As I write this, our beautiful one-year-old daughter Ireland, is running around my office waving her hands wildly. She’s full of joy; she’s pure light. Yesterday she knocked a plant off my windowsill and learned what soil feels like, smearing it in circles on my hardwood floor. Today, she learned that my laptop extension cord makes a great scraping sound when she drags it around behind her. Everyday she answers “yes” to everything. “Yes”, she wants to feel snow melt on her long eyelashes and warm tongue. “Yes”, she wants to eat guacamole by the spoonful. “Yes”, she wants to splash in a bathtub full of bubbles popping all around her. The answer is “yes” to everything!
Unfortunately, most of us trade joy and play for the seriousness of life. We begin to care more about what others think. We focus on fear. We hang on to pain. The “yes” turns to “no”, and so instead of opening ourselves fully to our own potential – instead of entertaining the possibility that we truly can achieve anything we set our minds to – we withdraw and shut down and critically analyze ourselves to a “no” position.
This month, I was honoured to speak at the Atlantic Dream Festival in Moncton, New Brunswick and the Imagine…Then Do It! Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. I set my intention at the beginning of both speeches with the following line: “I’m up here on this stage, not because I have a more significant story than yours to share; not because I am more or have more than you … No, I’m here to reflect your light. I am your mirror.”
And so it is, with all the brilliant contributors of this issue exploring the theme of reinvention. They reflect your incredible light. They reflect your talent, genius, and unlimited potential. Bestselling author and speaker Dan Pink (pg. 11) will mirror back your risk-loving, intuitive, right-brained creativity. Tim Sanders (pg. 37) will shine back your unique ability to mentor. Meni Mancini (pg. 45) will reflect your ability to fully reinvent your business should you choose to. Cora Tsouflidou (pg. 52) will remind you, that like her, you have the capacity for great wealth, (both personal and professional), even if you’re starting from a position of poverty. Trey White (pg. 62) will highlight your capacity to move fluidly in and out of different industries, fearing nothing, reinventing over and over. Weldon Long (pg. 20) will mirror your ability to be conscious of your thoughts, because they truly do create your reality. And no doubt, you will see yourself in Anna Olson (pg. 27) embracing opportunity when it presents itself, as she herself did moving from the financial industry to celebrity chef on the Food Network.
So it is my deepest wish for you today that as you read through the pages of this issue, you will recognize your own light, your own shining brilliance. Pair your childlike wonder and trust, say “yes” to the opportunities and change before you so you can charge ahead with wild abandon.
And when you feel inspired recognize that feeling, is the spark of your essential self bursting into flame. Fan it! Fan it, until it is a roaring inferno. Be open to reinvention. Refuse to live mired in mediocrity. Entertain possibility and soar as high as humanly possible. The greatest tragedy in life, truly is a life not fully lived.
As always, I believe in you.
