Having It All or Not: Goals, Plans and Messages Work!

HAVING IT ALL

OR NOT

Goals, Plans and Messages Work!

Linda M Gebhardt

HAVING IT ALL OR NOT

GOALS, PLANS AND MESSAGES WORK!

Copyright © 2018 Linda M Gebhardt.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-4149-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-4150-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018900564

iUniverse rev. date: 02/02/2018

Contents

Chapter 1.   Freedom

Chapter 2.   Something Is Not Right

Chapter 3.   A Real School

Chapter 4.   Reality

Chapter 5.   Reality

Chapter 6.   Learning to Win with Grace

Chapter 7.   Reminders of Luck

Chapter 8.   Missing Link

Chapter 9.   The Stars Align

Chapter 10. A Fresh Start

Chapter 11. More Than This

Chapter 12. Dismissing Perfection

Chapter 13. Fear is the Enemy of Progress

Chapter 14. Key Messages Resonate

Chapter 15. The Business Plan Reigned

M akes more sense to move forward than fight the forces pushing you backward. It’s part of the human existence to resist growth. Fear—our worst enemy and greatest illustrator of all things possible—can be transformed into faith if we plant the seeds for forward momentum.

Acknowledgments:

Winslow Loomis

Helen Mason

Linda Strahle

Catherine Kelly

Lesley Reid Corydon

Douglas Brinker

Liz Kornicsky

Francis Ruth Whitlow

A quick-read story with several sagas, tales begging not to be forgotten—a riveting autobiography packed with essential scenes confessed in a narrative based on allowing you to identify with the theatre life exposes. Emotional excerpts of a mother, daughter, and wife and her experiences of success following the mantra; know what you want; nurture what you have and it will sow amazing results—let it go and it will most certainly fall into decay. Families and gardens are prime examples. Businesses and wealth are byproducts of stability. Not always. Your plans, goals and soul are the most empowering elements of living life.

Listening to first-class messages while discarding cheap insults is an x factor of life—more necessary than ever in history.

Hard to decipher which exact moment hinges on the next and relies on its predecessor as the defining moment of enlightenment—decisions assisting you to your perceived ascension to the throne. What makes us turn one way and not the other? What motivates us to make a decision at all?

Human’s insatiable desire for freedom and certainty is an underlining theme and the reason why is more compelling. Most humans have a desire to have it all, or do we? How do we get there? It truly awards us a new perspective on the meaning of things. I hope this book inspires readers to reflect on all aspects of their lives and share tales, exalt in your own success and remind yourself why it’s ok to succeed and fail.

Constant negativity in this world, breeds confusion. This book will make you wonder where your life is headed and extend the motivation that a plan is always an essential ingredient—at least it will keep your sanity. Positive messages are the fluid path to the soul and making sound decisions. Some of the visual funnies help illustrate, with emphasis, how laughter and focus have been a predominant coping mechanism throughout the years. Beats the bottle. We all have a story. The world is built on stories—not algorithms.

Beside signing up for the one-way trip to Mars, there must be a sexier option than becoming a Martian. To live in fear is not living. To adapt to the new world order with a perspective on the journey may soothe the nerves. At least we may learn the meaning of our things. These pages were written, rewritten and edited with the help of the funniest people I know on the planet. Promise.

The soul is the most indelible possession we own, yet our world dictates that we keep it guarded.

The promise of the message: You can do it. You need a plan if you even remotely possess any goals and a system for gleaning the positive messages from those that desire to see you shine and discard the destructive insults. The book may enlighten you to the difference–the result may find you currently having it all—it may be right in front of you. Time to nurture your good fortune, abandon the damaging messages including the worn-out baggage and begin to live according to your plan and solid system for unleashing the stress you loathe and the freedom each of us crave. Even a small plan is the most empowering gift you can give yourself wrapped in a renewed enthusiasm for all of life’s offerings as you continually motivate to move your life forward.

Reviews

E xcellent read. Life constantly throws curveballs and this book reveals a woman’s struggles and success to stay relevant in a ever changing world. Not only is the writing superbly crafted but the messages along the way are powerful and insightful. It has motivated me to remember who I was before I became engrossed in my children’s lives. Time to get back in the game and reinvent myself. Cant wait to get the business plan as its all about having the proper plan!! Thank you to the author for the motivation and insight! Just what I needed!!

Catherine Kelly, entrepreneur, Chicago

A fun read with a message, not to be missed!

A. Loomis

Especially dedicated to my brother Michael, Amelia and Dimitri

Because beyond all else we must retain hope. Hope and faith extinguish fear.

