“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood; an inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” G.K. Chesterson, 20th century English author

A dear friend of mine is currently in jail.  She calls it a Divine mix-up, and it certainly is a huge inconvenience.   She vowed that no matter what, this would be the greatest adventure of her life.

Her first adventure was to learn the language and the rhythm of this new world. Fear, uncertainty, dread…pervasive, palpable. Breathing in, breathing out, my friend’s touchstone, as she acknowledged each emotion. She set about finding small wonders in the midst of a hard, foreign and unforgiving landscape.  Sunrises and sunsets became promises of new beginnings. 

Within a week an inmate asked her for reading lessons.  The following week two other women came, asking to be shown how to stay calm. She taught them to meditate.  Now a small group of like-minded women meet weekly in a support group: their self-appointed task to share the miracles and beauty around them.  My friend, a Jewish woman prays daily with a Muslim.  Together they turn to their G-d in time of need. They accept each others diffferences and celebrate their similarities. Each of them works to live in the moment. That is all they have.

My friend has created a ripple effect that touches everyone she meets.  Inmates say, “Why are you so happy – don’t you know you are in prison?”  “Yes,” she answers, “What does that have to do with my happiness?”  They stare at her, mouths open.  They wonder what makes her her tick.  She has become a curiosity – and a role model for new possibilities and dreams yet unborn.

They ask, “Is it possible to change my life?”  “Yes,” my friend answers emphatically, “of course.”  She teaches them to visualize, dream, set goals.  They ask her if she will help those that long to change and don’t know how. ”Yes and yes again,” she says. The guards don’t know what to make of her; the inmates are puzzled; and the Divine adventure continues unfolding. Lives are touched and changed in this most unlikely of places.

Is there an adventure in your life that is wrongly understood?  Consider choosing happiness. Dare to take yourself out of prison (for a misunderstood adventure is a self-imposed prison of judgment) and choose to find the adventure in your life.  Why not…only you can declare an inconvenience an adventure. Make up your mind, and set yourself free to discover and grow. 

My friend has decided that if G-d is good, then everything that happens to her is for her greatest good….and then she gets busy looking for the adventure.

G. K. Chesterson was called the eccentric prince of paradox.  Perhaps he and my friend are connected to the same source of wisdom that helps turn an inconvenience into an adventure! Life happens. What you do with it is up to you.  That, my friends, is the great paradox of living brilliantly.

Cameron Johnson is a 23 year old who adds new light to living brilliantly. He first showed up for himself at the age of 8 when he wrote Donald Trump a letter. He wanted toi see the suite in the Plaza Hotel where his hero from Home Alone stayed. He never heard from Mr. Trump, but the room was waiting for him and his family when they arrived in the Big Apple. Cameron learned then that he could get what he asked for. In that instance, he wanted to grow up to be like Donald Trump.

Both Donald Trump and Cameron have something in common. They take action and sizzle. The secret to showing up is to do what is present at the moment it presents itself. By this I mean that when you are in cooperation with your intuition, your intellect, and your willingness to ask for what you want, the Heavens will open to support you.

Cameron recently wrote Donald Trump a second letter.This time, he asked for a review of his new book: You Call the Shots. He certainly has in his own life: by the age of 12 he had made $50,000 in his own business. He was a millionaire before he graduated from high school.

Let’s take a page from their book. They just do it. Cameron suggests that the key is starting small, going for what you love with a passion, and looking close to home for your ideas. One of his business’s was selling Beanie Babies on EBay.

What lights you up? Take a moment, take a breath, and take stock of what makes your creativity sizzle. It’s never to late to go from living to living brilliantly. It’s an inside job, and what a blast-off you’ll have when you write down your dreams, take small consistent actions, and keep a positive focus on where you are headed.

In the words of Cameron Johnson “True prosperity isn’t something you take from the world: it’s something you share with the world.”
-Cameron Johnson, You Call the Shots

If not now, then when…

Here’s to your brilliance,

Dr. Lin