There it was again - an unexpected ZING! of inspiration. Working on clearing out a corner of the om studio, making room for yet another book case, had Adam Braun's TED Talk on The Five Phrases That Can Change Your Life playing in the background.
It's a pretty amazing talk, full of things it would be easy to shrug off as outside my world, my reach. "Not surprised he succeeds - his roots, opportunities & resources give him the edge over most others, certainly over me," might have ruefully flitted through my head.
But then I started noticing the similarities. Here is someone who believes in that being in precarious, or at least unfamiliar, situations, whacking your way through them, helps stimulate creativity & out-of-the-blue inspiration.
Okay, he put himself in those places voluntarily, whereas I was repeatedly thrust into them, but it comes out to the same thing. Realizing that your education is only beginning when you get that diploma or degree. That most of what we need to succeed in life, to make a difference in the lives of others, isn't taught at Brown University or Bryn Athyn College.
What kept rambling 'round my brain through the rest of that day was that his #1 reason for working at Bain Capital was to get experience at starting a non-profit, which turned out to be Pencils of Promise. What he did from conscious will, I got through what LOOKED like haphazard fate - the business background to create meaningful change, to put a structure around what might otherwise be pipe dreams.
The #1 thing that I took from Adam's TED Talk was how he intentionally put himself in the way of the uncontrolled, unexpected, unimagined, leaving himself open the whole way for the AH HA! moment he was sure would come. And it did, in an unlikely place, from an unlikely source, thanks to an unlikely opportunity.
My business experience - infinitely infinitesimal compared to Adam's - was unsought, yet now invaluable. I'm certainly not a master of business systems, but - thanks to working at US Healthcare, Prudential, BISYS - am aware of them, of their importance. Each business opportunity contributed to a foundation on which to build-out projects as dear to my heart as Pencils for Progress is to Adam - - creating a fresh awareness of the importance & power of aging naturally.
Without those unsought, invaluable experiences under my belt, I'd flounder at how to make a reality of my Senior "Values Visions Dreams" Project ~or~ Cyber Access for the Technically Timid, at putting together a discussion circle fleshing out Nurturing A 5th Commandment Mindset. My musings on writing Badass Grandma (my tribute to Mom's funky, fabulous spirit) or Gram-FAM-boly! or Cooper, Keeper of the Gardens would be mere flights of fantasy.
The life I have in 2016 is light years from anything I expected in 1976 - infinitely more astonishing, full of wonder & magic, every moment offering the promise of more, much more. This long & winding road the Universe has set me on is beyond the beyond in all it offers.
It's true that Adam Braun started out his adult life with mind-boggling advantages - an elite education, money, contacts, opportunities. How easy it would be to think, "If I had his life..." Praise be, I have my own, one that comes with some pretty WOW advantages that are mine, all mine.
My thanks to Adam for helping me appreciate anew all that I've gained from an unexpected quarter century in Corporate America, from learning the language of systems, the importance of quantifying & putting firm foundations under dreams so they can become reality.
It's impossible to express how it feels looking back at my often perilous long & winding road, looking at the ground on which I stand at this moment, to peer down toward the next horizon.
Cyber Access for the Technically Timid (CATT) - making accessing the Internet, Facebook, Skype, blogging as simple for the aging & elderly as sitting next to a friend
Values Visions Dreams - a template for connecting to present day values, composing a Vision Statement, drawing up & pursuing dreams
Nurturing a 5th Commandment Mindset - a multi-faith discussion circle considering the meaning & ramifications of "Honor your father & your mother that your days may be long & prosperous"
Badass Grandma - a tribute to my complex, exasperating, inspiring & flat-out astonishing mother, Katharine Reynolds Lockhart
Gram-FAM-Boly! - a collection of fun things to do while visiting older friends or family that bridges ages & interests
Cooper, Keeper of the Gardens - a children's story set in the gardens of the sweet cathedral high on a hill in my little hometown
Enjoying working my way down that
long & winding road
that's my life!
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