I remember when screenwriter Eric Roth spoke at Maui Writers Conference. He was as eloquent then (he'd written the #screenplay for Snow Falling on Cedars) as he is now with this line he wrote for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, "Our lives are defined by opportunities; even the ones we miss."
Have you been presented with an opportunity?
Are you on the fence? Don't play it safe. Take the bolder of the options.
We are here to embrace opportunities, not to miss them.
George Eliot said, "Its never too late to be what you might have been" 150 years ago ... and it's as true today as when she first said it. When you were young, who did you want to be?
What did you want to do?
Where did you want to go?
It's only too late if you don't start now.
This quote from Nobel Prize winner Wislawa Symborska,"The little phrase 'I DON'T KNOW' is small, but flies on mighty wings" is from Maria Popova's excellent online newsletter Brain Pickings. Brain Pickings has been called a "literary LEGO treasure chest" of thought-provoking insights on how to lead a meaningful life.
Last week's issue was about the importance of NOT KNOWING and how embracing uncertainty is one of the secrets to an intriguing #life.
Every week Maria shares "rising tide raising all humans" essays and profound quotes that help us live a right life. Well worth reading and subscribing.
Are you happy with your current life? Satisfied with your relationships, health, finances and career? Congrats! If there are things that are not yet the way you want them to be, the answer is simple.
Do things differently. Old ways won't open new doors.
Select one area of your life you want to improve.
What is one thing you can start doing or stop doing today that is different than your norm?
How will you change things up by NOT doing things the way you always have?
Dulce Ruby said, "Just like the moon; we go through different phases."
What a new phase? Try some new ways. 
A reporter asked Shark Tank investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, "When you die, who do you want to come back as?" Guess what he said?
"ME!"
Who would you want to come back as ... and why?
Gandhi was right. There IS more to life than increasing its speed. Many of us are working, working, working, rushing, rushing, rushing.
We're heading into a spring weekend.
Instead of going for a run, workout or power walk to get your heart rate UP, could you go for a stroll instead?
The trees are budding.The flowers are blossoming. Breathe it all in.
Appreciation for the miracles that surround us is available anytime we want ... for a moment's NOTICE.
Love is the question and the answer. At the end of our #life, what we will remember, what will remain, what will matter is:
"Did we love? Were we loved?"
You know what I've found? Another way to get started is to stop THINKING and start DOING.
It's easy to over-think things. We go back and forth, "Should I do this or this? Is this better or that?"
In the long run this indecisiveness - this quest to have all our ducks in a row before we go - just delays action and doesn't necessarily guarantee better results.
It's SMARTER to be a STARTER and and course correct along the way.
What is ONE thing on your mind you've been wanting to do? Don't just want it. Start it.
Life is a window of opportunity. Have you ever thought of it that way?
We are here for a certain amount of time.
Are you taking advantage of your precious window of opportunity to pursue your dreams, connect with loved ones, do what makes you happy?
Henry Miller said, "Life is, for most of us, one long postponement."
What is something you're postponing?
How will you start that, do that, bring more of that into your life THIS WEEK instead of putting it off?
Abundance is about so much more than money. Anything that enriches us contributes to our abundance.
That includes new and enduring friendships, enjoyable discoveries, being active outdoors, achieving important goals, connecting with loved ones, learning new skills, contributing to our community.
Anytime we do something that puts the light on in our eyes, we are richer for it.
Anything we do that contributes to our physical and mental well-being results in us being wealthy in what really matters.
How about you? Are you wealthy in what really matters? Are you appreciating the abundance in your life in all its forms?
When I announced my plans to embark upon my Year by the Water adventure, most people were happy for me and said something along the lines of, “Take me with you!” A few, however, expressed “concerns. A meeting planner cautioned me with, “Sam, I hope you know you’re taking a risk by taking yourself off the grid. You need to control this story or the business you’ve worked so hard to build may not be here when you come back. You know, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”
A highly successful investor told me, "I'm envious, but I could never just do nothing. I'd go crazy if I didn't work."
Another wanted to know, “Is something wrong?” In other words, “Are you sick, on your deathbed or just having a mid-life crisis?”
I listened to their concerns, and then assured them my decision to take my business on a road trip wasn’t a mid-life CRISIS, it was mid-life CLARITY. I was clear that:
I wasn’t QUITTING work – I was doing a different KIND of work.
I wasn’t doing NOTHING – I was doing SOMETHING that put the light on in my eyes just thinking about it.
There wasn’t anything WRONG with my life – I was taking steps to create a more RIGHT life.
And I certainly wasn’t going to hide this from my business community, I was going to invite them to come along so they could vicariously experience the adventures and insights with me.
What helped me get this mid-life clarity?
Well, a lot of things. One was something my son Andrew told me. Another was a health scare and the doctor warning me I better take better care of myself or my body would do something more drastic to get my attention.
Another was a variety of quotes that served as wake-up calls and motivated me to “get a move on.”
They included Paulo Coelho’s sober reminder, “One day you’re going to wake up and there won’t be any time left to do the things you’ve always wanted to do.”
Another was my clarity of how fortunate I am to be in a position to answer what called me.
