Yesterday I was speaking to a new friend of mine, Joe, about my own personal journey of transformation.  Now before I go on I need to fill you in on whom Joe is.  I met Joe a week ago my local Starbucks, and we had an immediate connection.  We spoke about Eckhart Tolle, Transformational Trainings and My Trip to Africa.  Somehow time expanded and we had about twenty minutes of talking in a one minute moment while he was taking my order.  So my first lesson from Joe was that “Time is relative and elastic” (now that is a whole other conversation for another time!).   

So 5 days later, as I am getting ready to drive up to Melbourne to pick up my first ever set of Tokes from The Highland Mint (the manufacturer), Joe calls me.  Part of my morning had consisted of planning for a yard sale for the following day as well as envisioning how my drive to Melbourne would be – I would be alone, listening to this specific music, reflecting on the last year of creating TOFA, relaxing, being quiet etc etc… Well, Joe calls and he has some questions about the transformational trainings I had introduced to him.  I explained to him that I was out the door and that maybe we could get together for coffee the next day.  He responded with a “Better yet, why don’t I drive with you to Melbourne”? (Melbourne is about 2 hours north of where I live).  I immediately said yes.  My second lesson was clear “We can never know what the next moment will hold until we are in it, so why waste time thinking about it before it arrives”.  Now fortunately, because I was open, I was not “stuck” in how I had envisioned it.  This is why I was able to say yes to Joe when he asked to come along for the drive.  This is important to notice because if I was coming from the “I know” what it will look like, I would have said no to Joe to create the safety of what I know.  So “as long as I think I know something, I close off possibilities and stop listening, creating a ‘no’ to the unknown”.  Rather, I was coming from “I don’t know that I don’t know”, a place of infinite possibility, opening up a space for me to have an authentic ‘yes’ to life, and in this case a yes to Joe driving with me.

What I didn’t know yet, was that I had attracted Joe into my life to have my first Body-Mind-Spirit awakening.  I was ready…

In the car, Joe asked me why I want to be a Transformational Trainer.  I responded that I felt it is a calling and that somehow it is my responsibility in this world.  He then asked me “What are you responsible for?”  I was stumped, desperately grabbing onto thoughts and feelings in trying to produce the “right” answer.  I started speaking “well, without coming across as being better than others, I see many people trying to ‘do’ this work and since the work of transformation is about ‘being’ and not about doing, I see that the people they are then training are not receiving the right coaching and direction and therefore it is my responsibility blah blah blah….”.  Joe then interrupted me and said he was going to divert for a moment and ask me some other questions.  The first question he asked was “What is ego?”  I started giving an elaborate answer, again trying to give the “right” answer, and he asked me to simplify it.  I said that the ego is thoughts, and he asked me if these thoughts are true or false and I answered that the ego is false, a false sense of identity.  Joe then asked me “What is spirit?” and again I spun into a text book answer, being a parrot repeating what I thought would be the right answer. Again Joe asked me to simplify it and I said that spirit is truth.  So now I was clear, ego is false and spirit is truth.  He then asked me the initial question again “What are you responsible for?” and that is when it happened.  I saw my ego aligning back into the oneness of me and it started to answer the question.  Because I now saw that the ego was in fact separate from spirit and body, I was able to “see” the ego, answering the question and then able to quiet it and answer from a higher consciousness, “I am responsible for nothing and for everything”, again a simple answer.

By Joe asking the right questions, I was able to, if only for a moment, experience the separateness and oneness of the Body-Mind-Spirit; to see my ego as separate from who I am.  Before this moment I knew intellectually that the ego was separate, however, I had never experienced it which to me meant that I didn’t really know.  If I now say that I know that I am spirit, it is still my ego speaking because I still don’t know, I just am.  I also don’t know that Body-Mind-Spirit are separate, they just are.

Joe then explained to me how he evoked this awakening in me.  He intentionally asked a question that he knew my ego would grab onto like its life depended on it:  “What are you responsible for?”  Then as the ego focused most, if not all of its attention in coming up with the right answer, he diverted and asked me other questions.  He was now speaking to my spirit, my truth; the ego was busy doing something different.  He then brought the initial question back, the one the ego was so excited to get right, and in doing so drastically brought the ego back into the foreground and into the space of the spirit and the contrast of seeing something appear meant it is in fact separate.  Like a light switch, you don’t know it is dark until you turn the light on.  I didn’t really know the ego was false until it “came back”, which meant it was not present during part of our conversation, and separate from the truth.

After picking up the new tokens and getting back in the car, I gave Joe the first token and thanked him for making a difference in my day.  We decided to stop at Starbucks on the way home for a coffee.  The Melbourne Starbucks was packed!  There was some community Friday afternoon gathering and we could hardly get in through the door.  I would say there were over 60 people in there.  I looked at Joe and said “Is this the line?  Should we even bother?”  He answered, “Let’s see” and before I knew it, we were up at the counter ordering our coffees.  The place was loud and people were elbow to elbow in this somewhat small Starbucks.  I ordered my coffee and walked over to the pick-up counter.  This probably took me maximum 60 seconds.  I was standing there with Joe and I turned around to face the room again and EVERYONE was gone!  I looked at Joe and asked him: “Where did they go?”  He just shook his shoulders as an answer.  There it was, my fist lesson repeated itself again, “Time is relative and elastic.” There was no possibility in my old way of seeing the world that 60 people shuffled out of that Starbucks in 60 seconds.  Even 5 minutes would have been a stretch!  So now I was clear that time is in fact vertical and everything happens NOW.  My common way of seeing time, as a horizontal time-line, was being challenged.  And here in front of me was proof to the contrary.

