Page 49 - Sandy Jackman Pantai Hotel

Lines in the Sand

When your life falls apart in front of your eyes, what gives you the strength Line One: Be Authentic
to lift yourself up and start all over again? This was the question I had to Line Two: View Every Experience as a Gift
By Lizzy Marples ask Annie M. Fonte, founder of a wonderful new program called Lines in the Line Three: Quiet Yourself So You Can Hear the Whisper of Destiny
Sand. Line Four: Embrace & Practice Surrender
Line Five: Astonish Yourself Every Day
The date was Monday October 22, 2007 at 4:30 pm, a moment that will Line Six: Do Right, Not Be Right
forever be frozen in Annie’s mind. It was the moment that her home in Ran- Line Seven: Be Impeccably Fiscally Disciplined
cho Santa Fe, California burned to the ground. If this wasn’t bad enough, Line Eight: Live Graciously
at the same time the fifteen year relationship she had been in was also Line Nine: Simply Be, Be Simply
"going up in flames." Line Ten: Leave a Dent
With her personal life in ruins, her professional life wasn’t doing much bet- “Lines in the Sand will be a challenging and invigorating journey. There will
ter. One of her companies was in the midst of a multi-million dollar lawsuit be hard questions that demand answers that are honest and certain. There
with a huge global company. Any one of these things would make a person will be moments of sadness and of great joy. There will be ‘ah ha’ moments
crumble, but Annie knew she had to re-imagine and re-create her life. She and times when you will want to close the book and put it on a shelf, never
said, “The great poet Rumi once said, ‘Set your life on fire.’ Rumi would be to return to its pages. You will recognize things about yourself that you
proud, I was all in!” don’t much care for and you will discover things that you would have never
imagined...good things, grand things: LIFE giving things.”
Annie began the journey of moving forward with great courage and deter-
mination. She explains, “Building a house from the ground up was never Annie’s group is a small intimate gathering of about 10 people and the
on my list of things to do. As a matter of fact I had never even given any sessions convene in a private barn where they take part in a life changing
thought to doing such a thing. GOD had other plans for me and who was year-long journey. They spend time in nature, mingling with horses and in
I to argue with the big guy. I was so broken from a failed relationship that the company of a few great dogs. “For six hours once a month we gather
my heart literally ached. My business partner and I were supposed to be in to explore, restore and reunite with our true essence…we imagine, design
Minneapolis, in the middle of freezing cold winter, meeting with attorneys in and dare to live an authentic life filled with joy and appreciation. We coura-
two weeks to continue our David and Goliath legal battle. I didn't even have geously become our real self. We get a little dust on our boots, we shed a
a coat, let alone anything else to wear. I lost almost everything I owned in few tears and we laugh…a lot”
the fire.”
Annie viewed these experiences as a gift. She continues, "I decided to For those who do not reside in San Diego, or for some reason cannot phys-
simply be with the loss and heartache. As humanly challenging as it was, I ically attend the meetings, Lines in the Sand will be available online starting
elected to accept all that each moment brought to me as if I had September 2014, allowing Annie
chosen it for myself. I was still; often. I went on walks; many. to help even more people.
I lived moment to moment and realized that being happy
and healed and safe was all a matter of choice. As the days, I asked Annie, what was one of
months, and now years passed I learned a lot...about myself, the most important things she
about others, about life and about love. Along the way (thou- learned from the experience San Diego
of losing her house? “It is a Woman
very humbling experience to
watch your house burn to the
ground. I never felt like a fire 49
"victim" and it was an identity
that I didn't embrace. I was
fortunate to have my dogs with
me, and my three horses made
it through the blazing night
like champions. I looked at it
as a cleansing experience. I
didn't have to decide what I
wanted to keep and what I
wanted to get rid of. Mother
Nature handled that part. She
decided everything must go
with the exception of me and
my animals. I quickly came
to the conclusion that all that
was lost were things. With the
sands of magazine pages, a bunch of books, a seminar here exception of a few keepsakes
and there, the support of friends and family and absolute de- everything could be replaced.
termination) I created Lines in the Sand: A 10 Step Invitation The process of rebuilding took
to Be Your Authentic Self. I created it because I want to help two years. In the course of
others live an authentic life...a life that is extraordinary...a life those two years a tremendous
worth living.” amount of renewal ensued. I
learned that I could live without
There are many programs out there taught by doctors, psy- those "things". I learned that
chologists and professors, but no one can understand the total devastation what I had was enough. I learned the freedom of letting go. I managed to
of such severe loss better than someone who lived through it and came find quiet moments in the chaos and that "home" isn't a place, it is a way of
back stronger and better than ever. Annie Fonte has done so. Her Lines in being....and, Lines in the Sand rose out of those ashes.
the Sand Program takes a year to complete and includes the following ten
lines: For more information visit Annie M. Fonte’s site at www.meetmeatthebarn.
com.