Hello! Any young golfers who are in town with their parents this week are invited to attend a FREE Champion-Activation workshop here in Pinehurst. Learn the secrets of process-oriented goals, how to be a winner despite your score, and how to focus and think like a champion. Contact me for more information at: veronica@truechampioncoaching.com. Wed. at 4 here in Pinehurst!
I am very excited to offer my first True Champion Coaching Day for women who are competitive in golf and who want to up their game and lives. When I began developing this golf-to-life program I realized that so many women plug along and want to leap out of their comfort zone, but don’t know how. The good news is, it doesn’t begin with hitting more balls or taking more lessons. It begins with your mindset and belief system. In the True Champion workshop you will learn a proven process to help lift you out of the old and into the new with your golf swing and life swing. Join other women just like you who want to release more of the champion within. For more information or to sign-up on-line go to: http://truechampioncoaching.com/gameon. Hope to see you in Pinehurst in June!
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Hello! Thanks so much for visiting my blog. If you happen to like the idea of white ball therapy or are interested in other kinds of coaching, please contact me at veronica@truechampioncoaching.com or 757-407-1907. You can also visit my website at: www.truechampioncoaching.com. I am also available to speak at, coach, and consult your group, family, or organization. I am looking for a beta group to test out my 9 hole relationship building course. Please contact me if you would like to engage in an experiential learning coaching program focusing on building relationships using golf as an assessment tool. Have a great day! Veronica
Have a great day! Veronica
White Ball Therapy
This past Thursday I competed in the U.S. Women’s Open Qualifier. Although I did not win one of the three coveted spots that would grant me the honor of returning to my hometown of Pittsburgh where I played Oakmont Country Club as a teenager, the quest was well worth it. My stellar 87 was the best bad round of my professional career, as it capped off a five month journey to reclaim myself afer a long season of loss. And reclaim I did. What I discovered in my quest to qualify was the power of golf to bring healing to a disengaged soul. My entry into white ball therapy all began with a phone call from my friend and former coach, Jon Corliss, on Christmas day.
“Veronica, I think it is time for you to pursue a championship. It’s been a while now since you have set a golf goal and gone after it.” I hemmed and hawed at Jon’s loving provocation. “The last time I tried qualifying for the Open was three years ago and I didn’t make it. It’s been ten years since I have fully dedicated myself to an all out quest. I felt like such a failure when I did not accomplish my goal of qualifying, even though I went from shooting 80 to 69 in six months time.” Jon counter-responded: “The only way to work through a failed championship quest is to enter another championship.”
His words rang true. I’ve spent a decade trying to move forward with my life, but never really resolved my own twin towers falling which included life losses and disappointments well beyond my golf failures. I knew that authentic success begins with a positive outlook from within, and until I had some places of my soul healed, no attempt on the outside would prove fruitful. “You got me, Jon. I’m in, if you will coach me along my way again.” “Of course I will,” Jon quickly responded. “Your focus this time will not be the result. Your focus this time will be the process only. Your goal is to fully engage your heart in the process of preparing for a championship.” “Wow!,” I thought, “This is a goal I can respond to. If I see the process as the goal, I can not fail.” I knew from my own coaching practice that defining success from the start of any goal-journeying, is key. My heart leaped with a fresh inhalation of life. “Where do we begin?”
Jon’s brilliance as a coach, player, and fitness trainer is his ability to break a quest down into processes. “We begin by identifying the processes you will need to practice and have into place for your tournament. To walk 36 holes in one day, you will need to be able to walk 14 miles in one day. Let’s start with walking up to an hour a day and adding one minute on to each day. You’ll need to do 150 lunges and 150 twisting motions. You will also need to hit 50 good short game shots, 50 good long game shots, and 50 good putts each practice session. With the time element you are dealing with, you can only focus on one swing change, and we’ll need to determine when you switch from practice mode into playing mode.” Voila! All of a sudden my mind had a structure to engage in, process targets, achievable goals. These simple but clear processes began to create new tracks in my left brain, which had been so shut down from mountains of setbacks. I literally felt my left brain re-awakening with the laying down of these very clear tracks.
