Marc Accetta’s thoughts on another New York Yankee Parade!
As I fly out of New York City on the day after game six of the 2009 World Series that saw the New York Yankees win their 27th World Series Championship, I am amazed at how much the game of baseball reflects on the game of life. Many are amazed at peoples’ preoccupation with professional sports, and I understand why, but I think that in the era of Reality TV, the ultimate Reality show is that of professional sports.
Think of all the plots and subplots that were on stage in this year’s World Series. Start with the Yankees buying up two or three of the best players in the game again this of season, which their fans love, and most fans hate. ESPN did a poll today asking if you loved the Yankees or hated them and only three northeast states voted to love them. I have been a loyal Oakland A’s fan since 1967 (dating myself again) and when the Yankees pay more for one CC Sabathia than our entire payroll, it gets frustrating. Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the New York Yankees. It is the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history. And this is just one small story line.
Then spring training begins and A Rod (Alex Rodriguez) is exposed as a player who took steroids earlier in his illustrious career. Then in a less than forthcoming press conference, that left people much, more sour on him than if he had just flat out admitted his use of the substances in question. Then he gets off to a sluggish start to the season, which really upsets the very demanding Yankee fans since he normally thrives in the regular season before he shrinks in the post season. Then he moves from his recent divorce and well publicized (now defunct) relationship with Madonna to his newest tryst with actress Kate Hudson. If that is not enough, he actually plays his best post-season ever leading up to the World Series (which he played OK in) actually endearing many of his past critics to him.
Then there is George Steinbrenner who is the Yankees long time aging owner who has passed on managing control of the team to his sons (Hank and Hal). The Steinbrenner’s are some of the most colorful and frequently quoted people in all of sports. He moved the team from their decades of history and traditional Yankee Stadium to the New and drastically improved Yankee Stadium right across the street. The prices on the seats at the new stadium and all the incidentals that go with attending a game dwarfed all the pricing of other major league teams including their cross town rival New York Mets who also moved into an amazing new stadium in 2009. The outrageous prices were another of the seasons long hot topics.
Then there was high priced free agents CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira who were trying to hold up to the pressures of playing in New York. Then there were the four elder statesmen of the Yankees, Derek Jeter (my hands down favorite player), Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte. They were all Yankees back when they won their last championship in 2000. And Johnny Damon became only the second player to win the championship with the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Then there were the Phillies trying to be the first team from the National League to repeat as champions since the Cincinnati Reds of the 1970’s. Their fiery leader Jimmy Rollins had made a bold prediction before the series that the Phillies would win it in six games, which set off quite a media frenzy.
Then there was all time great Pedro Martinez getting a chance to come back and spoil the Yankees title hopes as a new member of the Phillies. There was their best player, Ryan Howard having a terrible slump in the series. Then there was Chase Utley hitting 5 homeruns in the series and tying the mark for homeruns that the great Reggie Jackson set in his remarkable 1977 performance.
And on and on and on…..So you see, there is more drama in this show than is Survivor and The Apprentice and all the other Reality Shows combined….and while many of those shows are staged, pro sports is not. As the Wide World of Sports used to say in their opening for their long running show, “It’s the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.”
When I was a child, I had an unusual zeal for baseball. Playing it nonstop every moment that I could…Throwing a ball against our house to practice fielding ground balls (which I realized later was not too good for property values)…Watching every pitch of game after game from pro to high school to Little League…Collecting baseball cards….Playing the Strat-O-Matic baseball board game….Being a volunteer bat boy for the local semi-pro team….I just could not get enough.
I was also the kid who memorized every players number and statistics. Not just the great ones, pretty much all of them. I had a true love of the game. While my devotion to sports was unusual, the bottom line is despite fans being pretty much disgusted with the commercialization of pro sports, we still watch it. I have long since lost my zealous devotion to America’s past time, but the real human drama of it and all pro sports is what keep me tuning in. It’s all there. The privileged vs. the underdog; people excelling or crumbling under intense pressure; People’s passion pushing them beyond their ability; Personality conflicts….There are so many life lessons to learn from all sports. So maybe you now know why you keep tuning in….or better yet why you should keep tuning in. Baseball and pro sports, like many other things we enjoy, are not perfect, but they sure are a great part of life in these United States.
