Fiona, a student in Denise Water’s 4th grade class, asks, “What allowed you to be the needle in the haystack?”
By the way, Fiona is referring to a phrase I used in answering Alisa’s question.
Wow, talk about a brave question! Okay, I’ll try to give an equally brave answer…
I got divorced. I didn’t have any kids. I didn’t like my job.
I didn’t like the way my life was going.
I imagined my life 50 years from now, when I am on my deathbed. What would I want people to say? Would I want people to say, “This is a man who just tried to get by,” or would I want them to say, “This is a man who inspired people to be better”?
I would want the latter.
And I decided I would give it everything.
The window was open. I decided to jump through it. I didn’t know what would be required on the other side, but I decided that whatever was required, I would find a way to give it that.
That’s what allowed me to be a needle in this particular haystack.