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The Day Everything Became Crystal Clear


Robyn Openshaw - Nov 22, 2017 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


beautiful fall day in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah

Recently, I had a very…bad…week. I thought I’d share a very personal story with you, in the hope that it helps you enjoy Thanksgiving with more gratitude.

(Gratitude is the highest vibration emotion ever recorded by ECG and EEG!)

Robyn and her cat, CharlieMy 17-year old son texted me, while I was in San Diego at a conference, that something was wrong with our much-loved cat, Charlemagne.

Charlie wasn’t yet 2 years old, and he was fine when I left. He’s never been sick. When I got home the next day, I found that his back legs were paralyzed.

The next day I took him to the vet, and she said she would run some tests, that it looked like heart disease and blood clots.

Thirty minutes later, the vet called me to tell me Charlie had suddenly just taken one deep breath and…died.

The next day, I went to court against my children’s father.

While we’d never been to court before, we’ve been to many legal mediations over 9 years, and I’ve incurred many thousands of dollars in legal bills.

To save money, I had released my attorney, and represented myself in court.

And the judge awarded me everything. Including my attorneys’ fees, since my ex-spouse’s violation of court orders caused the legal fees in the first place.

But then, the judge, scrolling through the online court system, told me he couldn’t find the bill from my attorney, filed as an affidavit with the court.

Turns out, she forgot. So, my children’s father got to walk away from that large bill, and I was left holding the bag. All due to a technicality.

I wish those were the worst things, in my very bad week.

The next day, we found out that my new book, Vibe, had pre-sold well over 15,000 copies, prior to the week it published. The book project itself represented 18 months of hard work: landing the deal with Simon & Schuster, writing, and editing several times, and marketing it for months leading up to the excitement of publication date.

And that day, I learned that even though I outsold 9 of the 10 authors who made the New York Times bestseller list that week–even Oprah–my book somehow didn’t make the New York Times list.

If I’m telling the truth, I may have thrown a little pity party. I felt like I shouldn’t have so many sad things happen to me, rapid-fire. I went to bed early.

The next morning, after the bad news of the NYT list ignoring my book, I was at tennis practice, and my teammate, Susan, said,

“Hey, congrats on your book. I was at a care facility last week, and I met a lady who is a big fan of yours. She was showing me your book and was all excited about it.”

I asked Susan where the care facility was, and what the lady’s name is. It turned out she was just two miles from my home. The next day, I stopped by, hoping to sign the lady’s book, and chat with her.

Merry, it turned out, is 63 years old, though her skin looks 35, as if she’s never been out in the sun–and she has a long, blonde braid.

She was in a twin bed with two other ladies sharing the room. She sits in an old, broken wheelchair, because she has no income, no pension, no husband, siblings, parents, or children—and the broken wheelchair she sat in was recently gifted to her.

Her eyes got wide, as I walked into the room, and she whispered:

“Is it you??”

It turns out, she didn’t have my new book, Vibe, at all, as I’d assumed. She wouldn’t likely know about it, since she has no access to social media, and has never sent or received a text in her life, doesn’t own a smart phone.

Her entire life is lived in a corner of a shared room, in a rundown care facility.

She picked up the 2007 first-edition, self-published version of my 12 Steps to Whole Foods course, next to her bed, and handed it to me.

She pointed at my photo, in the Intro, and said, “That’s you!”

“Yes it is,” I told her, “a long time ago!” She told me about the public lecture I had given, many years before. Her neighbor had offered to drive her to it.

Half the pages were torn out of the 12 Steps course manual.

She picked up a large, 3-ring binder, to show me where the rest of the pages were. She had been tearing out the pages, one at a time, cutting off the ragged edges with scissors, and putting each page in plastic sleeves, in the binder.

The 12 Steps to Whole Foods manual was extensively marked up with highlighting, careful notes in the margin in ballpoint pen, recipes circled that she wanted to try.

The 10-year old manual looked like it had been well loved, well used, dog-eared.

Only it wasn’t. Because Merry cannot cook. Merry can’t walk anymore, 26 years after her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis when she was just 37 years old.