The New York Yankees celebrate after winning Game 6 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in New York. (AP/Elise Amendola)
A View from the Edge 2009…Recap!
It’s hard to believe our 2009 version of A View From the Edge (affectionately known as The View) is over. My team and I work on the three day program for months in advance. There are hundreds of man/woman hours that are poured into the intense preparation, and then the 72 hours of the show pass by in the blink of an eye.
I want to thank all the people who have showered us with texts, Facebook Wall Postings, MySpace Comments, messages on Twitter, emails, voice messages, etc. We have never been so inundated with positive comments, and have never had such overwhelmingly glowing reviews. It is very humbling, so on behalf of our whole team, I thank you for all of your kind and thoughtful comments.
We have posted a poll for the attendees to vote for their favorite characters for this year’s show at www.WVView.com . Over the initial 24 hours, we have quite a few different characters that are racking up lots of votes. The top ones so far are; George Washington, the Hockey Player, the Mask, the Dancer, the Fireman, the Soldier at Arlington Memorial, the Matrix, the Wizard/friends, and the Snow White/Freud crew. We encourage all attendees to take the time to go to the site and cast a vote for your favorite.
We will be posting lots of pictures from the event on the WVveiw.com website as well as the Marc Accetta Fan Book Page on Facebook and www.MarcAccetta.com as well. We will also have the recap video up on YouTube by Wednesday.
We worked hard to create eight new characters this year. Our goal is to keep adding new characters to keep the show fresh for first time attendees as well as those who re-attend every year. I am never ceased to be amazed at the creativity and talents of my production team. You all hit it out of the park again guys. The fire effects were amazing. Wait till you all see the pictures and the video footage.
I want to thank Mike Walker and David Todd and their fantastic team and all of their input for this year’s show. It was a blessing to have you on site for the event. I want to pass on or best wishes and prayers to Mike Walker for a speedy recovery from the injuries he sustained in the car accident he suffered late Saturday evening. Mike is recovering nicely, but we want you all to keep him in your thoughts and prayers as well.
A special thanks to my main man, Monico Perez! He is the hardest worker I know and he takes full responsibility to make sure that everything is perfect for each character so all I have to do is walk out on stage and do my thing. This was also the 6th View for my amazing lighting director Mauri Decker, the 8th for my stage manager Frank Peebles, and the 12th for my stage director Richard Montez of CornerStone Ministries. I must also acknowledge the efforts of my wife Kelly. Not only did she do an outstanding job with all the costumes and makeup for all the characters, she hit a grand slam with her dance performance and her Dreamstrealer character. She upstaged me….and I loved it!
On Saturday evening, Dave Watson recalled his auctioneer skills and we raised over $100,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Kelly and I chair the Collin county board for BBBS and each year WorldVentures welcomes our CEO, Charles Pierson to come and talk to the group about BBBS. This was our largest fund raiser ever! WorldVentures also presented BBBS with a Dreamtrip to one of the most exclusive resorts in the world (worth about $10,000 with a/f) to BBBS to auction off at their Annual Black Tie and Boots Ball on November 14th in Dallas.
To top it all off, Charles announced that WV CEO, Mike Azcue had been matched with his own Little Brother and Wayne Nugent (the other co-founder) put in his application for a little brother right on the spot!
I love doing The View. I love the crowd….I love the people who participate with me in the characters….I love the team that makes me look so good….Mostly, I love the effect it has on people. Our catch phrase for The View is that, “Life will never be the same.” It is so gratifying to see that come to fruition each year.
I had an incredible moment at the end of The Hockey Player character Saturday night. As the music blared, I laid down on the concrete steps of the arena to catch my breath. As I did, I had a perfect view of one of our screens and watched as the camera was panning around the entire crowd. I could hardly believe the looks of joy and fulfillment on every face I saw. It was a very special moment for me. All the hard work and preparation is well worth it if we are impacting lives in that way.
