Hi
If you know me very well, or you happened to read my book, you have heard me say that I don’t believe in accidents. I believe that everything happens for some reason or other. My entire music and speaking career has happened based on a series of strange events and random meetings. The Cruise Ship, the meeting with Flylady, and on and on. Well something very odd happened to me this weekend and I can’t get it out of my head that I need to tell you this story.
Over a year ago my band and I were doing a benefit concert in our home town. We were part of an event that was raising money for a great cause. They had a silent auction, food, entertainment, and the whole deal. Well as we were walking around, my keyboard player John Houston and I were looking through the silent auction items. There were a couple of different books up for grabs and nobody was bidding on anything. I went to put bids on a book called The One Thing – by Gary Keller. John said “Hey, I think I need to know what the One Thing is.” He said “It says how to live an exceptional life, I need that.” So I let him bid on it. I decided to bid on the book next to it. It looked great as well and was titled Take Life By The Helm – by Doug Nielsen. So we bid on our books and we both won. I took my book home and put it in my closet of hundreds of books I want to read someday when I get the time. So a few weeks ago I decided I need to start reading, listening to motivational stuff again, getting back into better habits, and taking control of my life again. I went to my closet to grab a book and there was Take Life by the Helm staring me in the face. So I grabbed it and decided to read a few pages and see if I liked it at all. I was hooked. I loved this book and kept reading and reading. So after I finished the book I decided to check out the Authors website. I found his site and decided to send him an e-mail. I messaged him on April 21st saying that I loved your book, I hope I remember all the good stuff in it, I hope to see you at an event somewhere sometime and meet you. He sent me a message back saying thank you for reading my book. So yesterday I was registered for a training conference in Salt Lake City, Utah that I had registered for almost a year ago. It was kind of a long drive and I didn’t know if I wanted to go. I had decided not to go last week but on Thursday I decided at the last second to go and I booked my motel room. I showed up to the event in a small conference room with a small group of motivational speakers and entertainers. As I was sitting there a man came in the room and sat down next to me. They announced that our morning keynote trainer had just showed up and he was a speaker who travels all over the world. His name was Doug Nielsen. It didn’t register right away but the name sounded so familiar. Then it clicked. Could this be the same guy that wrote that book? I looked at him with huge eyes and he looked and me and I said did you write Take Life By the Helm? He said thats me. I almost fell out of the chair. My reaction was pretty noticeable by others in the room. I said I don’t believe this. He said What? I said I just sent you an e-mail last week about your book. He said “Oh that was you?” At the mean time the conference is going on and we are making quite a ruckus. They went to a short break so Doug could get set up and the leader , another great speaker, Ty Bennet came over and I told him what had happened. They had me tell the story to the group. Doug ended up talking to us for an hour and it was amazing experience. I don’t know why things like this happen but they always do. Doug and I talked and will now be friends hopefully for years to come. Here are a few statements Doug made during this training that I loved so much. He posted a word on the board and said what does this say. Opportunityisnowhere. Some people see Opportunity is nowhere and some see Opportunity is Now Here. He said that everyday you can choose your attitude and choose your direction. Everyday you should reverse engineer your day first thing in the morning and say to yourself, how do I want to feel tonight when I go to bed. What can I accomplish today so that tonight I feel great and at peace. He also said something that I will never forget. “In the end, Hell will be meeting the person you could have been.” He was very clear that if you are still breathing, you have a purpose and a chance you make your’s and others around you’s lives better. “Procrastination is the beginning of depression.” Take action right now.
Anyway I could go on and on but I wanted to share this story with you. I don’t know why things happen. Out of all the books I could have bought, (glad John bought the book he bought.) out of all the places I could have been Saturday, out of all the books I could have chose from my book closet, the chances of this happening like it did are about as good as winning the lottery. The author just happened to live in my State, and happened to be in the same event I was going to on Saturday, that I almost didn’t go to.
Have a great day and remember, you never know what is just around the next corner. I believe we all have a purpose, we all have talents, and there are no accidents.
Thanks
Eric
PS
We are trying to reach 10,000 Facebook fans this week. If we hit it I will be giving away 10 autographed copies of Ultimate Collection. My newest CD.
http://www.facebook.com.ericdodgemusic
Also find me on
and now Instagram at EricDodgeMusic
http://instagram.com/ericdodgemusic
Don’t forget about our O.C Tanner Show on May 31st and I am attaching a flyer for a special Eagle Scout event I am performing at Friday night in Cedar City Utah.