It is hard to put into words the excitement and nervousness I had leading up to my first Coaching by Transform Epic Weekend. This would be the first time that I would meet my coach, Bruce Pitcher, in person. The coach I had learned to trust, lean on, and share my fears, failures and successes with for almost a year. The coach who felt like a brother I never had. The person who, besides my husband, was my biggest supporter in my journey. It would also be the first time to meet my amazing team. People with whom I had shared intimate details of my journey. At first strangers, and now, my Champ Within family. People I could share more with than some of my close friends and even family.
As I grew closer to leaving for the trip to Phoenix, AZ, the fears began to creep in. Being a natural introvert, would I fit in with the group? Many of those attending from my team had attended the first Epic Weekend the previous August. I was nervous that my introvert-self would make me clam up a bit. On top of that, I had not been in a plane in a year. My last plane trip was the trip to Disney World with my husband, Scott, and I had to have a belt extender for the airplane seat. How would the seatbelt fit this time? Would people purposely avoid sitting next to me on the plane (Southwest where you can pick any seat)? All these fears regarding the trip proved just as fear always is False Evidence Appearing Real.
As I sat waiting for my flight, I could feel the excitement building. Up to that point, I don’t think it had really hit me fully that I was going to Phoenix. Epic Weekend, the brainchild of my amazing coach, was going to be even bigger and better than the ones before. We had people from all the teams, not just Team Bruce that would be attending. Over 100 people were meeting up in Phoenix for a weekend full of workouts, fun, photo shoot and learning as much as we could from all the amazing coaches. In addition, the privilege of meeting the people who have poured their lives into Transform: Chris and Heidi Powell and the co-owners that are behind the scenes.
Just the amazing opportunity to meet Chris, Heidi and Bruce made me a nervous wreck. I was so afraid I would burst into tears the moment I met them. I was worried I would be blubbering idiot trying to covey to them how much they had changed my life and the lives of my husband, kids, mom, aunt, cousin, and numerous friends that are now Transform app members. Every time the thought crossed my mind of meeting them, I would tear up. In fact, it makes me tear up now thinking about it. How can you effectively put into words to someone how much of an impact they have had? I just prayed that when the time came, the words would flow and the tears would not.
The time came to board the plane, I was in “A” boarding group and found a seat half-way down the plane over the wings by the window. It was my go-to seat as I knew the window seat always had a little bit more “elbow room”. I looked at the belt. Ok…here goes nothing. I did my typical, extend it as far as it will go before I tried to buckle. Oh my goodness!! Not only did it buckle with ease, I had to tighten it a good few inches. I am sure I looked like a clown with the huge smile on my face. I tried to take a picture without drawing attention. Fear #1 GONE!
Next up…would anyone willingly sit in the middle seat? YUP! Not only did the aisle seat find an owner quickly, but not too long after that a young lady sat next to me and we had plenty of space. In the past, I would try to scrunch myself up as close to the window as possible to give the middle-seat person the most room possible. This time, it was not needed! Fear #2 GONE!
The flight was smooth and I grew more and more excited. When I landed in Phoenix, I had already planned to catch an UBER with Susan. She was one of our co-coaches and also works in the background of the Transform app. She also happens to be the one that I wrote about in my last post. I could not wait to also meet her in person. So many people that meant so much to me in one place!! I found her in baggage claim and I cannot explain that first hug. It was like long-time friends who had not seen each other in a long time. That’s how each hug would be from that moment on with all my teammates and Bruce. It is hard to explain, but they were the BEST hugs ever!!!
We caught an UBER and headed to the hotel. As we pulled up, there were several of my teammates headed out of the hotel to go shopping, etc. Again, THE BEST HUGS EVER! I also finally met in person my awesome roomie for the weekend, Mary. We got checked in and I put my bags in my room. Then, off to the registration table and dunk tank.
That’s when I met Bruce in person. I did not turn into a blubbering idiot (Fear #3 GONE), but I did tear up a bit. Again, BEST HUG EVER! We signed our waivers, got our shirts and swag bag and I got a signed copy of Bruce’s book. If you have not already, go on Amazon and get it: Larger Than Life by Bruce Pitcher.
The rest of the evening was filled with doing the dunk tank, which measures true body fat percentage, muscle mass, and what your ideal weight should be for your height, age and frame. Then we had a social hour and dinner. Slowly the rest of my team arrived and it was like we were family that just picked up right where we left off. Again, BEST HUGS EVER! My introvert-self did not come out and I found myself instantly comfortable.
That night, I found it hard to fall asleep. I was a ball of energy, emotions and excitement. The next day it was a hike, workout and a seminar with the coaches. I could not wait.
Check out my next blog post for more on Epic Weekend.
Transforming D. 