Last year I spoke at a Unity Church. Yes, it was the same church I threw up in. (See Story) The music director, Denise St. John, sang a song I loved. I ran to her after the service and asked, "Who was that? What is the title of that song?" I heard the artist's name, and I laughed. I had most of this artist's songs already. Sure enough, when I checked my ITunes, there was the song. "I had it all the time." You might want to hear it too. The title is, "You Will Do Amazing Things," by Jana Stanfield and you can listen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJSorRwND0

That experience alerted me once more to the "I Had It All the Time" principle. Renee Zellweger made this line famous when she admitted to Tom Cruise, "You had me at hello." That meant that right at the beginning, without him having to say or do anything else, she already had what she needed to let him into her heart and really, she Had It All Along. She never stopped loving him. You could see her love even before he spoke.  He did not have to earn another chance. His chance was waiting on the table for his arrival.

In the late 80's I used to video record my speeches every Sunday. I would put off listening to them because I was so critical and perfectionist of my performance. I couldn't bear to listen and be disappointed. One day, a few months after a certain talk, I decided to give it a listen. I was shocked. The day of the talk I was so discouraged about my talk. But that day when I listened to the recording, I cried. My talk was so sweet, vulnerable, and epic - all at the same time. The message was amazing and I cried because I wondered how anyone could even deliver a talk under that kind of internal criticism, yet there it was, greatness, humility, and grace. I could see that "I Had It All the Time." I didn't need to improve my speaking abilities; I just needed to accept that I would not always be perfect. I needed to allow myself to be human. I needed to accept that I would mix tenses sometimes when my train of thought switched tracks in mid-sentence and that I would leave out something I really wanted to say. In later years I had a coach who told me, "You can't fool me. I've heard you speak. You can play little in your mind, but I will never buy it." Again he would repeat, "I've heard you speak." I've memorized his words and I play and replay them.

I work with clients who want more for and from themselves, but when I look into their souls, I can clearly see the principle at work - "You Had It All The Time." "Look at what you've been though. How do you think you've come as far as you have? You Had It All The Time?" Mostly I get paid to remind them that they are where they want to go, to remind them that they Had It All The Time, and that greatness lives in and through them, especially now, no exceptions, no questions asked - this is the immutable truth and it this the truth for you too. Just as you are, with or without concepts, steeped in an imperfection that grows from your greatness, aligned with your quirky impatience, your insanity, and your sweetness. You Had It All The Time. This is something you need to know and you need to know it now. There is nothing missing from you. You are not missing in action. You are here, now, and that is enough. And, of course, never doubt it: You Had It All The Time.