All I can say is that my team and I can’t wait to see you all again at the 2010 View. Seating will open up at the April International Convention. I pledge that we will take it to another level again, as we all enjoy the amazing life that is WorldVentures!
Winds of Change
Human beings are an unusual bunch. The one thing in life that will never change is, that things are constantly changing…..yet humans cannot seem to wrap their minds around the fact that change is natural and inevitable.
Change affects us all in many ways. The changes in the world economy have had a profound impact on many in the last year. Changes with the environment have an effect on everyone as well. One of the most difficult forms of change is when your child (who you still refer to as your baby…..bad idea….will discuss the power of words in a future blog) starts attending a new school. Whether it is elementary school, middle school, high school or college, graduating to the next step is often tougher for the parents than the students themselves.
My wife and I recently had to deal with this phenomenon when our oldest daughter started High School. It was quite a step for her…..and us. Many parents have the hardest time letting their children blaze their own paths. We know that they are naïve to the ways of the world. We know that their path will be littered with some people that will try to take advantage of them. As a parent/protector, it is very had to let go.
My good friends experienced the same thing with their son who started Kindergarten this week. Different situation and setting, but definitely the same emotions. It is hard to accept that you will not be their only influence in their lives any longer. They will have teachers and friends who will now matter more than you do in some situations.
Ironically, I also have a good friend who just dropped their oldest son off at a major university to begin their college career. She said that that was the toughest to bear of all, since you are no longer living with them on a day to day basis any more. That is when it sinks in that, although they will always be your child, they have truly moved out and they will never actually going to be a child again.
One bit of advice that I can share with all parents is that we must understand that our job as a parent is to raise our children to leave us. That is the ultimate graduation. Talk about bitter-sweet! It is a tough way to look at it, but it is the healthiest way to look at it as well. We are not doing ourselves or our children a favor by creating someone who is co-dependent on us. It is our job to create an independent soul that can think and act for themselves. We need to let go and let them peruse their own dreams…even though we may not understand or agree with them. We need to let them skin their knees in the real world. We simply need to let them have the freedom to learn from their own experiences that we demanded from our own parents when the time was right.
There are many books that help us deal with change, but the one that stands out to me is, Who Moved My Cheese, by Dr. Ken Blanchard. It is the story about a couple of mice and their quest to find cheese once they discover that it is not in the place that they had always known it to be, Simple, yet a highly effective story.
As a matter of fact, I assigned my youngest (10 yr old) daughter to read it this summer, and she totally grasped the main message. That’s my kind of book, something that a ten year old can understand.
Change is inevitable. Don’t try to avoid or deny it, but rather embrace it. God obviously did not intend us to get too comfortable, so learn to roll with the changes in your life. Be flexible and open to new situations and you will definitely live a happier and more relaxed life.
L’italia è un paese meraviglioso.
In mid November I was fortunate enough to take my wife and two daughters to Italy for an incredible two week vacation. I know it is a cliché, but it was definitely a trip of a lifetime. First of all, for those of you that have been around me know that I NEVER take two weeks in a row off. Secondly, we did not touch our cell phones and only got on-line twice during the whole trip. That, in and of itself, was a blessing. Looking at it now, it amazes me how we are all attached to our cell phones and computer in our everyday lives like an IV bag at the hospital.
After about three or four days of real relaxation, I finally started to get the adrenaline out of my system, and have a blast. We started our adventure in Rome. We had a very tight connection in NYC on our flights to Rome, that our bags missed the plane. We were having such a good time that we didn’t even care. Rome is such a magical city where the modern day life takes place right in the middle of an ancient city. Sometimes, you can’t quite believe what you are seeing. It was priceless to see our girls taking it all in that we didn’t even notice that our luggage was missing but we eventually got it about 36 hours later. We saw the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel and the Coliseum, but we had just as much fun just walking all over the city exploring.