From this day forward, my life would never be the same again…

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Your idea’s name (maximum 50 characters):

TOFA™ - Token of Appreciation – www.TOFA.us

What one sentence best describes your idea? (maximum 150 characters)

Create a tangible symbol that represents gratitude, a Token of Appreciation, a coin that transcends our differences and speaks to the heart.

Describe your idea in more depth. (maximum 300 words)

Mankind responds to SYMBOLS that represent common heartfelt human emotions. There is a lack of a common, simple way of giving thanks to those who make a difference in our day or our lives. The TOFA™ (Token of Appreciation), with its own unique tracking number, is conceived as such a symbol. These tokens are the physical representation of a global movement both online and in the physical world of thankfulness and connection. Each token can be tracked and the stories shared at www.TOFA.us as it is given and received.
The token is a vehicle that through on-line registration and tracking creates an online community and connects people across the globe. The web site will include links and information about workshops, social awareness projects and sponsors and here the user can find tools to make a difference in their own lives and the world.
It is the “feel good” of giving and receiving that evokes people to visit the site and take action now on their visions and goals.

TOFA™ will host the annual TOFA™ Awards. These awards will be given in recognition of unsung heroes and as symbols of our common thankfulness. Production and broadcast of this annual awards ceremony will be another opportunity to promote the TOFA token as the embodiment of the idea of thanks which crosses color, borders, and social classes.
TOFA will also open Transformational Centers called “TOFA™ Boxes” to hold personal development workshops, Legacy Projects and Charity Events.

As the flow of TOFA™ tokens through the world increases it will become an uncomplicated and common way to give thanks. An internationally recognized metaphor for appreciation. A TOFA™ token is a simple, inexpensive way to create peace in your day, and in this world.

What’s in your pocket?

What problem or issue does your idea address? (maximum 150 words)

The endless black and white, us against them paradigm that is perpetuated by our political, social, religious and financial institutions masks our common humanity and potential for understanding. Separation and disconnection are impairing the way we relate to each other and is literally destroying the planet. There is a sense of despair and aloneness.
Despite this, a shift is occurring; a shift that pulls people towards helping each other; to connect and be outwardly focused. The world is waiting for TOFA™, for just the simple act of a “thank you” to a stranger, or for the larger scale social network where we can all gather information, support each other and make a tangible difference.
TOFA™ addresses the alienation and disconnection experienced in the world. It generates HOPE and through modern communications coupled with ancient physical symbolism, the TOFA™ token is the means to begin the reconnection.

If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the most and how? (maximum 150 words)

Giving and receiving of TOFA tokens immediately benefit those involved in the transaction. TOFA™ is a movement towards harmony and connection on all levels: in families, communities, organizations, corporations, and inside every human being. It is too painful to confront famine, rape, child abuse, wars etc, instead we disconnect and become separate. Consequently, we also disconnect from what’s good in all of us. This separateness causes us to move away from being our best selves and can cause depression, loneliness and despair. Thankfulness and receiving thanks are both physically and emotionally nurturing. The global connection of people by giving thanks will benefit the growing social network that promotes charities and transformation centers and facilitates connection to new volunteers and benefactors. Transnational projects contributing to well being will be facilitated. Creating connection between people through shared experience and appreciation will reduce conflict at every level. TOFA™ is a win/win for everyone.

What are the initial steps required to get this idea off the ground? (maximum 150 words)

Many of the initial pieces are already in place. TOFA tokens have been designed and minted and the first distribution has begun. The web site is up and running and initial press contacts have begun. The next steps involve scaling up for global distribution.

Quickly spread tokens to get them in circulation as this is the marketing tool.
Sponsor large events
Creation of Social Networking on the site, improvement of token tracking database and Google map plotting
Enable connectivity with other Social Networks
Plan and host the first TOFA™ Award Ceremony.
Celebrity endorsements
Contact corporate sponsors, like Starbucks (“Buy a Coffee and a Token and Make Difference”) or Hallmark (card including a TOFA token)
Open the first “TOFA™ Box” (transformational center) and populate it with workshops, social awareness projects etc.
Create affiliate programs with other non-profit organizations, transformational centers and workshops and enable enrollment directly from the TOFA™ website.

Describe the optimal outcome should your idea be selected and successfully implemented. How would you measure it? (maximum 150 words)

Just as Google is to “Search”, TOFA will be to “Appreciation”.
The optimal outcome is that TOFA becomes a popular household name for gratitude to promote connection, contribution and a commitment to making a difference all over the world. To shift our value system from placing importance on what we “have” to what we “give”.
Milestone measures are:
1M tokens in distribution in eighteen months, 10M by the end of 2011
Yearly broadcast of the TOFA™ Awards
3 “TOFA™ Boxes” operating by end of 2010 (3 major cities in the US) – Each Center has annual Legacy Projects with the goal to raise $1,000,000 for a specific, designated cause.
12 “TOFA™ Boxes” operating in the world by end of 2012
3 internationally recognized celebrity endorsements with accompanying publicity in place and connection to at least one internationally recognized event
TOFA is recognized as a global expression of thanksgiving and shared humanity.