Laura
Instructional Designer, Empath
Virginia Beach

“When I was a teacher, I had The Four Agreements hanging up in my classroom: Always do your best—and your best looks different every day. Be impeccable with your word. Don’t take things personally. And, Don’t make assumptions. 

“What stands out the most is Always do your best. I learned that when I was young, working at a gas station. 

“The owner’s name was Frank. And Frank said, ‘When people come here, don’t sit and wait for them to get up to the pump. Don’t make people wait for you. Be there and be ready to greet them. And when you wash their windows, don’t do a shitty job. No matter what you do, do everything the best that you can. Even if it’s washing a dirty window, you do it the best that you can, because people will leave knowing you really cared about what you did.’

“So I learned the lesson of making a positive impression on the world there, and I carried it on to every job I had. Whether it’s grunt work or creating a product, I do my best because I want the interaction people have with me to be positive. You never know what others are going through, so if I can be the one positive interaction for that day, it makes me happy.

“My philosophy is based on being of service to people and making a difference. Knowing I did my best brings me joy. It’s great when people appreciate it, but it’s not necessary. I’m not a push-over. It’s not a people-pleaser kind of thing. When someone shows me they are not deserving of my best, whether that’s at work or in my personal life, I adjust accordingly. But I feel I’m my best self when I do my best for others.

“I don’t think that was learned, I think I was born that way. That’s why I’m here. I came here to be of service to people. Not in a servitude manner, but to be kind, share what I know, and what I’ve learned. If I can help, I’ll do my best.

“I read Many Lives, Many Masters  when I was in my 20s. It’s all about reincarnation and how our souls come back to learn lessons. The way they describe it is that each one of us has this beautiful big diamond inside of us. And every lifetime, with every lesson learned, one of the facets on that diamond gets to shine. And when you don’t learn your lesson, you repeat it until you learn it. That just really resonated with me.

“When he was a little guy, my son had vivid memories that spoke to a previous life. 

“We’d be in the car and he’d point to an old church and say,  ‘Ma, look, that’s where I was born.’ And I’m like, ‘You were born there?’ He said, “Oh, yeah. Long time ago.’ And then would point to another place and say, “Hey, look, this is where me and my friends used to hunt.’ He would reminisce.

“Another time, we went to visit an elderly friend who had just had a lot of teeth pulled. She was laying on the couch, in a lot of pain. And my son pulled up this little stool, and he was like, patting her hand saying, “Oh, Grandma, It’s gonna be okay. I remember when I was a Grandpa and this happened to me. You’ll be fine!”

“When he was four, I had a picture of my dad in a frame, and I remember him saying, ‘Hey, Mom, who’s that?’ And I said, ‘Oh, that’s my dad.’ And he said, ‘I know him.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And he said, ‘I met him.’ 

“I asked, ‘Where did you meet him?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t remember. But he was really sore right here,’ pointed to his chest and said, ‘but he’s okay now.’ 

“My dad died from an ulcer that got messed up and infected the lining around his heart.

“When I was pregnant with Noah, I had a dream about my dad. In front of him were two babies. One was wrapped in blue, one was wrapped in pink. He picked up the one wrapped in blue, held him out and said, ‘Here, take Noah. He’s yours.’ And that was my dream. 

“So I was like, “I’m having a boy, and I’m naming him Noah.”

“So, I mean, there’s stuff I don’t really understand at all, but I see glimpses of it.”