A few hours passed. I took my seat. I took a breath. I studied the announcements one more time and waited for my cue to go back stage.

The cue finally came and I took my new seat, now in the wings, listening to the sound of the hall filling up with thousands of people waiting to see Prem Rawat.

The backstage manager, both focused and relaxed and clearly noticing I was neither, explained the event would start in five minutes. I was still, shall we say, not on top of my game -- hoping the building would catch on fire -- anything to get me out of there.

"Two minutes!" the backstage manager announced.

Now I was in BIG trouble. In two minutes I'd be walking the plank and I WAS NOT READY. My eyes were open, but my heart was not.

And then, with 90 seconds to go, two extraordinary things happened that I will never forget.

First, I remembered something Prem Rawat said years ago -- that human beings had two choices: to go through life gnashing their teeth and waiting for it to be over -- OR saying YES to life and enjoying the moment.

I chose the moment. I said YES. I embraced it all.

The second thing? I heard a few lines of Daya's Find the Miracle being piped into the hall. Such a beautiful song. Such a feeling of peace infused in every word, every note.

Somehow, I found the miracle. The veil lifted and I found the place of peace inside me. Total goodness. Total presence. Total joy. Everything that had been weighing me down, only seconds before, just evaporated in a heartbeat. Poof! Gone! Nowhere to be seen. Now, in this sacred moment, all that remained was a spacious feeling of love and gratitude. I was home.

"Three, two, one" said the backstage manager, holding his fingers high in the air just in case I didn't hear.

I breathed. I stood. I walked out on stage... and began.

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