Origin Stories

?? Do Something Great - Celebrating the Extraordinary in the Ordinary ??

My mind has been focused on new directions for some time now. I am accepting the confidence to build the life I want to live instead of settling for the life I think I deserve. In reality, we spend the first half of our lives raging against the machine and the second have of our lives surrendering to the chaos to immerse ourselves in the flow.

Now all I want to do is explore the magic in life’s small moments and transform them into something remarkable. Is that wisdom? I don't know but it definitely feels so good!

This past Thursday, I stumbled upon one of those transformative moments. At zero dark thirty (as my dad used to call it ~Semper Fi), I dropped my 14-year-old daughter off at Tampa International Airport. She was headed to New York, not just for a trip, but as a young CEO representing her virtual business, SafkeChain, at the 2024 Youth Business Summit at the Javits Center. Check out their video on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUdOZRUM9Dc

My daughter and her friends have been nurturing this business all year long. They have found numerous opportunities to attend local and state trade shows to get experience how to run a smooth operation but also learning how to turn that business into profits. It all was leading up to the trip she is on this weekend.

The SafkeChains leadership team efforts proved successful, earning over $50,000 in virtual currency in one day and securing 1st place for the sales pitch against high school students across the world. As a mother, my heart sings but it also got my mind spinning.

In a fun twist of fate, rewatching the movie ‘Glass,’ there it was again, the theme of interconnectedness in our lives, except for their story centered around the threads of a comic book narrative. Then it clicked... there are constants of our coming-of-age stories across generations. Despite the shifts in time, society, politics, and technology, the essence of human growth remains the same.

“Where should I go?" -Alice. "That depends on where you want to end up." - The Cheshire Cat.”― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass

So, I ask you, how are you nurturing your journey today for the life you are choosing to live tomorrow? How are you capturing the magic from the pivotal, often unnoticed, moments that define us?

Then I remembered this.

?? Recently, a Facebook post in my high school's alumni group, got us talking about a trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival three decades ago. The details were fuzzy but everyone shared the core memories that were made during that trip. Those memories stitched together a tapestry of camaraderie and growth. No mention of the struggles that may have happened when 40 high school girls charter a bus across state lines.

Life’s value isn’t in the minutiae that will fade but in the emotions and connections that endure. An unexpected surprise from this girl who hated high school. Now I get why people say it was the best days of their lives even though I spent decades reminding myself that's not how it felt at the time HAHA.

I write this all to say... starting today, let’s lead with the love and the wonder of a 14-year-old to do great things to shape a better tomorrow.

I’d love to hear your stories. What moments have shaped your journey? Are you seeing the patterns repeating in the lives of your children?

Share them in the comments, and let’s celebrate the greatness in every step we take.

#DoSomethingGreat #Newsletter #Reflections #GrowthMindset #YouthEmpowerment