My greatest accomplishment in life

I learned I could fly SOLO!

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In 1960, in Providence, Rhode Island at age sixteen I was bored and very confused about life I decided to leave High School and discover the world.

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Before this period in my life, my existence encompassed mostly the local area of Providence known as Silver Lake where I lived. Our family didn’t move far from home plate and, our vision of the world was very small. But, I knew by listening to others, there is a Santa Klaus, there were larger and more beautiful places to be explored studied, and appreciated. I wanted to travel and experience other places and cultures of the world.

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I joined the US Army, asked to go to Japan for the cultural gratification of diversity, and was promptly sent to France. I got what I asked for a change and an opportunity to explore another culture!

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Ultimately, this High School dropout received his BSBA from Bryant College (A University today) in just three years rather than the customary four with a Management major and a minor in Economics and then, I went on to grad school at Providence College.

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After numerous job trials, I found myself in the following situation: In 1979 our country (USA) was in the midst of a recession (or depression depending on your point of view), and I was amid a divorce, a day into a brand new car and loan payments, no money in the bank, indebted up to you know where I discovered the distributor I was working for was going out of business.?

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I was now unemployed, again.

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This is the fourteenth job that I involuntarily left in twelve years, but who’s counting?

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The entrepreneurial lust was rising from within and reached a crescendo so loud it could not be ignored-so loud it could be heard around the world. I had to find a place for myself, my skills, and my education; a place where I would and could be appreciated; a place to explore and conquer; a place where I could grow and be proud.

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Eventually, I discovered that place was within me! It is I!

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This is my time, right now; this place is here within my flesh and bones to be ignored no longer. I have been searching and I have found myself!

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It did not happen all at once but, I came to appreciate my skills, creativity, keen understanding of others’ behavior, and my ability to communicate with others. Sometimes not so eloquently but effectively, as time went on I became more skilled in the art of creative communication not only using the spoken word but also in print. I became well-oiled and crisp. I learned to be hard, not soft as some would have it yet, skillful and kind.

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I became an artful worrier reaching for the stars and riding them to where they would guide me. I was learning and having fun in a business I didn’t like!

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Yes, I was successful in a business I did not like, a business that allowed me to explore the cultures of people beyond my shores. The world became my teacher and me the student. What I have learned during those twenty-seven years as an entrepreneur is to trust myself and not disregard the wisdom of others.

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I learned and found what wisdom is!

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Some like to protect those they hold dear, erroneously keeping them from getting hurt. What I discovered is that others project their fears upon others in the semblance of them needing protection out of ignorance.

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And isn’t it the fear of change that governs most people’s decisions? Yet, they are the very ones to want something new or different. Isn’t NEW a CHANGE from something? Different? How does one explain the existence of that dichotomy?

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I discovered the value of change; a very exciting and at times provoking and stimulating. Fear not to change rather, change may invite and inspire new and exciting things into our lives.

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Think of where we are now in our lives, our world; the essentials that we have, and the wonders that we possess. Think of the turn of the 20th. Century when amid a major change; Horses and automobiles. Telegraph, telephones. Through the years, think of the NEW and what CHANGES were made to bring us the marvels we have today. If someone chose to protect us from change, where would we be? What would our lives be like?

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Yes, change is good, positive, stimulating, and necessary for our well-being and our creativity. A stimulus yet to be explored by many.

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Often I set an objective, discover the obstacles in my way and conquer those obstacles by studying processes and discovering the necessary tools to use to make it happen. I found that very easy. The change was and is stimulating, challenging, and very rewarding. ?

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I suppose one could say that I am a self-sufficient worrier who loves to be challenged and stimulated; that I find obstacles a challenge not overpowering just simply a learning experience to conquer with success as the reward.

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Fear is what holds one back; discovery is what moves one forward!

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I also have learned to allow myself to enjoy the small rewards or successes rather than hold out for the major success. The little success is here now to be appreciated and savored while we anticipate the bigger reward. We are teaching ourselves to enjoy each reward as if it were the big one. We deserve it and we have earned it no matter how small. If we learn to appreciate the small rewards we are teaching ourselves to better accept the larger rewards. Without the good feelings to savor the small rewards, how will we learn to appreciate and recognize our larger successes?

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Savor reinforcement!

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Essentially, insecurities give way to confidence as you allow yourself the pleasure of acceptance and reinforcement that you have accomplished something. No matter what others may think, you have accomplished something; they did not, you did! How empowering is that?

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No one in this world can do as you do. That is neither conceit nor bragging nor is it a put-down of others. It is a simple fact! Others may and can do something as similar as you, but no one else is you!

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As an entrepreneur, one discovers the meaning of “it is very lonely at the top”. There is no one to make your decisions, no one to set things in motion, no one to call order. It is yours and yours alone. Learning to be the deciding factor and earn the praise you deserve comes from the knowledge learned; to be yourself, trust yourself, listening not to those who want to protect you from harm but rather listen to those who wish you well.

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So, essentially what is my greatest accomplishment in life? That I alone will climb that mountain, that I alone will make my path to destiny, it is I alone who may falter, it is I alone who shall pick me up. I have learned to fly SOLO!

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The people who released me from their employ so many years ago could not appreciate the opportunity they had before them. Yet, they did me a favor. We are a product of our environment. They are a product of their environment.

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Others unknowingly have allowed me to contribute to mankind, yet they do not know it. I thank them very much because, without the changes they made possible, I may have never realized or discovered the power of change!

Thank you all who have been and are a part of my learning and appreciation of mankind! Thank you all for allowing me to contribute to future generations!

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Thank you for the opportunity so I could learn to fly SOLO and return a contribution to mankind!