8 Blessings That Blew My Socks Off over the Last Eight Weeks!
One of my all-time favorite quotes from The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Time and time again, I have witnessed this truth but never at such lightning speed as in the last eight weeks. I couldn’t let this pass without sharing my experiences with you and expressing my gratitude to the universe and to all of you who have supported and cheered me on this new journey as an author.
1. March 16 marked the culmination of the year-long Mindful Play Leaders’ Lead to Succeed Program – a grassroots mindfulness training program that is a by-product of the tools of my award-winning book, The “Perfect” Parent. I am grateful to the Saugus Union School District for this fabulous opportunity to create a program for campus supervisors (yard duties) that would impact more than 10,000 students in 15 schools. This particular district has just approved the continuation of this program through 2016/2017 school year for before- and after- school staff as well. I am excited to announce that I am also currently in talks with a few other school districts about the implementation of this program. In a million years, I would have never imagined that this would happen because of writing a parenting book. Yes, the universe does conspire by recognizing and honoring our purpose and then taking us beyond our wildest imaginations.
2. April 8 – As you all know, I am a die-hard advocate of conscious and mindful parenting. As if getting to spend the weekend beside my friend Dr. Shefali Tsabary—whose work I so revere—wasn’t treat enough, I got to attend Oprah’s SuperSoul Sessions 2 event, where Dr. Shefali created a stir on stage with her invitation to parents to join the conscious parenting movement and become an awakened family. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss out on this powerful talk, which should be mandatory watching for every parent, grandparent, or child’s caretaker. The icing on the cake: I got to hang out backstage with India Arie, Eckhart Tolle, Caroline Myss, Amandla Stenberg, Shaka Senghor, and, yes, with the one and only, authentic, warm, and humble Oprah Winfrey.
3. April 12 – The “Perfect” Parent received its fourth award—the prestigious Silver Nautilus Book Award. I am humbled to join the list of recipients of this honor: Deepak Chopra, Malala Yousafzai, Eckhart Tolle, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, and Annie Burnside, to name but a few of my favorites.
4. April 25 – This was my thriller of the month! I got to meet and hang out with one of my kindest, most brilliant, and humble friends, Asha Dornfest. She endorsed my book before its launch in 2014, and I couldn’t wait to meet her in person while she was here on a book tour for her second book, Parent Hacks. Her smart shortcuts for life with kids are a must if you want to efficiently “edit your life”. After our get-together at Books and Cookies, we had a light bite and a fireside chat that filled my heart with the beauty and authenticity that radiates from this open-hearted soul. Asha recently received the Iris Award at the Mom 2.0 Summit in the category of Most Informative Content for her website, Parent Hacks. I’m so very proud of her for this much deserved honor.
5. April 30 – The Santa Clarita Valley Signal magazine published an article on the MPL campus supervisors’ school district program in the Saugus Union School District. The magazine’s spotlight on the Emotional Intelligence tool, Dealing with The Feeling, put a big smile on my face.
6. May 1 – L.A. Parent magazine covered the campus supervisors’ training and noted, “Recess can be fraught with cliques, bullying, fighting and hurt feelings. The workshops address these common issues and provide strategies to help ensure students have a positive playground experience.” I always felt that this program was going to empower and educate campus supervisors on the importance of their role as well as benefit children by resolving their emotions in a positive way, but reading the interviews and testimonials of the campus supervisors was definitely gratifying.
7. May 12 – Book awards these days are usually given out through email and social media announcements. Nautilus Book Awards, however, invited recipients to Chicago for an award presentation at Book Expo America – the largest book trade fair in the United States. It was an honor to meet industry experts, publishers, and publicists and stand next to fellow award recipients and renowned authors. I was also tickled to see my book on display at the entrance of the trade show.
8. May 13 – The combined highs of gratitude and adrenaline from the seven back-to-back blessings noted above were crowned by the most important one—our daughter’s graduation. Surrounded by the love and presence of friends, grandparents, and other family, my daughter, Nitasha Khetarpal, MBA, MIS, and co-president of the Questrom School of Business graduate program, ended her academic career with a beautiful ceremony that left us all proud and teary eyed. There is truly nothing greater than being surrounded by family and watching your children go through life, working hard and smart to manifest their hearts’ desires. As a graduation present, Nitasha requested that all attending the event join her in her newest craze—SoulCycle – and the infamous Boston Duck Tour. Ten of us made it to SoulCycle, and all 16 of us went on the Duck Tour. Watching the universe conspire in helping Nitasha achieve her wishes was magnificent!
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