She told me about her life. How she tries to get to the exercise room every day, to stand (or sit, when her legs won’t hold her) holding onto the rails of the vibration plate.

She told me that doing so wears her out, and after one of these “exercise” sessions, she sometimes sleeps for 36 hours.

She told me how she would love to eat a healthy diet, as she’d read in my 12 Steps to Whole Foods manual—but she would somehow have to get the ingredients to make a green smoothie. And a blender.

Reading that manual, and looking at the photos, for her, is like reading a travel book for someone who dreams, someday, of seeing the world beyond her back yard.

Merry told me that the only vegetables served at the budget-conscious care facility are severely overcooked–alongside ham, pie with cool whip, and the usual cafeteria fare, to cater to the mostly elderly population in the care facility.

I asked her how I could help her. I left with a resolve to use my own resources to get Merry a large, daily green smoothie.

She told me, with determination in her voice, several times: “In just a few weeks, I plan to be leaving here.”

But, Merry came in, walking, 10 months ago—when she fell, and her landlady broke her own rib, picking Merry up off the floor–causing Merry to realize that now, finally, she needed a higher level of care.

But 10 months after walking through the front door, Merry’s health has declined to the point where she can no longer walk at all.

“I’m going to get out of here, though,” she told me, several times, resolve in her eyes.

Autumn, sunshine, fallen leavesWhen I left that day, I walked out into the parking lot of the care center. It is mid-November here in Utah, but we’ve had an amazing indian summer, and the sun was shining.

I could smell the decaying leaves all around me, a smell I’ve always loved. I stopped, by my car, struck with this thought:

I am walking across this parking lot. I just walked out of that facility. No one in there can walk out here.

I am standing out here in the sunshine. Where I could run, across this parking lot, if I want to.

And I’m going to get in that car, which is available to me all the time, and I’m going to drive it.

To enjoy Saturday night out with my girlfriends.

And because I have a job and access to cash and credit, I can buy myself dinner, and enjoy the evening doing whatever I want.

As I got lost in total awe and gratitude at my incredibly blessed circumstances, I noticed that, in the middle of the parking lot where I was standing, tears were rolling down my cheeks.

I threw my head back, and felt the sun on my skin. I took a few deep breaths, amazed and awed by my healthy body and mind.

Any vestiges of my pity party from earlier in the week melted away. I felt like the luckiest, most blessed, happiest person alive. I was flooded with compassion for another living being whose suffering was real and yet, she wasn’t complaining, and her vibration actually uplifted me.

I realized that my “problems” weren’t worth losing even a moment of happiness over.

I hope you take a moment to focus on the good, to show more love, to find someone to serve, and to remember what you have to be grateful for.

P.S. Of course you will want to know if I’ve adopted Merry and am helping serve her needs, and I am, don’t worry!

Posted in: 12 Steps To Whole Food, High-Vibe Living

28 thoughts on “The Day Everything Became Crystal Clear”

Leave a Comment
  1. Patricia Rasmussen says:

    I know exactly what you mean . I have Lymes Disease and co infection this number 13 deer tick attached and engorged . My husband and 4 children plus one grandchild have a genetic cancer,. We had 12 brain surgeries, 6 kidney surgies 2 pancreatic surgery 1 whipple procedure. The kidneys and pancreas are where the cancer is. All other tumors are vascular ther missing a tumor inhibitor growth factor. Since Jan this youngest daughter had brain surgery her son had brain repair surgery a couple of leaks from last Sept brain surgery in Feb. Than our youngest son had brain tumor removed in June. He had surgery again in Oct for kidney cancer tumor and preacreatic cancer tumor removed. Also I think they injured his spleen and took that because they never talked about removing the spleen. And all of this will on going no way out.

    Now for the good news. They all are working have great paying jobs great health insurance. They have families all are adopted except 2. The ski, snowmobile, travel in gereneral enjoy life . I never hear them complain. They all get checks ups once a year sometimes more when things are growing.the testing is MRI, cat scan lots of blood draws still no complaints. How wonderful is that! Yes we are all functioning how wonderful is that . What a blessing . We are thanking God for it successfull surgery with little or no extra complication! All the surgeries how thankful we are to ou Heavenly Father! We have been taken care of rest in Him who has provided those blessings and keep your joy!

