Thirty Thousand Dollars
by Lisa Mitzel
I didn’t know if I’d be able to start my new business, Zen Tiger Mind, in 2022. It was a dream. I hoped. But it was on January 9th of this year, that it suddenly became a real possibility.
I was sitting at the large wooden table at my parent’s home in Southern California with my mom and dad and five of my six siblings. One of my brothers, Patrick, attended by Zoom—he recently got COVID. But it was the first time we’d all been together in many years. My parents had asked us to come for an important family meeting, which was quite unusual. We sat around the table in birth order: Sheila, Jimmy, Lisa, Patrick (on the screen), Julie, Mike and Brian. None of us kids knew what to expect, except my parents had said they wanted to share something with us. I had no idea.
I always felt blessed, while growing up in my big family with values and a work ethic. We had just enough to get by, and we shared a lot of love and laughter. But this day, something different was happening.
At 80 and 84, my mom and dad explained that they’d done really well the past few years in retirement. It was surprising to them and they wanted to give each of us a gift. My mom stood up, slowly walked around the table with a grin, and gave each of us an envelope with our name on it. She said to Patrick on Zoom, “Do you have your envelope?” (They mailed it to him in advance.) He said, “Yes.” My mom sat down and at the same time, we opened up our envelopes… I took out a check, unfolded it and couldn’t believe it. They gave each of us $30,000.
I began to cry.
A big gift would’ve been $500 or maybe $1000. But $30,000 was just unreal. What a selfless gift, what huge hearts my parents have. What an incredible day!
I didn’t know then how much it would cost to start Zen Tiger Mind—from my graphic designer to IP attorney, from my photographer to videographer, to making prototypes, printed materials and buying products, to hiring a marketing team—the list goes on.
But guess what. The cost is very, very close to $30,000.
What’s more incredible is that the timing to start Zen Tiger Mind seems just right. Through COVID, mental health issues exploded. After Athlete A, Safe Sport, and Simone getting the “twisties,” we now read more about “Humans over Medals.” People are not only more open to mental training and mental health, but coaches and gyms are seeking tools and education to improve coaching and training methods. It seems to be exactly the right time.
What I think is the $30K was a once-in-a-lifetime gift. And it’s also a chance to help kids and coaches who need support and guidance. Though I feel nervous some days, doing something new and risky, I keep meditating and repeating a line from my book of Mudras: My courage and self-assurance is unwavering. It helps me release tension and see clearly that this money came to me and it’s now flowing out to you. In the journey of life, money is important, it helps us live. But I wonder if this special money might help change the world.
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