where I'd been, but soon--when all the travel stories turned to people stories--they just started asking me who'd I met. (And they could usually tell where I'd been by the accent I came home with. A week in the deep south will give ANYONE a drawl.)

The people I meet spark in me the thoughts which feed my soul. I've an insatiable curiosity when it comes to people--why they do what they do and think what they think. I'm always looking for a new perspective and peoples' opinions and experiences count. I learn from them: Dale, a cowboy poet who "senses" words; Mary Ann, an angel who shared a note of encouragement; a menage a trois des mots with Greg and Jim in the Minneapolis airport; Dean, who beamed me aboard his lightship, thereby bestowing upon me the title of Captain; Zamboni woman and Deb in San Francisco who spoke of a simpler life; Kevin the Microsoft digerati who's passion it is to link the world; Scott and Sheila in Iowa who are only one person away from knowing everyone; George, the marauder, who was livin' the moontime in a Widespread Field of Dreams; Robert, the "new Catholic."

These people, and their stories, have defined me and inspired me. Don't ask me where I've been. It was ALL beautiful. Ask me who I met...and I'll tell you a story...their story...our story.

Excerpt from the book
Barf Bag Wisdom: When What's Inside Must Come Out

Gypsy Magic Spell for Letting Go

Hocus pocus, change the focus,
Clear my head and mind.
Engage my heart, keep it light,
Take a breath, make it right.
Share a smile, give a hug,
Tell a story, feel the love.
Life flow through me, give me peace,
With joy and laughter I do release...

(Insert your own words here.
What things do you need to let go of?)

Excerpt from the self-help/self-discovery book
Barf Bag Wisdom: When What's Inside Must Come Out

A Zinger of a Kiss

What, you ask, is the Zingari Zone?
This is it. A kiss that leaves you reeling, and wanting, and not wondering. A moment in time that takes you out of all others.
No laundery, no dishes, no meals, no work.
Some might say avoidance; I say indulgence... Permission to leave it all behind and become one in the Zone.