My newest book, Glad No Matter What: Transforming Loss and Change into Gift and Opportunity was just released from New World Library (I love them!).
While on the book tour in Arizona last week, I appeared on a morning TV show to talk about my new book. Soon after, my inner critics all showed up to tell me how I wasn’t “good enough” and other mean things. After the show, I stopped at a grocery store and noticed a police officer just getting out of his car.
I approached and asked if he had time to hear an unusual request. He smiled and replied: “Depends on what it is!”
I explained that I was starting my book tour and had appeared on TV and was besieged by inner critics afterward, and asked if he could arrest them and take them to jail, and keep them there until after my book tour. He laughed and said: “Sure I can. I know about inner critics!”
He opened the squad car door and I escorted the critics in. He then asked what the book was about, and I told him it was about being Glad No Matter What, and that there are processes in it for utilizing our awakened wise selves, which is what I’d just done, by asking him to help with my inner critics.
He said he’d be getting the book, and wished me well. I watched the squad car drive off and felt such relief that the inner critics had a place to be while I connect with people and facilitate transformation and change.
To further inspire transformation and change, I invite you to invite you to join me in a playing one (or more!) of the games below.
1. Miracle Walk
A “Miracle walk” is where you go out of your house or wherever you are, put your hands out, palms up and say; “Miracles, find me now.” And then walk until you see or find one- or more! Be aware that miracles may be disguised or in unlikely places. Use love to recognize them. A variation is to say; “Miraculous people, find me now.”
Write or post a video or art in your blog or social media about your Miracle Walk or people, send and be entered to win a signed copy of the book and a 15 minute Scoop of SARK.
2. Transforming What Hurts Into What Helps
Share one thing in your life that’s challenging or difficult, and one thing that you’re glad about that challenge or difficulty. Something like this:
“I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all there is to do in my life and business, and am glad that I am healthy and able to do things” That reminds us of the “marvelous, messy middle” of feelings. I call it “Practical Gladness” This will further develop your transformational abilities.
Now you….Share your results on your blog or social media and be entered to win a signed copy of the book and a 15 minute Scoop of SARK
3. Be GLAD No Matter What – Give Lovingly And Daringly
This does NOT mean feeling glad when you don’t – how annoying. It means finding the glad parts in as many of your feelings as you can and then finding ways to help the world with your GLAD heart. Blog or post your GLAD offerings on social media. It might be large or tiny, common or uncommon. One of my GLAD heart gifts was singing Amazing Grace in the DMV office until everyone joined in!
Write or post a video or art on your blog or social media about your GLAD heart gift and be entered to win a signed copy of the book and a 15 minute Scoop of SARK
We’ll keep the games going till Fri/Dec 10 and announce the winners here by Wed/Dec 15!
Congratulations to Jennie, Joanna & Krysia! They have each won a signed copy of Glad No Matter What and a 15 minute Scoop of SARK! Thank you all for your exquisite and delightfull sharing, and game playing 🙂
You can order your copy of Glad No Matter What and see free book tour events here! 🙂
After you share in your blog or social media, leave your name and link below so we can enJOY and be inspired too !
Your privacy is ultimately respected.
I’m so grateful for you and this book! 🙂
I am giddy with glee as I envision your ways of spreading your authentic, sing-song-y self through out your day. I am inspired and feel your expanded self all the way in North Carolina ! deep gratitude !
Hi Sark 🙂 I went to my garden to pull out the chilis from summer and thought of you…it is time to plant flowers that will bloom over the coming year. I love your books, it has been years since I have had one in my possession.
best wishes 🙂
I love the attracting “miraculous” people. A young woman contacted me about art therapy. We had a great talk and later shared art work via email. She is a great artist, and titles herself “professional artist”. Even though I have sold art, painted walls on buildings, etc. I have never said, when someone asks what I do/am/, “I’m a professional artist”. I think that even though I’m twice her age I learned a very important lesson from her. I can say I’m an artist, not “art therapist/hypnotherapist/etc.”
This is a serious song but I couldn’t help smiling at the people standing in front of me and walking by. I could have been irritated by the fact that they were “messing up my video” but you can see the joy I feel singing. Especially my favorite song.
