Everything leads us back to love. Everything.
This is not the life I expected to have.
I remember laying on the grass with my best friend, dreaming the way 8 year-old little girls do, watching the clouds move across the sky, knowing that everything we ever wanted was waiting for us to grow up and claim it as our own.
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We had so many plans. Wishes. Dreams. Expectations.
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Then we grew up. It wasn't the life I expected.
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I hated my body.
Everyone died.
Mom. Dad. Grandparents. 5 miscarried babies. Even the dogs.
Painful financial struggles.
No white picket fence anywhere in site.
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With each experience, it became more and more difficult to see life as good. But I something inside always said,
"Get back up."
I started to listen to that wisdom, again. I remembered that we are experiencing everything in our lives to help us return to love.
Love for ourselves. Love for each other. Love for humanity.
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Every unmet expectation was an opportunity to experience something that I could grow from and share with the world to help them do the same.
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Over time, I have decided that expectations limit and close the door to possibilities that I didn't even know existed. I have come to understand that everything in my life has given me an opportunity to share a story, inspire a soul, and know that it was all necessary to be me, in this moment.
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Right here. Right now.
To be Heather Criswell.
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I didn't expect this life. I chose this life.
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I will continue to "Get back up."
Because we need each other.
Life has a bigger dream for us.
So many dreams have come true.
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Because I knew they were mine to claim.
I love children and teaching. It made sense to have a school of my own. I didn't know how, but I did know that "See World Learning Center" was waiting for me to breathe life into it.
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At 21 my father asked me to meet him at an old, run-down school that happened to be for sale.
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After we looked at the "school"he looked at me and simply said,
"Do you think you can do something with this?" I said yes!
And See World Learning Center was born.
I worked the hardest I have ever worked in my life. I built a school that allowed children to stay connected to their own wisdom, their natural intuition and their unique love. They knew their worth and our mission was to never let them forget. It was a school full of love. Full of laughter. Full of life.
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The children were a powerful reminder of the good that is present everyday.
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After nearly a decade, I was tired. Very, very, tired. I "heard" my heart say, "It's time to let go." and with that, I put the school up for sale. My last day at the school ended with a rainbow as I locked the door for the last time. It was a beautiful end to an unforgettable experience.
And I knew, in my heart, that life was dreaming bigger dreams.
There are no coincidences.
I expected to be married, have a home, and 5 children by 30 years old (not sure what I was thinking, but that's what I thought I wanted, that was my plan.)
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I was tired of rejection, pain, and suffering with "trying" to find a man. I decided. I was going to buy a house, have babies, and forget about a husband. I had the school, it was successful, and I was officially done "chasing" the dream.
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So I put a down payment on a house, moved in with a friend while it was being built, and started researching adoption.
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Then life laughed and said,
"I have something wayyyyyy better
for you."
We met on the 4th of July, in the middle of a huge lake, because of a broken jet ski.
He helped. We thanked him.
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I was shopping at Best Buy 2 weeks later and "ran into him" in the parking lot (there are really are no coincidences...really.)
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He took my card. Came to my school. Went to lunch. Moved in together after 2 weeks.
Engaged 3 months later. Married 9 months later.
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It's been 26 years. He's my best friend. He's the love of my life. He's exactly what I needed.
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His eyes still light up when I walk in the room. My eyes still light up too.
I'm rooting for you.
It all started with an idea for a "game" that would help parents communicate and connect with their children. The intention was to have moments together that would last forever in their hearts.
Wise Talk for Families was the first.
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I knew it wasn't the last, but I wasn't sure what was next.
I had no idea it would be a book.
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People come in our lives on purpose. Taryn Voget heard the calling and showed up. She recognized the genius in me, instantly.
She knew it. I wasn't so sure.
She believed in me and inspired me to do the same. We spent over a year creating a book that let both of us shine our light in the world.
A book that helps millions shine bright too!
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I was called to write another book. The book that would forever change me. A book that healed my own grief. A book that was inspired and infused with the wisdom from my family that had passed on from this physical space. It is a reminder that everything circles back to love. Everything.
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This is just the beginning. There is so much more to come. The more I connect to my own wisdom, the more I am inspired to create.
We all have unique gifts to offer the world.
We just have to remember we are WiseInside.
We are the Light.
Full of passion & fire. Compassionate. Determined. Smart. Inspired. Strong. Powerful. Truthful. Funny. Unapologetically himself.
He lights up the world. He IS the Light. And he knows it. I don't have to tell him.
He knows.
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It took 14 years. We were meant to be together.
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He has been the greatest reminder of the love that we came here to shine.
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When my dad was in hospice, he had an "experience" that we would end up describing as his "day of enlightenment."
He said he was wrapped in a cocoon
and "taken" to a place that he could only describe as LOVE.
He said it was so much more than love but there were no words in
our language to actually describe it.
The only way we could understand it was to say it was LOVE.
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I finally understand. Love is not enough to describe what I feel about my little guy.
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He's so much more.
We are born to Rise & Shine.
My mom would wake me up every morning
with a simple statement...
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"It's time to Rise and Shine."
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I was annoyed. Angry. Frustrated. I hated waking up early.
I didn't want to go to school. I didn't want to get out of bed. Her"sunshine" was not welcomed.
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And one day, about a year ago,
I realized that she speaking our soul's truth.
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We are born to Rise and Shine.
And...We go through so many challenges,
struggles, and pain.
It can feel impossible to shine.
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But when we connect into our wisdom, our love, we rise. We shine.
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Speaking on stages around the world has given me the opportunity to rise from all the loss, grief, sadness, frustration...love myself through it...and shine my light.
It's not easy.
The fear grabs me and pushes me down. Often.
But I "Get back up!"
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I Rise and Shine.
My mom, Mary Robie, knew
the secret the whole time.
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Rise & Shine.
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I am here to help you Rise and Shine.
Promise.
My promise to you...
I will remind you of your greatness, your light...especially when you forget.