Angels will always appear, look for them, they typically are not white with wings and halos.

Things are as they are supposed to be, she says. I am still here, never too old so long as I breathe to wonder, to learn, and to teach.

— Caroline Stoessinger. Holocaust survivor

We learn by doing. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.

— Dale Carnegie

1

Freedom

T he scene was not particularly impressive by any standard, however as my parents watched and listened at the window, five girls, all high school graduates sat in a Vega crying at the curb of my house as we bid farewell to each other in the late summer of 1978. Each of us venturing to different colleges, opposite directions and a colorful journey. The scene was iconic. From a parent’s perspective in the second story window, the visual must have been frightening due to the uncertainty and fear it had to release. Exulting for my brothers who were most likely fighting in the background over who took the extra bedroom now that SHE will be gone. To me, it meant not moving around a small house under my parent’s glare. Freedom at last. If I truthfully recorded all the details of growing up with 4 brothers the best souvenir and recap are the scars on my knees and face. Who does plastic surgery on their knees? The scar on my face occurred while we were young and playful. It would never be removed for fear the memory might vanish. Being hit with a steel shovel all in the name of fun in the winter in Chicago in the 60’s—why would you eradicate that symbol? From my mother’s point of view, raising 5 kids tightly packed in age, she didn’t reach for her coat to head to the hospital until she heard the 5 th Band-Aid being opened. We all knew the 6 th Band-Aid meant stitches.

All that behind me, we piled into the blazing hot family station wagon and drove to Kansas in August. Each cornfield of the 500-mile drive to St. Mary College was like watching stripes on a tiger and hoping it doesn’t leap out and bite. Another cornfield—how far away was this school? The freedom I looked forward to was now gripping my stomach without letting go and the brash reality of being alone reared its ugly head. I was scared.

How did I even choose a small, all-girl Catholic college in Leavenworth, Kansas much less even locate one? It was Helen’s fault. Senior year in high school I received an invitation to explore the possibilities at a small intimate school. Hummm. Curiosity and exploring tendencies were never my short-fall. I obliged the invitation. Upon arrival, Helen, already a freshman, greeted our group instantly attaching to a kindred spirited friend who could mobilize a crowd and create a consensus immediately. She won me over with her worldly prowess, beautiful lightly manicured, curly brown hair and deep voice accompanied with assured posture. In other words, I was impressed and sold within the first hour. St. Mary College, became the front-runner for schools including a nice scholarship to enhance the deal.

The first week of college-life, I met some of the most intriguing people on the planet and that says alot coming from a city of 6 million plus. The antics were not a pretty scene but oh so fun. The first semester tales are from the curious side of life yet resemble the dark side. Schoolwork was just a prop reminding me that I was in school after all. Coming of age in college was not the goal—being free was more worthy of my attention. Yet this school became a challenge aggravating me to adhere to the rules which I knew my high school friends in college were not experiencing. Boys were strictly forbidden on the floors except to check-in at the front desk—similar to a hospital. Or on some days felt more like a funny farm. The school was all-girls, very Catholic and included friends today that are truly special. Only three of them—Helen, Winslow and Maureen. Thirty-five years later we still recall the mischief we caused and why the other girls at the school referred to us as the popular girls. Everyone else in this scenic school in Leavenworth, Kansas, with a well-lit view of the federal penitentiary out the dorm room window, we categorized as weirdos. It was hard to take things too seriously here while envisioning going out into the real world and making something of yourself beside being a feminist who enjoyed leaning in on men.

The natural environment and serene hilly landscape with original brick mile-long drive to the main entrance made it appear as though it was planted there by some Gatsby-like benefactor. Stately until you entered and the smell of its age eluded a familiar scent—like grandma’s apartment in the city when you ascended the stairs to the third floor. Musty from the carpet treads and a 100 years of humidity locked into its history. Best part—it was familiar, thus I was able to attach to something other than not remembering why this whole thing of college was a right of passage and any other option was not presented. I was locked in—literally.

Keep going Linda, you decided this school was a good idea. You might as well join in and entertain yourself. What else do you have? I mumbled these words and ruminated thoughts of escaping my disastrous selection of colleges. Schoolwork never presented a severe challenge coming from a high school of 4000 and going to a remote school of under 1000.

Helen and I had been bonded from the past year’s initiation, and today the privilege was meeting her sister, Maureen, also a freshman and her friend

Winslow. These two raving beauties would form the popular girls as we became referred to