3 posts from August 2007

Raquel Chavez, the owner of a small store called La Racha ("A Streak of Luck") in Mexico City, took on Coca-Cola, and won.

When she began to carry a less expensive soft drink called Big Cola, her distributor told her she had to get rid of it, or he would stop selling Coca-Cola to her. She refused.

The threats went on, and the distributor stopped bringing Coke, so she filed a complaint with the Federal Competition Commission. They sat on it. (Coke does, after all, own about 70% of the market.) Raquel persisted, badgering them, until they investigated the complaint. In the meantime, she bought cases of Coke at another store and dragged them in and out of the store herself.

The results? Coca-Cola and 15 of its distributors were fined $68 million dollars for their illegal attempts to block Big Cola from entering the market.

Raquel's store may be called La Racha, but it is Raquel's unwillingness to settle that causes her be on a continuous streak of luck.

I have decided that, like Raquel, I am on a streak of luck, too. Everything is going my way, even when sometimes it appears that it isn't. I'll hold my dreams firmly in mind, and I won't let anyone stop me from amplifying them into reality.

Would you care join me?

What would today be like if you were on your own streak of luck?

Wishing you every possibility!

Recently, I have been disturbing the field.  Electrical problems are happening all around me.  Microwaves have died.  The power at my Miami house went out twice.  Fuses have blown.  Blackberrys have failed to sync.  My landline went wonky. Now the power is out here in my new South Carolina home.  

I think it’s because the universe wants me to finish my book.

I walked away from my computer this morning, and went to take a shower.  I’d worked for maybe an hour when I got back from the gym.  While I was in the shower, the lights went out.  I couldn’t dry my hair, which made it an emergency situation.  The power company said that it would be about two hours before the problem was fixed.  I decided that I could go to the store while the power was out, perhaps return a spare cable box to Comcast.  I made a list, and I shut down my computer.  Because it was still running, you see.  It’s a laptop, and it has a battery.  Could I have kept writing?  Yes, I could have.  But I decided not to.

So, I took my little list and went out to the car in the garage.  I started the engine.  I realized that I’d forgotten to open the garage door.  I pushed the button on the remote in the car.  Nothing happened.  I walked to the button on the wall and pushed it.  Nothing happened.  Duh, I thought.  The power is out. I pulled the release on the garage door mechanism so that I could manually open the door.  The door, despite my straining, still would not open.  

I sent my boyfriend a text message: any ideas?  No, he replied. He didn’t have any.

So then I thought, well, I’ll just sit down and write a blog entry about how the universe channels you once you have seriously committed to achieving your vision. If you are the main propellant behind your dream coming true, the universe will “help” you get it done.  Even if that help seems incredibly painful at the time.

But of course, the power is off.  Which means my Internet router is down.  Which means I can’t post a blog.  So I am writing this in Word and will post it post facto, as it were.

And now I have to go work on my book before my laptop battery dies, or some other electrical emergency takes place.  Wish me luck!

Ezequiel Perez is a lucky man.  In 1995 in Cuba, where his situation was economically dire, he applied for the U.S.'s visa lottery.  20,000 visas a year are awarded to Cubans and their families.  Although his friends and family made fun of him, he remained certain that he would be selected.  He was, and he came to the U.S. with his family.

Three weeks ago, Ezequiel won $33 million in Florida's state lottery. 

Prior to winning, Ezequiel had some hard times.  He and his wife were divorced, and he lost his job.  He moved back to New York to try to find a job there, but ended up back in West Palm Beach, making a tiny wage and doing odd jobs.  And then he watched The Secret.

According to the instructions in the movie, Ezequiel made a vision board, gluing pictures of the things he wanted on a poster.  He studied it regularly, visualizing his new life.  The certainty that seems to be a part of his character surfaced again.

"I had a peace of mind that scared me," he says.  A "quick pick" ticket delivered his vision to him.

So, what do you think?  Do you think that Ezequiel created his opportunity by getting serious and detailed about what he wanted and needed in his life, and then believing that he would have it?

I do.  Because Ezequiel is not the only lottery winner I know who used a vision board to turn possibility into reality. Years ago, a lifelong friend of mine used the same technique, only she drew her vision instead of sticking pictures on a poster.  She did share Ezequiel's certainty, though.  She said that she had developed "an air of expectant anticipation."

Have you developed such an air? 

If not, when will you begin?