Needless to say, the food was amazing. We stayed at the De La Ville hotel at the top of the world famous Spanish Steps which gave us easy access to all the finest shopping and restaurants. We spent hours just strolling up and down the Via Veneto the equivalent to Rodeo Dr. in Beverly Hills and doing nothing. It turns out that Europeans are really good at doing nothing. It is obvious that they are enjoying their lives. Don’t get me wrong they do work because they want the finer things in life…BUT they actually stop and enjoy life a lot more than we do in America. We stayed in outstanding 4 and 5 star hotels and ate at the finest restaurants, but were surprised at the lack of speed of service. At first we were frustrated then we realized that the service was excellent it was just not at the American breakneck pace that we were used to. It took a while to slow down, but once we did, it was liberating.
The only bad part of the entire trip was our experience at the Zilli store on the Via Veneto. I was given a Zilli jacket many years ago as a gift and was dying to buy something there. I immediately found a Cashmere jacket that was lined with Chinchilla. (Please do not be mad at me if you are an animal activist, it turns out that these particular chinchillas had died in a tragic car crash) Anyway, I was trying it on and asked one of my daughters to feel the inner-lining. NOW, if you have never felt Chinchilla fur, it is undoubtedly some of the finest, softest fur that you will ever feel and I believe that this is what all the clothes are lined with in Heaven. As my lovely, children went to feel it, the Jackass is charge went crazy yelling at me AND my children. What a pathetic salesperson. Then he muttered under his breath that we were STUPID Americans. That was a BIG mistake on his part. I had some very select “American” words for him and we were on our way out of that store. As we continued to walk we found the exact same coat at Brioni and the sales person encouraged my daughters to feel the fur. I assure you that before I leave this earth, I will buy that coat from Brioni, and wear it in to see that imbecile.
The next day we took the train to Milan after that and hit the most gorgeous shopping mall I have ever seen. It is actually hard to call it a mall. It is a converted historic building that may have been a cathedral at one time. It is breathtaking and houses all the best Italian stores including Prada’s flagship store. We spent quite a bit of time in that store, and my wife assures me that we saved a tremendous amount of money there because the products are much higher in the USA after the importing costs are added. I’m not sure I follow her logic, but it was great to see her and the girls run amuck in that place.
We then set off for my personal favorite…Venice. I can’t exactly put it in words, but Venice is absolutely wonderful. We stayed at the Ca Marie Adele, which may be one of my favorite hotel in the world. The staff takes customer service to a level that I have never experienced. We walked all over Venice. We visited the Palace of the Dogie’s, rode in Gondola’s and strolled around St marks Square. We enjoyed my birthday dinner at a spectacular restaurant called Do Forni. Now this restaurant is known as The Restaurant of Venice and to say “WOW” to the food just does not give it justice.
If you are looking for a romantic setting, look no further. Venice is The Deal. Think about what they have done with a city that is technically flooded! Talk about turning a negative into a positive. We finished our trip to Venice with a trip to the world famous Murano Glass Factory. What an amazing experiace it was to see the level of craftsmanship it takes to make those pieces. In another example of European patience, a Murano glass maker must serve as an apprentice for fifteen years before they have a chance to be elevated to a Master Craftsman. I honestly believe that the biggest reason that most people never reach their dreams is that they think very short term. I honestly believe that Nothing of True Greatness Will Come Quickly.
We were very fortunate to get an exclusive tour to see the pieces of their glass that are considered Fine Artwork. There is a figure of Moses holding up the Ten Commandments that is on my Goal Cards and will stay there until those Commandments are residing with me in Dallas, Texas.
The bad news is we eventually had to leave Venice. The good news is we were headed to Florence. We visited the famous David statue which is truly awe inspiring. Everyone should really see Michael Angelo’s masterpiece in person before they die. The detail on that statue is absolutely unbelievable. Especially when you learn that he took a defective piece of marble that two other great artists had tried to carve and gave up on, and he turned that into the incredible likeness of David from the Bible.
