Into the Magic Shop (Part 2 of 2)

Before reading this Part-2, please read Part-1 of this article to get a good sense of the background to what you're about to read.

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Ruth had promised James he could have anything he wanted if he mastered the magic tricks she taught him. But even after learning them all, nothing changed—his father still drank, his mother remained depressed, and the family was just as poor as before.

But he still believed his future was brighter than his present—and kept practicing. Every morning and evening, he relaxed his body (Trick No. 1), rose above his thoughts (Trick No. 2), and visualized his future (Trick No. 4). He skipped Trick No. 3—opening the heart—as it was too difficult for him.

Where would these tricks take him?

College doors open—magically

No one in his family had ever been to college, yet every morning and evening, he kept visualizing himself as a doctor.

One day, while sitting in science class, he noticed a pretty girl next to him filling out some forms. Curious, he asked what she was doing. When he learned she was completing college admission forms, due the following week, he was suddenly shaken up.

He hadn’t even known he needed to get the forms for college admission.

He asked where she was applying, and she replied, “UC Irvine.” When she asked about his plans, he blurted out the same university, even though he had no idea where he was going.

When she asked about his forms, he hesitated at first, then said he was still waiting for them—knowing he hadn’t even asked for them.

And then, as if by magic, she reached into her bag, saying, “Hey, you’re in luck—I have an extra application. Do you want it?”

He took the form, filled it out, and sent it off, even though he didn’t have the admission fee.

Months passed with no news. Then, one day, he received a thick envelope—forwarded multiple times due to his family’s recent moves.

He writes, “My future had finally chased me down and found me.”

Accepting no limits

Juggling his studies alongside family problems, a job, and sports, James managed only a 2.5 GPA in college—far below the minimum 3.8 required for medical school. But this was not the only hurdle to becoming a doctor.

Applying to medical school required a letter of recommendation, which could only be obtained after an interview with the college’s premed committee. When he approached the secretary to schedule an interview, she refused due to his low grades.

Once again, he stood at a fork in the road. Should he accept the fate decided by someone else or continue pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor?

“Unfortunately, so many people allow others to decide what they can or cannot do. This was another gift that Ruth gave me—the ability to believe in myself and accept that not everyone will want me to succeed or accomplish great things. And how to be OK with that reality and not react to it.”

At first, he calmly tried to persuade her to grant him an interview. But when she didn’t budge, he decided not to leave until she scheduled one. That ultimatum worked, and she gave in, certain that the committee would reject him anyway.

Turning rejection into selection

When he finally appeared before the committee, they were disinterested. One of the three members bluntly stated, “I believe this meeting is a waste of time for everyone here. Can you convince us otherwise, Mr. Doty?”

With his future hanging by a thread, James recalled Ruth’s words:

“Ruth taught me not to let circumstances define me. Not to let other people define my worth.”

He took a few deep breaths, stood, and opened his argument with a bold question:

“Who gave you the right to destroy people’s dreams?”

Then, he poured his heart out—sharing how hard he had worked, his struggles, his parents’ hardships, and how often he had to leave school to take care of them. He ended with:

“Each of you is here today because someone believed in you. Because someone cared. I am asking you to believe in me. That’s all I’m asking. I am asking you to give me the chance to become who I dream of becoming.”

Moved by his passion and resilience, the committee ignored his grades and gave him the highest possible recommendation. Once again, he could see Ruth’s magic working in his life.

Eventually, through a series of incredible breaks, he became a neurosurgeon.

He was limitless. And he believed it.

Reaching the pinnacle

By 2000, James had come a long way from his humble beginnings in Lancaster. He was now one of the most successful neurosurgeons in Orange County. Worth $75 million, he lived in a 7,500-square-foot home on a bluff overlooking Newport Bay.

His garage housed not only the Porsche he had written on his list of ten goals at age twelve but also a Range Rover, a Ferrari, a BMW, and a Mercedes. He had just wired the money for a private island in New Zealand. He owned a penthouse in San Francisco and a villa in Florence.

But on the family front, life was different. He was divorced and had a distant relationship with his daughter. To fill the void, he kept relationships with women who were easily attracted by his outsized success.

Gradually, he stopped meditating and visualizing—the very tricks that had brought him so much success.

Bubble bursts

Everything was going great. From being a surgeon, he had ventured into the high-stakes world of Silicon Valley tech startups, becoming an investor and eventually the CEO of a medical technology company.

Then came the bad news: the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

His entire net worth vanished. Not only was his wealth gone, but he was also several million dollars in debt, effectively bankrupt.

He writes:

“All the money, power, and success I had dreamed of and visualized since I was a teenager were gone—vanished in one big pop of a bubble. It took almost two years of struggle, and after selling the penthouse, the cars, the villa, and canceling the purchase of the island, I still owed money.”

On the day he packed up his house in Newport Beach, he felt empty, lost, and more alone than ever.

Returning to the roots

Having sold off all his properties and cars, he decided to return to Lancaster in search of Ruth.

It had been many years since he had met her at the magic shop. But the shop was gone, and Ruth was nowhere to be found.

Sad and devastated, he wondered what to do. Then, his eyes fell on the notebook where he had recorded Ruth’s teachings.

As he flipped through his notes, he saw the words “Compass of the heart” underlined.

He remembered Ruth’s words:

“Your heart is a compass, and it is your greatest gift. If you’re ever lost, just open it up, and it will always steer you in the right direction. Difficult situations. Magic gift.”

James needed a new direction.

He meditated and, this time, opened his heart as Ruth had taught him. He writes, “If we want our wounds to be healed, we have to heal others. It was time for me to focus again on being a doctor.”

Eventually, he dedicated himself to supporting public healthcare in Mississippi. Today, he is a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University and the founder of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.

After all his highs and lows, James concludes:

“The grand finale of the magic that Ruth taught me was the ultimate insight that the only way to truly transform your life is by transforming and changing the lives of others.”

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Thanks for reading.

Highly recommended: Into the Magic Shop by James R. Doty