The Golden Ticket

-In your wildest dreams you cannot imagine the marvelous SURPRISES that await YOU-

There is a story of a man, who every day, kneeled in front of a stone statue of a Saint. He would pray and pray and pray to win the lottery. Finally, one day the stone statue came to life and said, “Please buy a ticket.”

And so that is what I’ve done. I bought a ticket for a chance to win the lottery

I moved to San Francisco six and a half years ago without anything. No job, no money, no friends and no support system. When I told my parents I was moving, the advice I got went something like this, “Good luck, but don’t call us if something blows up in your face.”

To make ends meet, I worked six jobs, including one illustrious job as a cater waiter. Yes, I wore a cumber bun, served pre-plated meals, posed for goofy pictures with the wedding party and saw countless first dances, all to make it work in the city by the Bay.

Slowly, I built my safety net and deliberately I determined what I really wanted to do for my career. Six and half years later, I was the Fitness Director at one of the largest YMCAs in the Bay Area. From cumber bun to corner office, it was a labor of love.

So why after all that hard work, am I exactly 1,829.75 miles from all that warm and fuzzy love, support and accomplishment? I believe in the physics of the quest.

“I’ve come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call ‘The Physics of The Quest’ – a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself….then truth will not be withheld from you. Or so I’ve come to believe.” –Eat, Love, Pray

Simply put, you find your life in the seeking. If you allow the illusions of safety and security to dampen your dreams or silence your heart’s song, than you will never know true success. It’s in stepping of the edge of the cliff, in the free fall, that you learn to use your wings.

I was ready for what’s next. Therefore, when I was presented with the amazing opportunity to provide executive leadership to my family’s foundation and start my own business, I knew in my heart and in my gut it was the right thing to do. Was it scary to leave a job I loved and an organization I believe it? Yes. Was it terrifying to leave friends I love and adore? Oh, yes! Was it heartbreaking to leave a city I consider home? Without a doubt. Yet, I did it anyway. Bolstered by the believe that my life is what I make it, I had no other choice but to try.

And so, the Kansas City kid has come home to collect on a golden lottery ticket.

I challenge you to find your life in the seeking. Do something today that scares you just enough to know it is the right thing to do.