Florence also is noted for having the best food in Italy, and you will get no argument from us. We ate at several amazing restaurants but the hole in the wall Birreria Centrale is one you must go to when you visit Florence. The Cathedral in the center of town was built in the 1400’s and it is a marvel to behold. Right adjacent to it are the Golden Doors to Heaven. It is all breathtaking and just beautiful to see the amazing structures.
Our trip concluded back in Rome. This time we stayed at the Hotel Splendide Royal. What a way to go out. We ate our last two dinners at Harry’s Bar (the place that everyone who’s anyone must eat at) or so they say anyway, and then we conclude with the indescribable Mirabelle at the top of the Splendide Royal hotel. The breathtaking view is only out done by the sumptuous food.
Amazingly considering all of the delicious food we consumed, we did not put on any weight on our trip. That is pretty amazing is you ask me and it is all do to our life changing diet planned by our nutritionist Kira. She keeps it so simple and takes no excuses from her clients. We really appreciated her cusom teachings and suggestions on this incredible trip.
As a final thought, I will tell you that although I did learn several valuable lessons from observing the Italian lifestyle, I also realized some very profound things about life back home in America. As good as the Italian food was,ours is better. Not only that, it’s consistently better all over the place. Our cars and homes and stores are bigger and better too. Unless you have traveled abroad (and really paid attention) you cannot possibly know how good we have it. I loved visiting Italy, but I love living in America. We do focus on material things a bit too much, and do burn the candle at both ends too, but all in all, I could not imagine living anywhere else.
I truly hope that you take the time and money to do a trip like this with your family (or by yourself) before your time on earth is done. You can do anything you set your mind and your heart to. Walt Disney said it best, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
A View From The Edge!!!
Well, it’s the weekend following, A View From the Edge, and I’m finally getting caught up on my sleep. My main man, Monico Perez and I had been working 15+ hour days for several weeks leading up to the show. We were actually editing the entire new CD series entitled Drive Time University AND preparing for The View.
This is the first year that the crowd was too big for a conventional theater, so we had to make the move to an arena. We had a great experience at the Special Events Center in Garland (Dallas) Texas. My lighting director really stepped up in a big way to help us make the move from a theater to an arena. She brought and old colleague from Fellowship Church, Mike Walker, to run the production. Mike is amazingly talented and helped us with a variety of special effects we had never used like making it snow in the arena, fly me on and off stage a few times and much more. We went all out with special effects and our sets, which have always been the responsibility of my good friend Richard Montez from Cornerstone Ministries. Richard literally travels all over the world doing productions for Christian Churches. We have been the only secular show he has done for quite some time. He out did himself as usual.
We had many additional crack members of our crew that made the weekend a tremendous success lead by the indispensible Frank Peebles.
We started the show at 7:30 Friday night and hit the ground running. The crowd was definitely shocked to see the opening character fly out of the stage to end the first skit. That set the stage for the best View we have ever done. We had over 2500 people in attendance at the event, and we have been inundated with emails, text messages and calls to assure us it was just that; an overwhelming success!
Saturday featured a character with a class of students, never seen before. WV staff member Ric stole the show when, because of bad behavior, he was banished to sit time out, and subsequently fell asleep in the most odd position you could imagine. The crowd laughed and laughed, but also learned one of the best lessons of the weekend. We ended Saturday night about 10pm on an electric high note that was just felt throughout the arena.
Sunday featured various characters that were new to the WorldVentures Reps, featuring The French Chef, Forest Gump and Batman. The President of WorldVentures led an unbelievable auction to raise funds for Big Brother Big Sister. Local BBBS CEO, Charles Pierson watched in awe as the top leaders in WV helped raise over $60,000 which was matched by WorldVentures for a total of over $120,000 !!! We also had about 50 people volunteer to become Big Brothers or Sisters themselves. What an amazing success!
