My local radio station, 99.9 The Wolf, announced a contest opportunity to win a trip to Vegas for the 2011 ACM Awards. Teaming up with J.D. Haas Entertainment, they were able to offer an all expense paid trip including round trip airfare, 3 night stay at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, tickets to the live 2011 ACM Awards show, and tickets to attend the taping of the CBS Special, Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country to be filmed and then aired at a later date.

First of all, Vegas is one of my all time favorite places on earth. By this time my interest and knowledge of country music had grown and blossomed and I knew that there could be nothing better in this world than combining my TWO LOVES into one. A entire weekend of country music concerts, shows, a red carpet experience, fancy dresses, cowgirl boots, and everyone who is anyone in the country music world all staying at the same hotel. I HAD TO WIN. It wasn’t really an option.

There were a couple locations/businesses in Southern Maine where you could go to fill out an entry form. I’m going to go ahead and announce, in risk of sounding cliche, that my lucky number is 7. So, I filled out seven entry forms (the person at the car dealership had no idea any of the rules so they said this was fine!) and literally folded them intricately in seven different ways. I also kissed each entry before placing it in the box. Then I started to daydream. I began to play scenarios in my head of who I would meet, run into, party with, etc and how all of this would make me feel. Some call this manifesting; I truly believe that I wanted this trip so badly that I attracted it to me unknowingly using what some might call the Law of Attraction. I even set my alarm for 5 or 10 minutes before the radio station would call the winner and had pre-planned what I was going to say when I did in fact win. I imagined every bit of the situation and could feel the excitement within me. I had lit a fire inside myself.

Long story short, I did win the trip, and winning this contest is what really got the ball rolling in terms of figuring out what I am meant to do in this lifetime. I’m not sure I could even begin to use words to properly express this trip… enchanting, magical, surreal, eye-opening… bottom line is that it was LIFE CHANGING. It made me realize that I somehow need to be a part of all of this… I was filled with excitement and butterflies the whole time I was there. After the experiences that I had during that “Week that Vegas Goes Country” I became addicted to going to more concerts and meeting the artists and also addicted to winning contests. This trip instilled confidence within me and in the 2 years that followed this trip, the more that I believed I would win, the more that I would actually win. Whether it was concert tickets or meet and greet passes or spots on a party bus to a country show, as long as I believed in my head that I was going to win the coveted prize, I did. Basically, on my to do list for the day, I would write, “Win such and such contest”… not TRY to win… but full awareness of how my day would be incomplete if I was unable to check that “task” off my list.  I am convinced that this mind-frame is what attracted all of these amazing opportunities and luck my way.

“How do you always win EVERYTHING?” people began to ask. “You’re SO LUCKY!” they would chime in unison. I’m not sure how big of a roll luck actually played. I was determined and persistent and unyielding when it came to something that I really truly wanted. I imagined my life as it would be when I DID win. Not “if” I won. This my friends, is the secret. Along with gratitude when I did win. I felt blessed, not lucky. Thankful and blessed and overwhelmed with happiness.

Thank you, J.D. Haas Entertainment, 99.9 The Wolf, and The Universe for opening the doors that I needed to discover my purpose in life and expand my passions.