Next–since Jon was in Virginia, and I was in North Carolina, I needed to find a local swing coach. I prayed about who that should be. This was the first time I prayed about such a decision. Kelly Mitchum, from Pinehurst Resort, came to mind. I scheduled one lesson a week with Kelly, who was the perfect choice. His laid back style, humor, and keen eye was just what I needed. I told him, “Kelly, I have two months to qualify for the Open. I need some open heart surgery on my swing. I have this over-the-top move which is so debilitating to my hitting the ball well.” “If you really want to make a change, we’ll just work on one change. You need to move your hands to a laid off position at the top,” he replied. We worked and worked on it until I finally captured the feeling. “This feels twisted,” I said. “No,” Kelly replied. “What you were doing was twisted. Getting into the right position at the top of your swing is untwisted. You have been doing this for so long that what feels wrong for you is actually right.” He was impressed that I actually could do my new move within the first few lessons. The difference between where my old move was at the top of my backswing and my new move was a whopping 55 degrees. We discovered that I could get to impact seven frames quicker with my new move than my old move. I was filled with fresh hope! Change was actually possible and taking place.
Next–I met Scott, a Titlest-certified golf specific trainer. I hired him to help me with my golf fitness goals. I discovered that golf after 50 requires special attention to releasing the stress that accumulates into your muscles after demanding practice sessions. His myofacial techniques helped me a lot to release pain, recapture energy, and build body-awareness as an athlete once again.
I was beginning to see how white ball therapy was taking effect: setting an achievable process-oriented goal, awakening and directing my left-brain with clear-cut processes, creating physical strength and body-awareness, developing a support team of mentors, and then identifying my caddy club which is a group of friends who would cheer me along my way. Ova Jean was my chief caddy club member.
A dear friend whose husband recently passed away, we became a great support team for one another. Ova Jean opened up her home to me on the weekends, so I could come to Pinehurst to play and practice. I would help her to exercise, and provide some much needed company and support. She offered encouragement and support to me in a way my own mother was not able to. In fact, the two months I spent coming to Ova Jean’s on the weekends brought tremendous emotional healing to me. Home was not a safe emotional place for me, and her just being open and emotionally present, even in the midst of her own grief recovery, was a tremendous gift to me. “I just want to help you!” she would say all the time. She even gifted me a trip to the Pinehurst Spa when I was utterly fatigued. That special day I felt a restoration of my soul as a woman. Let’s face it–there’s nothing about golf that is feminine, and my trip to the spa helped me re-capture my feminine energy in a way that golf drained it.
Other friends came along to offer their cheers and well-wishes, and I began to experience favor again. It was a blessing to have the privilege of playing various golf courses in the area, and practicing one afternoon at the exclusive practice range where only the Duke Golf team is allowed to practice. I made some special connections at the Young Life Golf Tournament, and met a new spiritual father at another tournament. Ann and Katy, two outstanding college students whom I have mentored, encouraged me along the way. People were coming back into my life again, after being disconnected for so long during my care-taking years with Mom. It was all happening through my golf quest.
The other thing that white ball therapy revealed to me was that questing does have its setbacks, but that doesn’t mean you quit. Early on, I was rushed to the hospital with an excruciating kidney stone attack. My condition, which I am still dealing with, zapped me of about half of my energy. A painful shoulder condition re-surfaced after hitting a lot of balls. I realized that my swing change was going to be a long term fix, when I thought I could get it right away. What I was able to execute on the practice range I was not able to do adding speed and the pressure of competitive play. At one point, I lost all my motivation.
That’s where my faith came in. What do you do when you have real weaknesses? I wanted to give up. My best friend in golf from my mini-tour years, Isabelle, a real champ, encouraged me to turn my weaknesses over to God and allow Him to work through them. I did. It was new for me to acknowledge my weaknesses, and allow myself to receive strength from others, holding up the weakness like an empty cavity that I needed others to fill. This was a vulnerable place for me, but one where I saw God work the most. Ugonna, a friend who was praying for me gave me a Scripture that empowered me from Hebrews 10:35,36:
Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away and enjoy to the full what is promised.
This spiritual empowerment kept me in the game and committed to “engaging my heart in the process of preparing for a championship” when I wanted to quit. I could not see how I could score in a competitive situation with my “old swing.” I had to commit to my goal, which was not the result, but the process.