Robert Oblon also awarded the first annual Kim Eaton (Hero) Award to the inspiring WV leader Byron Schragg. Byron and his family qualified for the free lunch plan when he joined WV and didn’t even have a car. He and his wife Susan are now run one of the most successful distributorships in the whole company. Kim Eaton passed away earlier this year and had over 1000 people at her memorial service. She was a true inspiration, and Byron was a most deserving inaugural winner of her award. Byron and Susan were very emotional when they were honored and gave a very heartfelt acceptance speech.
WorldVentures also presented one of the lucky View attendees with a Brand New Mercedes sedan. Everyone who was in attendance had a chance to go home with the car. We drew 10 people’s names out of a hopper on the stage and had the 10 people pick a key and see which one started the Mercedes. The winner turned the victorious key shortly after midnight.
The show culminated with George Washington visiting the country that he is the father of, to give a State of the Union address to the WV crowd. It was a very patriotic moment. We ended the character with a moving video set to the Star Spangled Banner and then followed that up with a live performance by local singing phenomenon, Rob Johnson, singing Proud to be an American. By the time he concluded the song, the arena was literally vibrating with a sense of patriotism and honor!
I finished the show by singing a song of my own, with the help of my good friend and professional musician, Eddie Head. We played a song that pretty much summed up the message of the entire 30 hour weekend, Live Like You Were Dying, by Tim McGraw. I urged the crowd to take that challenge for the next 12 months, in memory of Kim Eaton, and to live their own lives in a way that they have never experienced.
As I said the accolades have been streaming in ever since. It is such an honor for my wife Kelly and I to serve the amazing reps in WorldVentures. We have never felt so welcome and at home in our lives. WE offer a sincere thank you to Mike and Wayne for giving us a chance to be a part of such an amazing family. We also thank Dan Stammen and Robert Oblon who make the entire experience worth doing everyday, and finally to the hard working WV reps who paid the price to be there both literally and figuratively. What an amazing group of champions.
We will be putting a form on www.wvview.com very soon to have you name your three favorite characters if you attended the event. As I said in the beginning of the blog, I am finally getting back to normal and am already looking forward to teeing it up all over again in 2009!
What a Weekend
Wow,
Just got back from a record breaking, fun filled weekend in Vegas. We did an Acceleration Workshop for WorldVentures at The Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. We had our largest Acceleration to date with close to 1,600 people in attendance!
We started off the trip on Thursday night with some gambling and taking in the midnight show of The Dark Night. (The latest installment of the Batman movies) What a movie !!! It was not just the best Superhero movie of the year, it was arguably the best movie of the year, period !
Heath Ledger was truly amazing. He played a truly twisted Joker. He NEEDS to win the Oscar! I am a Batman fan way back to the old 60’s TV series. It has always been my favorite. I actually had dinner as a child with Adam West (the original TV Batman) I have enjoyed the past movies to some degree, but the last two have been head and shoulders above the rest. Christian Bale plays the role perfectly. The writing/ acting/ editing, etc was all amazing. The fastest 2 and a half hours of my life. Definitely not for little kids though. I could see it having an R rating.
The actual training was excellent. We had so many people expressing their appreciation for our trainers, Dave Watson, Troy Brown and Jefferson Santos. They all were fantastic. WorldVentures is about to hit some very serious momentum. A company like this comes around once every couple of decades!
Our next event is in Minneapolis on August 15-17. The leaders there are also looking to bring in another record crowd. The resturant at the top of THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay, miX was incredible. The view, the decor, and especially the food. Make sure you go there the next time you are in Vegas.
The tables did not treat us too well, but we had enough common sense to leave them rather quickly. Monico and Robert and Wayne all took a helicopter ride over the grand canyon on Monday. It was too early for my liking, but they obviously gave it rave reviews.
That’s all for now. Just lovin life!
Wimbledon Classic
I have been a fan of Tennis from the first time that I saw live match at the US Open at Forest Hills in 1975. Back then Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors were dominating the sport. Martina Navatrilova and Bjorn Borg were just coming onto the scene.
I will never forget being at my college girlfriend’s house on the 4th of July in ‘81 and seeing the epic battle between Borg and John McEnroe. As the years have gone by, I was certain that would be the greatest match I would ever see.
