A few years after the release of A Leap In Time, I release A Christmas Wish. The book weaved my personal experiences into Amy McKinsey’s story. It was a giant step in courage, vulnerability and conquering my fear.

The premise of Amy’s story is about a young woman living her dream by moving from LA to NYC (like yours truly) but the dream soon turns into one rocky experience after another especially at work. Amy finds herself the target of a co-worker’s verbal attacks and bullying. Sarah Mitchell is Amy’s nemesis who is determined to ruin Amy’s career by slandering her to anyone who listened and undermining her contribution at every turn (yup, me too x2). All the unresolved emotions from Amy’s past swoop in and engulf her in self-pity and fear (yes, I experienced this too). To make the story enjoyable and fun to read, I added the magical elements of Christmas in NYC and a romantic relationship with a great guy who’s far from perfect. Because let’s be honest, if I wrote a book about toxic people at work, you’d never read it and I can’t say I would blame you.

Writing A Christmas Wish was healing in many ways. It was an outlet to talk about difficult experiences that had profound impact on my personal and spiritual growth. Through Amy’s story, I was able to show you the ripple effect of contentious relationships between women at work.

Amy’s story is inspired by some of my own experiences. I know the feeling of being undermined and emotionally beaten down. I know the feeling of questioning everything. I know what its like to feel anxious all day. I know the impact stress has on health because I was there too. On the flip side, I also experienced a breaking point, as we all do, and I knew I needed to arm myself with the right toolkit to deal with difficult situations in my life. I just didn’t know what the toolkit looked like at the time. I prayed so hard. I prayed for a new job and I desperately prayed for a new boss. Neither prayer was answered because my prayer was about them, not me. I wouldn’t lie to you, I felt completely abandoned by the Universe, not unlike our heroine.

Like Amy, I found solace and inner peace during yoga so I attended classes like my life depended on it. And in many ways, my wellbeing did depend on it. I went every single day. The 90 minutes on my yoga mat was the only time in the day where fear and anxiety didn’t overwhelm me.

When a random email popped in my inbox from Yoga Works with dates for their upcoming yoga teacher certification program, I knew it was divine intervention. I quickly signed up, paid the $3200 and submitted all the paperwork before self-doubt set in and talked me out it. The decision to do the class was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and the best money I’ve spent. That was 9 ½ years ago and taking that class was the beginning of a huge trajectory shift in all aspects of my life.

The combination of learning the philosophy of yoga and practicing the asanas for hours on end cracked me wide open. The principles of yoga resonated deeply within me. My intuition sharpened and I saw my work situation with a new perspective. I recognized the lesson and I immediately changed my approach. For the first in my life, I stood up for myself. My strength was grounded in faith much bigger than me. The external factors didn’t trigger me as much and when they did, I course corrected fairly quickly. Somewhere along the way, I stopped seeking approval and validation from colleagues, family and friends. I had all the validation I needed and that gave me confidence and happiness that no one could mess with because it emanated from me.

Amy McKinsey is not that different from many of us in her dreams, hopes, insecurities and wants. Sarah Mitchell is not that different from many of us in her dreams, hopes, insecurities and wants. The difference between the two women is how they dealt with their fears and insecurities. Amy worked hard to overcome her shortcomings. Sarah wreaked havoc on everyone around her to deflect from her shortcomings.

I’ll leave you with a final thought.

Our actions and reactions are a choice we make and affirm daily.

The choice is always yours.

A Christmas Wish is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in both digital and print formats.

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