Two more sources of empowerment came to fill up my empty bowl. I met Dr. Richard Coop, friend and noted sports psychologist, at the Charlotte P.G.A. tournament. He graciously agreed to meet with me a few days before the Qualifier. I was so focused on my swing mechanics that I didn’t know how to get my head in play mode. Dr. Coop did that in about 30 minutes. Just that morning, I wanted to withdraw from the tournament because I knew I was not where I wanted to be health-wise and swing-wise to even have a chance. We still agreed to meet, despite the morning rain. When I arrived at Old Chatam, the sun broke out. After a wonderful visit of catching up, we headed out to the range. “Motion comes from motion. It’s hard to create motion from a static place,” he instructed. After giving me a few motion drills, I was wacking the ball just great. My head was in the game. I felt like a player! It was such an amazing experience to have someone, a true mental wizard, clear out your head, in just a few minutes! I thought about Dr. Coop’s statement on motion, and how it was working for my life, too. Just getting into motion on my golf goal was getting me back into motion in my life. Nothing replaces action when action is needed, When loss characterizes a season of your life, it is easy to get stuck in inertia. Nothing will change that–not hope, prayer, or thinking. The only thing that creates motion in your life is motion. White ball therapy was teaching me to “get moving.” Just take imperfect action and get going.
My other bowl-filler was my caddy, Alan. I met Alan and his wife while playing through their foursome during a practice round at Carolina Trace, the site of the Qualifier. I just happened to ask him if he knew of a caddy at the club, and he graciously offered to caddy for me himself. I didn’t know until later that Alan holds a plus 1 handicap. In addition to being a great golfer, he knew the course better than anyone else at the club. I had been handed a secret weapon. I didn’t even need to keep detailed notes on the course, because Alan knew every inch and was a very strategic player. The support and shot of empowerment I felt from Alan’s competence, leadership, and positive encouragement was priceless.
When the day of the Qualifier arrived, I was as ready as I was going to be. It was such a new experience for me to enter the tournament as a woman who was playing golf, as opposed to a golfer who was out to conquer the course. I felt such a strange mix of peace, freedom, and emotional presence that I knew I had gone through some kind of personal passageway and healing just by showing up at the first tee. Much to my great surprise, both Ann and Katy showed up to follow my play, along with Ova Jean who met me at the 18th hole after the first round.
It was such a pleasure to play with Stacey Kim, a sophomore from Duke, my alma mater. Seeing this 20 year old golf whiz reminded me of when I played for Duke as a rising whiz myself, over 30 years ago. Watching Stacey made me realize how much of a victory it was for me just to be out there with all the young whipper-snappers, as I am sure I was the oldest competitor there. As anticipated, my swing did not hold up, and about the 16th hole, I began to get a heat stroke. There was no way I was going to make it through the heat and humidity a second round, especially with my kidney stone condition. “If you don’t have to do it,” Alan suggested, “I wouldn’t. It’s not worth making your health condition worse.” It was a totally new thing for me to set a limit for myself and know that was the most important thing. For the second time in my life, I withdrew from a tournament. The first time was when I almost collapsed on the golf course because I pushed myself too hard and didn’t know how to set limits for myself. That tendency produced seventeen years of working through a chronic fatigue syndrome. Setting a limit for myself on the golf course brought me full circle, and was another facet of white ball therapy that produced healing for me.
So the highlight of my day was having lunch with my trusted supporters who were there for me: Ova Jean, Alan, Katy, and Ann. I ate, laughed, replenished myself, and enjoyed some extraordinary conversation, with not one thought of failure, defeat, or let-down in any way.
As we left the course, I thought about all the people who I became aware of through my quest who had their own championships to pursue: Alan’s wife who is a breast cancer survivor, Ova Jean who is navigating through grief recovery, Isabelle who has suffered tremendous health challenges that affected her golf career, Ann and Katy who are deciding on career tracks after college and defining who they are in the world, Scott who is pressing through the struggle of launching a business, Jon who is struggling to get to the next level of senior tour play. We all have our championships—our processes of struggle, contest, and conquest.
I then reflected on my own struggle and contest–of where I was just eight months prior–in the hospital due to a total mental and emotional breakdown. The thought that kept running across my mind at the time was, “I am totally alone. I have no support in the world, no sense of real family since Mom died.” That thinking kept sabotaging my life and forward motion after my season of loss. The doctor wanted to put me on drugs to help me get through that season, but I knew that the answer for me was not drugs, but a new reality of community, connectedness to vital relationships, and getting unstuck in my old patterns of thinking–of knowing others and being known. I was determined to not stop at the struggle and contest, but to get through all the way to conquest.