I was wrong. This Sunday Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had the match of the a lifetime. It was the same center court of Wimbledon that Borg and McEnroe had done battle on 27 years ago. The similarities between the rivalry of Borg/McEnroe and Federer/Nadal are amazing. In both cases, the current champion had won a record 5 Wimbledon’s in a row. In both, the young upstart was finally trying to knock the king off of their throne. And, most similarly, the tennis was at such a high level that it was almost unbelievable.
At the most tense times, both players were hitting shots that were as exceptional you could hit. It truly was a joy to watch. John McEnroe, who is now the commentator for the Wimbledon Championships, is often very critical of the players efforts. Even he admitted, that it was the greatest match that he had ever seen.
Nadal (the underdog) went up 2 sets to 0 (best of 5) He was in control. Fedrer dug in and forced a sudden death tie breaker to determine the 3rd set. Federer won it, and it seemed like the momentum might be shifting. The 4th set was another amazing monument to the game. It too ended in a tie breaker. Nadal was up by 4 points and only needed 2 more to win it all. Federer went to another gear and hit some of the most amazing shots I have ever seen under pressure. He got the tiebreaker even and it went on and on till Federer finally won it in dramatic fashion. Nadal had to be devastated. How could he not be. He had the champ on the ropes and let him go. I would have bet ANYTHING that Federer was going to clobber Nadal in the 5th, and final set.
He did not. Nadal dug deep and acted as if nothing bad had happened. Watching that 5th set was one of the most pleasurable times of my life. Both men played like the truest of champions. The match went on for close to 5 hours (the longest final match in the history of the event). It was a shame that anyone had to lose, but in the final moments, Nadal was slightly better and won his first Wimbledon title.
Nadal was asked how in the world he kept his composure after the devastating 4th set loss. He said he talked briefly to his uncle at a break and he reminded him to STAY POSITIVE no matter what. I have been teaching the value of positive thinking for 20 years. It is always a blessing to see people put it into action in their lives, but to see it play out on such a big stage, was truly incredible.
Congrats to Nadal, his uncle, and their positive mental attitudes !!!
In Memory of Kim Eaton
It’s hard to believe Kim Eaton is no longer with us. It was hard to believe that she was sick when I received a call about a year and a half ago. At that point I had only known Kim for about 18 months. She exploded at me on a Friday night in March when she walked across the stage at an open WorldVentures business presentation and took about 60 seconds to tell what she had accomplished with the company up until that point.
To say she got my attention would be the understatement of the year. I was observing WorldVentures for the first time. (I have gone on to become their Director of Training) I was listening intently to everything that was said by the company’s co-founder Mike Azcue, and it’s number one income earner, Steve Little. There were a number of others who took the stage before Kim to share their experiences with the company. While they all did a wonderful job, none of them could hold a candle for what was about to happen.
I have been to thousands of such business presentations over the last 20 years, and heard thousands of people tell their stories, but Kim immediately went to the top of the list. This petite woman spoke with the power and authority of a top politician or military leader. Everyone in the room stopped whatever they were doing and tuned into Kim’s message. Her words were even more eloquent than the power that she commanded the stage with. When she was done with her one minute dissertation, I was ready to be involved with the company!
That was just the beginning. I was blessed to develop a relationship with Kim. I found out how amazingly bright and talented she was. She was also one of the most compassionate people that God ever put on this earth. She had a burning desire to rise above the first 40 years of her life, where she did what she was expected to do, and live her life to the fullest with the time she had remaining. She was one of the greatest speakers that I have ever seen (and I have seen them all). Her ultimate goal was to become a trainer with WorldVentures so she could share her passion and knowledge with others who wanted to breakthrough in their lives. She was, to say the least, a powerhouse!
That is why I was shocked when I received a call from my good friend Stephanie telling me that Kim was in the hospital, and that it was very serious. She went on to say that Kim did not want anyone to know what was going on. I went about the rest of my busy day in Dallas, but that night me and my good buddy, Monico sneaked into the hospital where she was being treated.