    1. Valleygirl says:

      Please look into healing through rife frequency for Lyme! It has been amazing for me!!!

  2. Sharon says:

    Please tell me you made her a green smoothie and put her in a wheelchair and took her outdoors for a walk. Thank you for sharing.

    1. Robyn says:

      Sharon. Yes. Just not that day I met her. Her wheelchair is broken. Working on this….

  3. Janie says:

    What a wonderful story Robyn!!! You took some time out of your hard week to give something to someone else and you received a lovely blessing! Thank you for sharing this experience with us.

  4. Kathleen says:

    Thank you so much for your touching story. You have a way to communicate that touches the heart.

  5. Jenni says:

    <3 <3 <3 Will love to hear how Merry is doing! Thoughts and prayers for you both!

    1. Robyn says:

      Hi Jenni, I will do a followup post and I will take good care of Merry.

  6. Ruthie says:

    This is so beautiful

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thank you Ruthie. 🙂

  7. Brynn says:

    Beautiful story & reminders , thank you

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thank you for commenting Brynn. 🙂

  8. Paula says:

    Thanks for sharing! It sounds like a beautiful experience. My heart goes out to Merry. So glad you two have crossed paths at the exact moment you did.

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thank you Paula – the best is yet to come!

  9. Funny how life can seem so painful at times, and then we get little glimpses into someone else’s life. It is then we are doubly blessed when we become a part of their healing as we heal ourselves.

    1. GSG Support says:

      Yes indeed Laura!

  10. Donna says:

    Beautiful and meaningful reminder of how fortunate we are even when things aren’t perfect! Thank you, have a blessed Thanksgiving

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thank you Donna – hope yours was lovely 🙂

  11. Marilyn Weaver says:

    Yes, Robyn. When we’re busy with the pity party, God always shines on us with a happy high vibrating spirit to remind us of how truly blessed we are! When I was so sad at being diagnosed with melanoma, and needing surgery again (5 x in 1 yr), I went to the lab for my pre-op work. There, I met an older woman trying on her two new prothesis legs (at a fitting office nextdoor to the lab). She was radiant with glee at being able to walk again. Wow! I recognized the message from heaven. And I was SO grateful for my two legs, and the ability to walk. And that the melanoma could be cut out successfully. No more pity party! Gratitude and awe. AND the time I went to Lourdes, bummed about my broken arm. . . Until I walked by the man with NO arm. Again, tremendous gratitude, and an AHA moment! 🙂

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thanks for your two excellent examples of perspective checks. Agree with it all. Thanks for writing Marilyn!

  12. Pamela Pfeiffer says:

    Thank you Robyn for this beautiful story. Please keep me updated on Merry and hope she gets her Green Smoothie so she will feel better! Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving Day!! Sending you tons of love love love! Pamela

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thanks Pamela – I’ll keep everyone updated on sweet Merry!

  13. Katherine says:

    Thank you for being so vulnerable in sharing this, Robyn. What a beautiful story. No matter what is going on in our lives, someone has worse problems. Serving them and being aware of them helps us appreciate our own blessings. Your story, and Merry’s, brought tears to my eyes. Great gratitude perspective going in to the holidays. Bless you!

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thank you Katherine. 🙂

  14. Gloria Clay says:

    Thank you for sharing this beautiful moment in both of your lives, Robyn. Everyone comes into our life for a reason. We must cherish the time and count the blessings from meeting them. Life is good in soooo many ways, and we ALL need to stop, smell the flowers and count our blessings. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all. Stay strong and keep good thoughts in your mind and keep counting your blessings.

    1. GSG Support says:

      Yes to all you wrote Gloria – good thoughts which I appreciate. Be blessed!

  15. Sheila Flexer says:

    Thank you Robyn for hearing Holy Spirit’s leading, obeying and blessing Dear Merry! You are so inspirational to so many of us. Much love and blessings upon you and your family. Sheila, a grateful GSG follower

    1. GSG Support says:

      Thank YOU Sheila for your encouraging words. So appreciated!

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