I didn’t know how it was going to happen, but I am grateful for discovering the power of white ball therapy to put my soul back into proper alignment with life, making the best bad round of my life a meaningful one. Today I am healed.
Veronica Karaman is a speaker, certified life-coach and golf professional in Cary, NC. She can be reached at veronica@truechampioncoaching.
After my barking dog, Teddy-boy, prematurely ended my practice session at Old Chatum, I headed out towards the Duke University Golf Course to finish my practice session. I needed to work on my 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 yard shots. The course I am playing is 6,700 yards long, and there are several holes I can not get on in two. Maybel that will change with Dr. Coop’s coaching, but I wante to get the feel of those varying distances. The only place I knew I could go is the very exclusive practice range used ONLY by the Duke University Golf Team. Fortunately, the Duke Women’s Coach, Dan Brooks, was in. He was very gracious to bestow on me “an hour of practice time” for my short game. As a former Duke University golf team player, it was nice to know I still had some favor with the golf team department! It just got through pouring down rain, and my barking dog at the prior range was now a wet dog in my car. I left the windows open for him, but realized I needed to take him with me to a very rarely seen place on earth: the magnificently manicured practice area of the best women’s golf team in the nation. As Teddy-boy and I headed down the path to the elite practice field, we encountered a sign at the entrance: “Practice like a champion.” Good words! What does a champion practice like? With focus, fully present, with intent and purpose. That I did, while my wet dog rolled around the green grass, and was quickly now becoming a green dog. The low lying terrain was even more quickly becoming a sauna. We were both sweating. I walked around to the back of the range and filled up a cup of cold water. I then proceeded over to my now green-tinted dog and poured the cold water over his head. He tilted his head in bewilderment as I explained to him, “It is VERY hot out here, and this is the only way I know to cool you off.” Tying him to a pole in the only shade I could find, I returned to my champion’s practice. I had to wonder if champions took time out to care for their sweating dogs. Every now and then I would turn around and laugh at the sight of my wet American Eskimo dog, sitting in the dirt right under the big sign that read “Duke University Golf Team!” I’m not sure he was allowed to be there either, but I wasn’t going to leave my dog in the hot car. It was so nice to be in a learning environment with all kinds of targets, pins, and nets to hit into. These guys are serious! I was even able to use their practice balls: Titliest ProV’s. WOW! Only the best for the best. After Teddy and I were both drenched in sweat, we headed up the hill to the car. I got in a good hour of practice after my great morning session. And my dog visited two very exclusive greens that very few people ever get to see. Maybe I ought to write a book on Teddy’s Golf Adventures–or better yet, “Teddy Goes Golfing!” I thought his quest was about me, but hey, maybe it is really about my jet-setting dog!
This morning I woke up with a lot of pain in my shoulders. It was raining, and I was supposed to meet with Dr. Dick Coop, sports psychologist extraordinaire, and one of the first sports psychologists in the country. I love him, even though he is a Tar Heel fan. (Go Duke!) I was so focused on my pain, that I didn’t know how in the world I was going to have the stamina to go the equivalent of 14 miles on Thursday, my big day. Since it was raining, I knew we would not be able to hit balls. “Just as well,” I thought. “Since I most likely will withdraw, there’s no sense to getting his help now, although I would like to still visit with him.” I took my trusted dog, Teddy-boy, and headed out in the rain to Old Chatum, a very exclusive club in Chapel Hill where they prefer “not to be known.” It’s a really exclusive club, and a wonderful golf course. You don’t see too many women there, but that’s okay. I’m sure you don’t see too many dogs, either, but I had to take him with me because I was going to be out for the day. It was so great to have my annual mental game training with Dr. Coop, whom I have known since college days. We spoke for an hour about my life, with my tearing up every now and then. In this past season I am emerging out of, my heart has bounced around a lot. We spoke about where I was at now, and what would be a healthy and healing route for me. When we were done, we walked outside to some sun peaking through the clouds. “I have about 30 minutes before I have to leave. Let’s head to the driving range, and get you ready for your U.S. Open Qualifier.” My heart leaped with hope. Dr. Coop immediately started his wizardry on my head and swing:
“Motion creates motion. It’s hard to create motion from a static position, so let’s stop thinking about your swing mechanic you are working on changing. Place the clubhead about a foot ahead of your ball. Start your swing there–so you are starting your backswing from a place of motion. After some swings, he continued, “Now, swing through to your finish and hold the perfect finish for about 5 seconds. This will get you focused on your finish rather than your backswing.” WACK! SWOOSH! SMACK! I started to hit the ball great. “Wow, Dr. Coop, you cleared my head in just a few minutes. It’s so great to move from thinking about creating the perfect swing, to just swinging perfectly! It’s so much more fun to get your head in the game of playing. “Now let’s do this,” he continued speaking as he speared a shaft into the ground about 6 feet in front of me. “Align yourself up to this shaft and hit the ball to the right of the shaft. This will help create the right ball flight.” I listened and then hit. “Great shot, Veronica! That had some really good speed on it.” I got excited. It was so great to just start swinging the club, creating speed and making a solid hit from a cleared mind. I hit ball after ball, and felt great to have my head finally in a position to play. He truly was a master at helping me to switch gears. After about 30 minutes, he needed to go. “Dr. Coop, that was fanstastic. What do I owe you?” “Just eternal gratitude!” I went on. “That was such a great lesson. We worked on swing path and didn’t even talk about it.” He replied, “The best lessons are non-verbal. Athletes learn best by feel. That’s you!” After he left, I hit balls at Old Chatam for a while, with Teddy-boy watching intently in the trees located just before the range. I am sure these “old chatum boys” never had a golf enthusiast dog at their course. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to have him there, but it was just too hot and humid to keep him sequestered in the car. He was a good boy until this big guy walked down to the range to hit some balls, and walked right by him. “Raw-oofff! Ruff!” He just had to go into protect mode. “Shhhh Teddy! We’re at the driving range!” We had just awakened the entire range of Old Chatum golfers, some of whom I’m sure were old stuffy golfers, who were getting ready to play in the First Tee event, to the barking canine at the other end of the range. My practice session was over! We had an awesome time–and in the midst of my wanting to withdraw from the tournament, God sent me Dr. Coop to get my head back in the game. Someone once said that if you don’t direct your mind toward a target, it will naturally gravitate toward the negative. That was my plight the last week, and I am so glad my friend, Dr. Coop came along at the right time, along with my friend, Ova Jean, to bless me with true encouragement. I am realizing that I dont’ have to have it all together in and of myself. When I let go and open up to receive from others, they do appear!
This past week has been an amazing journey running the gammit from wanting to quit to getting excited to play. I have had a lot of setbacks, mainly my health, which has made me question my readiness of preparation for a really grueling day ahead of me. I was so fatigued this past week, and then on top of that, my past shoulder injuries re-emerged from hitting a lot of golf balls. My muscles were so tight, they began to cement together. Just when I lost all of my own strength, God sent real encouragement to me. A friend gifted me to go to Pinehurst Resort for a massage and day of rejuvination. WOW! If you ever want to go somewhere where it feels like you’re a thousand miles away, the Pinehurst Spa is it! It’s amazing what comes to you in a place of stillness and renewal. Let’s face it. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING feminine about golf. It pulls at all the masculine energy at me, and leaves me life-less. But the moment I got in touch with the real me–not the golfer, but the woman, I felt fresh strength re-emerge. Sometimes we do things from the edge of who we are. Going to the spa helped me to re-discover my sweetspot–the feminine side of me. It was so great to just be still, let go, enjoy the jetting water against my sore back–and then some deep tissue work. Yikes, it was painful at first, but felt so great to get some of that stress out of me. I spent 6 hours there and will return again, hopefully soon. What do you do when you need recovery? I mean recovery that sends energy to you? I think we all need some more “time outs” for renewal to handle the stress of our times. But just when I thought all was well, I had another setback.