Sark, I just want to say that I would probably not have come out of the cave and done this in public on a weekly basis were it not for what YOU do and the others who followed you. I recently auditioned for a spot in a band that tours up the East Coast and you are one of the people who have inspired me to do GREAT things at 50! MUCH love,
Kisses, Dawn
I am crying and laughing at the same time- thank your for happy sad tears! you rock!
Dear Sark,
Here is my post with my musings on “Glad.” Thanks for the idea, the stories and the new book, which I plan to go and buy soon. I was inspired by your arresting the inner critic idea. So creative and fun.
love,
Erika
I already have the book, and I have enjoyed reading and rereading it!!!!…..thank you so much for teaching me how to stand up for myself when that monster of a meanie tries to hurt my confidence!….I have been working on ME after my relationship of nearly two years failed…it’s been hard, but I have learned to find some good things such as listening to the dave matthews band (he introduced me to their music) and knowing that someday I want to go on a hotair balloon WITHOUT him, this time!…tee hee
sark, you rock!!!!
It has been 5 months since I volunteered to be part of a reduction in force in my department. I had found my dream job of helping people grow personally and professionally for almost 10 years. I had the chance to stay, but I chose to go in order to save a co-worker from being part of the RIF. I didn’t want her to know I had taken her place.
I struggle with my decision, because of the impact it has had financially on my family (I still haven’t found a job). And yet, I also remind myself of the good that has come from this difficult decision…I was able to spend the entire summer with my 8 and 5 yr old. I can see life through their eyes and not rush from one place to the other…I can stop and play with them after school and take time to enjoy without being rushed. The warm fuzzies, hugs and kisses I receive from them transforms the hurt into happy.
I have always loved what you share about loss in our lives. That in transformation & even in death there are gifts to be found. You called them G.O.D. or Gifts of Death. I always look for them now. I am grateful for them. And grateful your your friendship.
Learning to love me,
that’s my biggest challenge right now.
Thanks so much for challenging us all to look at things in a different way. Finding things to be thankful for in a seemingly hopeless situation. There is hope, there is love, there is peace, there is joy.
Thank you.
Miracle walking, practical gladness, Amazing grace in the Gosh darned DMV. Wish I had been there for that one. Would have been life changing like your last book. Loved it.
Will love this one too I am sure.
Kim Bauer
http://www.confabulicious.com
I have read SARK’s most excellent book and had already blogged today before I checked in here and the focus on my entry happened to encompass transforming what hurts into what helps, or turning sad into glad. I was not only recently more motivated by SARK’s book but find I must live in that space for life’s Magic to happen. It isn’t always easy, and we have to be responsible not to slip into Denial but if we shut ourselves to Magic and Miracles during times of pain: pain wins. Love. Peace. Magic. Hope.
Having been made redundant at the end of August, I have been looking for a new job (and getting nowhere so far), and also been starting to cultivate a new(ish) creative dream, connected to art and gardening.
When the going has got tough, you have been there Sark, with free recordings, full of gentle laughter and giggles, and a dip into any of your books raises my spirit so I have renewed courage to persevere.
Thank-you so much! I wish I lived in the USA so I could come to one of your workshops – I live in England. I visited San Francisco in 1983, and fell in love with the place, so I find it easy to picture you there. Lots of love, Sue xx
Lovely post! I’m going to give my inner critic (and I thought having one was bad) a bad vacation in a poky resort somewhere with lots of stuff to be critical about.
I blogged about the wonderful games. So much fun. I will try the first one every day! Hooray!
I love the magical wondrous adventure of your books and ideas! I am currently on a miracle walk of life – I asked the Universe to send me job options just over 1 year ago and I was gifted the opportunity to explore three jobs that miraculously presented to me – each represented some version of what I’d considered the “perfect job” at some point in the past couple of years! The entire journey of exploring the lucky winner of my affections forced me out of my comfort zone and into fears I didn’t realize were inside of me. I am currently working on transitioning from a fear space toward seeing my current journey as the miraculous most excellent adventure of transforming my current work into a magical creation and outlet of my joy and professional service. I am so grateful for being reminded through your work and book that we need to seek and acknowledge the miracles we enjoy in our lives. Thank you for being the creative model of how to honor the miracles that come when we call out to them!