She was asleep when we walked into the room, but as divinely guided, she suddenly woke up, and proceeded to ball us out for being there. Once we convinced her that we had risked life and limb to be there (a gross exaggeration) she relaxed and talked with us. I later found out that she had a tumor burst through her chest, and the tests revealed stage four breast cancer. The doctors gave her about one month to live.
All Kim said was that she needed to “get up out of there” and get to Miami for a weekend Acceleration training with WorldVentures. We laughed at her. We knew she could not possibly be serious. We spent some time with her just chatting, said a few prayers and were on our way.
I was on stage Friday night in Miami when I saw Kim walk in the room. I was legitimately stunned. I thought she was crazy, but I later realized that was the only way that Kim knew how to live; all out, all the time!
The next 12 months saw Kim get weaker and weaker. She was already a slim lady, but she became frighteningly thin. She refused to follow traditional medicine and take Chemotherapy, etc. Rather, she completely adjusted her diet and perused alternative health options.
One year later, Kim was in Florida again for Acceleration training. She was sitting by herself at the pool at the Dolphin resort at Disney World when I saw her. I spent about a half an hour with her just catching up on things. I realized from that conversation that the main thing that was keeping Kim alive was her connection with all the people that she saw every month at trainings from her WorldVentures family, along with the positive, uplifting message that the training itself brought her.
She was in so much pain, and had to spend super human strength just to make it to the events. Simple things like traveling, bathing, and dressing took massive efforts on her part. She had not missed a training event since she was diagnosed, which included two marathon events called Journey and A View From the Edge.
She did not care what price she had to pay, she was going to be there. I sensed that conversation I had with her in Orlando would be one of our last. She had developed tumors in 4 other parts of her body by then. The doctors were astonished that she could even walk, let alone continue to function as she did. We spent the Monday after the training at EPCOT in Disney World with Kim and about a dozen close friends. She had never been, but I assure you, she enjoyed that day as much as any little child ever did. There are many images that I take from that day that I will never forget.
During all this time, WorldVentures President, Robert Oblon was in daily contact with Kim. The bond and friendship that they forged was something right out of a movie. Even though WorldVentures is on track to do 100 Million in sales in their third year, and Robert routinely works 12-15 hour days, he always made time for Kim.
Robert orchestrated raising funds to send Kim to one of the finest cancer clinics in the world shortly after the Orlando event. After the expert doctors there felt as if there was nothing that they could do for her, we all knew the end was coming soon. Robert helped get her an apartment on the beach in southern California so she could live her last weeks in a beautiful setting. A number of incredible ladies volunteered as caregivers for Kim while she was there as well.
I heard through the grapevine that she was on her last legs when I was conducting a training in Nashville. When I got a call from Robert a couple of days later, I knew it as soon as I saw his name on the caller ID.
Kim had always wanted to inspire people to greatness. In her own mind, she had not achieved enough production in her business to be able to do so. What Kim did not realize, was that in overcoming the challenges she faced in the last 18 months of her life, she would end up setting an example that would inspire people to a much larger degree than anyone would ever be able to do through their business production.
Close to 1000 people turned out for Kim’s memorial service. Many of them were part of the WorldVentures family. The service was a combination of loved ones sharing their favorite memories of Kim, and Robert reading a series of emails that Kim had sent him over those special 18 months. Kim’s legacy was cemented that day. People probably learned more from Kim through her emails to Robert, about having a successful life, than they would have learned from attending seminars for 20 years.
Ironically, Kim had finally reached her goal to become a WorldVentures trainer. It was not in the way that she had envisioned, but she had achieved it just the same. Kim’s words will be immortalized for years to come. Every year at our biggest event of the year, (A View From the Edge) we will be giving out an award to the most inspiring rep in the company for the previous twelve months. The award winner will be held to the highest standard. They will be someone who displays outstanding character and unparalled determination. They will be the most celebrated rep in all of WorldVentures for that next year, because they will have received the most prestigious award the company offers; Kim Eaton Award.
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