I have had an amazing week that has started with discouragement and ended in a great shot of empowerment. When I realized that my true move was going to be more of a long term fix than a short term fix, I lost a lot of my confidence. I didn’t think that this could actually happen. Then while praying with a friend of mine, a certain Scripture came to her mind: Hebrews 10:35–which speaks about not flinging away your confidence which has a great compensation of reward. This Scripture really spoke to my heart because I saw that in the place of my physical weak point of my swing, I had to go “to a different place” in my thoughts. Instead of giving up, I had to place my faith in God. In the cavity of my need, I could give up or look to God, and I decided to trust God with a living faith in Him. And guess what? He showed up!
Yesterday I played a practice round with Alan, who is going to be my caddy for the event. I met Alan on the golf course while playing through a group. In just a few minutes of chit chat, I asked if he knew anyone from the club who could caddy for me. Much to my surprise, he offered to do so. Little did I know that he was a champion golfer himself, and knew the course better than anybody’s business.
When I played golf with him yesterday, he was so totally positive, competent, motivating, and helpful, that I knew I was sent a real master to help me. We even worked out a swingthought for my swing to work much better on the course. I experienced the power of partnership just the way I did with the caddy that empowered me to qualify for the last U.S. Open I played in. My special caddy and the shot of confidence he gave me was a direct result of the force of my faith in God to put His strength in my weakness. All I need to do now is work on my driver and fairway woods, and practice my short game like crazy–and I will indeed have a real shot at this!
I’ve been thinking. My whole U.S. Open Quest really isn’t about golf. It’s not about getting back in the game again as much as it is getting back into life again. Focusing on a sports target has helped me move forward with my life more than anything else–more than encouragement from friends, more than paying someone to coach me, more than hoping, dreaming, wishing, more than crying, despairing, depressing myself; more than going to church. Yep. It’s true. What picking a target and taking inspired imperfect action has done for me is to get the ball rolling in my life again. Ten years ago I tried to qualify for the Open and spent six entire months preparing. A sponsor covered all my expenses and I took dead aim on my goal. The only problem was, it was a results-oriented goal based on a one-day event. When I didn’t make it, I crashed and burned. I was so down that the only thing that inspired me was the devestation of 9-11 because I saw people rescuing people. It has literally been ten years since I have picked up the pieces and gotten back in the game of my life again. That’s a pitiful statement, but it’s true. I believe I am not alone in that statement. We allow a devastation to happen and then we dis-engage in life or work. We stay down for so long that inertia sets in and we might as well dig a hole and crawl in it, unless we take ACTION to re-engage. That is what I am doing. All the prayer in the world will not replace taking inspired imperfect action. I am learning that if you have a goal or objective that you have to keep your eyes on that goal and be resolute in it. At the same time, your goal can not be your god. What is so marvelous about what I am going now is that when I am done with my time on the course, I am completely free to move onto another area of my life, and then I come back to golf when I am supposed to. Today, Sunday, I took the whole day off from golf as my sabbath. I wrote, went to church, went out to lunch, did chores around the house, truly rested. Well, for me this is a day of rest. I want to keep God, God, and I want to pursue my goal from a place of wholeness, not performance orientation. Somehow in focusing on golf, it is causing my left-brain to engage again. It’s like I have put it on file for a long time. It’s just getting plugged in again in an area I am well-familiar with, and the rest of me is responding. When I sit down to do work, my mind is sharper, actually focused. There are 67 girls who are trying to qualify for the most prestigious tournament in the world. Three will make it. I will be a very long shot if I make it, but if I don’t, I won’t bat an eye in sorrow. I have already gained so much by doing my processes. I am beginning to believe in myself again, in God working sovereignly in my daily life, and in others. And if I do make it, I will shout it from the housetops, that God specializes in long shots! Last night I was listening to Tony Campolo on The Hour of Power. He was talking about setbacks–but also about how the King Has One More Move. When I lose my true move, I am going to put faith in the One who has One More Move. It’s not over yet! The King still has one more move! I have been listening to some tapes by Gary Keesee on how to do business according to the principles of God’s Kingdom. I have forgotten how I used to live by faith. I have had so many setbacks that I lost my “operating faith” in God, in myself, and in others. Not my salvivic faith, but my day to day faith. Gary’s messages about creating wealth God’s way–how we have to have faith in Kingdom principles began to awaken my faith again. My focus is not in my ability or lack of it, in my self-confidence or lack of it. My focus in on God’s operating principles and my putting them into action in my life. It’s about faith. I am feeling God’s strength beginning to pour into my weaknesses. I will arise! I am arising!