Julie
Good Morning Sark,I love to jumpstart my day with a dose of your wisdom, humor, sensibility and genuine awesomeness. Love your books. Spent my Summer vacation with two new ones. Never stop doing what you do!
I tried to leave a comment here but it went missing. Help!
You are a true inspiration, making the world a better place one reader and interaction at a time. Your bravery shines through in your transparency. Thank you so much for the beauty you bring to the world, for the radical self-acceptance you applaud, and for the challenge of speaking openly of transforming what hurts into something that helps. I know that my life is richer because you’re in it. Best wishes always.
SARK, I put my post up today (with a little help from my husband, who took the picture of me with your book). It may be hard to see the “glad” in being an underemployed writer/graphic artist, but your works give me hope. You are one of the wisdom brokers who show me possibilities. Thank you!
What a wonderful contest! By the way, I met a new friend today – I can’t wait to post about it — I finally “Invited someone dangerous to tea!” Well, this person isn’t exactly dangerous, but inviting any near-stranger to come to my house for tea is dangerous in my book 🙂
I bought this woman’s Christmas tree – linked with her while searching for a new tree on Craigslist (my 3-year-old BROKE our tree last year!). She and I ended up having QUITE a lot in common! It was a miraculous meeting!
how do i get a url address? would like to participate but only have email addresses. <3
I had some tech difficulty the last time I left a comment. Hopefully, it works this time around. I shared my Miracle Walk experience on my business Facebook page. Sometimes we need to literally take time out of our busy day to stop and smell the roses – or in my case, enjoy a nature walk and snap shots of the beautiful Fall colors. :)Thank you SARK for the amazing gifts you share with us all – have loved your past teleseminars and your books truly inspire my creative whimsy and as a copywriter my creative whimsy can get tired. Happy Holiday Season to you all!
what a great story. Can’t wait to go out and find my next miracle and a cop to areeat my inner critic … here’s to releasing those demons.
Love your writing style!
And would love to win the book!
I hope I can join even if I live in Europe…
I posted about my challenge on my blog.
Thank you!
Nathalie
wow! I feel like i was synchronistically led to join in this fun! i “just happened” to create some art that said, “feeling doubt? choose JOY anyway!” Months earlier, I had been inspired by your blog post entitled, “Doing More Things Badly”, so I wanted to link to it as I shared my art on my blog. and then i found THIS! how amazing!
yay!
Thank you for this inspiring little exercise. It looks like I found it just in the nick of time to enter, too!
This is the beginning of a collection of wellness articles I am writing for my church’s bulletin. It took for me to reach down into my reserve of self-confidence to start putting myself out there – even if it is to just my church’s parishioners. Getting a hold of my self-confidence is something I am working hard on and plan to keep on doing into 2011. I want to continue to spread the message of wellness and fitness to my church members and to my community. I will be starting a blog with my writings very soon.
May you all pursue and find your true selves in 2011!
hurt is a fabric … hold it gently & weave of it a cradle for your heart, a blanket full of dreams & a galaxy of stars for your soul … magic, will & love : that is all it takes 🙂
nice to be here on a friday night !!
Hello from Australia SARK. Hope I am not too late!!! And I am entered twice ??!!**@@?? …so not technical 🙂
Thank you Susan for this opportunity to write about ‘Glad’ especially after spending time with you on my ‘Scoop with SARK’ two days ago. I have already benefited from your intuitive answer to my one question.
I am GLAD about you x
With Love and Gratitude xx Krysia xx
I had so much fun joining in this highly creative and inspiring game! I was procrastinating, as usual, but as I’m in Hawaii it’s still before midnight here, so I did make the December 10th deadline, I hope? 🙂
I linked above with my FB page, where my status currently reads:
“Ah, nothing like a night with a puking child to make one supremely grateful for washing machines and a husband who will get up in the night and help. Thank you Maytag, thank you Paul!”
I was definitely playing GLAD games the previous night with my granddaughter.
Zann
Oooops! I misstyped my URL