Transformission

By Donna Apidone

What makes life worth living? Donna Apidone shares the journeys of 11 people who asked that question. They all moved beyond their limitations, felt inspiration and found purpose. Their stories are very different, but they have one thing in common: TransForMission.
Follow the five steps of the TransForMission Path and find your own inspiration and purpose.
This isnt a how-to. Its a will-do and a how-did-you?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452518152

Donna Apidone

People know they can count on Donna Apidone. She is a popular public radio host and respected interviewer. In news programs, and as a guide to classical and roots music, she has built a reputation for being truthful, reliable and funny. For 10 years, Donna has led workshops and private sessions on the TransForMission Path. She lives in northern California. http://www.x4mission.com

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Copyright © 2014 Donna Apidone.

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 publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-1814-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-1816-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-1815-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014912185

Balboa Press rev. date: 7/21/2014

Contents

Introduction

Walking The Path

There Is No Time Like The Present

TransFormission

The TransFormission Path

Step 1 Where Are You?

Walking The Path To Clarity

Implementing Step 1: Where Are You?

Step 2 What Are You Willing To Release?

Walking The Path To Freedom

Implementing Step 2: What Are You Willing To Release?

Step 3 What Are You Willing To Accept?

Walking The Path To Abundance

Implementing Step 3: What Are You Willing To Accept?

Step 4 Open The Space—Listen And Say Yes

Walking The Path To Surrender

Implementing Step 4: Open The Space—Listen And Say Yes

Step 5 Take Authentic Action

Walking the Path to Choice

Implementing Step 5: Take Authentic Action

One More Thing

Acknowledgments

Introduction

When I was a teenager, my head was filled with all the doubt that can come with that age. I was insecure, and I tried to be invisible so no one would notice my hair and my clothes and all the other things I thought were shortcomings. I was easily intimidated by other kids I perceived as smarter and cuter and more popular. I was sure no one liked me. I often felt I could not do anything right. In short, I was fifteen years old.

I got up early each morning to catch the school bus. In the cold winter months, I would stand in the dark at the end of the driveway and prepare to loathe the day.

On those school mornings, I was the first one awake in our house. My mother was often asleep when I left, but Dad was usually up and getting ready for work.

As I would walk out the front door, filled with dread, my father would say to me, You can do anything you set your mind to do.

In my teenage mind, I thought, Yeah, sure. You have no idea how it is.

He knew. Of course he knew. He saw my potential when I could not see it for myself. He understood the power of positive thinking.

My father died just a few years later, when I was in college.

By the time I started to coach groups in the process of Transformation, I was in my forties, and I was able to see with a clarity I had not previously experienced. My dad’s message, which I had not thought about since high school, came back to my mind in capital letters, with exclamation points and flashing lights.

Whether he said it to me twice or a thousand times, I do not recall. I wonder if he knew the impact of his message. Looking back, I think those few words may have been his greatest gift to me. And they are my gift to you:

You can do anything you set your mind to do.

Walking the Path

I love when my inner voice speaks to me. It is my conscience, my arbiter of wisdom and good taste. It always tells the truth, whether or not I want to hear it. My inner voice was loud and clear when I drove to the desert a few years ago, marveling at the arid landscape. The sage and mesquite gave the mountains the soft appearance of felt and velvet, with occasional points of cactus. The desert was a metaphor for my life. Everything looked soft and fuzzy on the outside, but something very sharp was trying to break through.

My trip to the desert was a retreat. I went to reflect and meditate. I thought a drive through the mountains and into the desert would calm and center me. The terrain of the Southwest is beautiful and barren. It was the perfect place to open up to all the possibilities of my life, and that is what I did. By emptying all the junk from my heart and mind, I made space for my own Transformation, and I found the voice to express it.

As a journalist, I listen and collect facts. I am an observer. My opinion is not part of the news coverage. My job is to provide information, so you can form your own opinion.

I am also trained as a life coach and interfaith minister, and I pursued those courses of study to gain a deeper understanding of people in the news. In this capacity, I am often asked to provide guidance, but again, my opinion is not necessary. Most people already know what to do. What they want from me is a little nudge in the right direction. I use the same tools as in journalism—listen and collect facts. I provide feedback by repeating, in essence, what they have told me. I hold up the mirror in which people see themselves.

TransForMission came as I reconciled my career, my training, and my passion. I searched for a way to merge all the pieces. I looked in the mirror. I found the Path. I checked the facts. I verified that what worked for me also applied to others. I listened to hundreds of people in workshops over the course of nine years, and I made adjustments as I heard their journeys. For this book, I interviewed ten people (none of whom were workshop participants) about their life-changing processes; I added notes from an inspiring memoir. The result reports the wisdom of the group. I have included my own experience when it can serve as an example of a