I’m not one of the 65 million people (29% of the U.S. population) taking care of a chronically ill, disabled or aged friend or family member. I can operate my business from anywhere. And while I’m not independently wealthy, I’m wealthy in what matters. I have the health, freedom and autonomy to disrupt my life and do things differently.
There was nothing holding me back … so I took eighteen months to swim with dolphins, watch the sun rise over Diamond Head, take a photography workshop in Monet’s Garden, sail the Chesapeake Bay, drive the back-roads of America (and almost over a cliff on California’s Pacific Coast Highway) ... write about my experiences and epiphanies.
I will always be grateful for that adventure. It was one of the most deeply satisfying experiences of my life.
What I didn't anticipate was My Year by the Water ended up NOT being about the water.
Yes, I visited some of nature's wonders - oceans, waterfalls, mountain streams - but what made this experience so memorable and pivotal wasn't the places I visited; it was the disruptive epiphanies that challenged everything I thought I knew about what it takes to lead a meaningful life.
Aristotle said, “An unexamined life is not worth living."
Well, after going 24/7 for the past few decades, this trip gave me the time and space to reflect on my life.
What I discovered, much to my surprise, was that many of my life-long beliefs and behaviors like “It’s better to give than receive” and “Winners never quit and quitters never win” "Hard work is the secret to success" – were not contributing to a quality life; they were compromising it.
As a result of having time to examine what was working, what wasn’t and what I was going to do differently; my life has been enriched in ways that are better than I could have imagined.
I know you’re busy and may not have the incentive or resources to take a road trip.The good news? You don’t have to quit your job, win the lottery, get a divorce or walk away from your obligations to embark upon a "virtual" road trip. In my upcoming book Chase Meaning Not Clicks, you can vicariously experience those put-you-in-the-scene adventures in short chapters, all which can be read in under 10 minutes.
What's even better, ou don't have to wait for the book to come out in early 2018 to benefit from those insights. Here are my top ten lessons-learned. Hope they give you the CLARITY, incentive and inspiration to do more of what puts the light on in your eyes starting today ... not someday.
1. A Life We Love Is Often One Small Change Away
2. We’re Not Torn Between Two Worlds – We Have the Best of Both Worlds
3. Why Do We Keep Driving Into Hurricanes?
4. If We’re Lonely, We’re Not Paying Attention
5. Courage Is Trusting We Can Figure Things Out Along the Way
6. It’s Not Selfish To Put Yourself in Your Own Story
7. There Is No Present Like The Time To Do More of What Puts The Light On In Your Eyes
8. Figure Out What You Want to Do NEXT and Start Doing It NOW
9. Fun Is Not a Four-Letter Word
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One of the great joys of my life is having the opportunity to share my adventures/insights at conferences. If you're planning a program and would like a presentation that gives your participants an opportunity to connect, reflect, and identify what they can do to stop waiting and start creating a life where the light is on in their eyes, contact Cheri@IntrigueAgency.com. It'd be a pleasure and a privilege to share these inspiring stories with your group so they're creating the quality of life and work they want now, not someday.
Looking ahead, where do you want to go? 
What would you like to do?
Who would you like to meet?
Get clear about ONE thing that could make your life more satisfying, meaningful or joyful.
Then, do ONE thing this week to set that in motion. Pick up the phone. Register for that course. Sign up for that sports league. Plant that garden. Reach out to that person.
As Anna Quindlen says, "The life you've led doesn't need to be the only life you have."
A better life is often only one small change away. Do something differently today.
What is one place you want to experience that you haven't yet? 
The Northern Lights? Pyramids in Egypt? Taj Mahal in India? Great Wall in China?
Don't just put it on your list, put it on your calendar.
As soon as you do, your dream becomes tangible.
You can set aside money, make reservations, arrange for time off.
Before you know it, you're THERE, proving to yourself you can make your life what you want it to be.
It doesn't even have to be far away.
Where is a place within an hour of your home you'd like to explore?
Go there this week. Experience how good it feels to travel and discover someplace new, how it energizes you and reminds you can make your life more of what you want it to be now ... not someday.
At a conference in L.A.recently, the emcee opened the meeting by reading Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes profound essay, "Do No Lose Heart: We Were Made For These Times." 
If you're not already familiar with her inspiring piece, please check it out. It is full of hope-building insights such as...
"In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or un-mended in the world. Do not focus on that. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
"There will always be times ...when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate."
You can read the full piece here - http://www.dailygood.org/…/do-not-lose-heart-we-were-made-…/
What enduring wisdom from Pema Chodron, "Nothing ever really goes away until it has taught us what we need to know." 
So true.
If the light is NOT on in my eyes, it's a sure sign I need to change things UP.
If I find myself dealing with something again; it's a sure sign I need to do it differently or I will find myself dealing with it ... again.
Abraham Lincoln said this more than 150 years ago, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be," and it's as true today as when he first said it. 
Even when we are in the midst of daunting circumstances, there is still so much to be happy about and grateful for.
Your thoughts?
I remember talking with Dan Millman about his book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" at the Maui Writers Conference.
Part of the book's story was his search for an original idea. He came up with "There is no such thing as an ordinary day."
Agreed. So this thought is not original, it is heartfelt.
EVERY DAY COUNTS. There are no throw-away days.
Have a lot to do today? Take a moment in the midst of your rushing to stop, look around and say "Thank you."
If we don't pause, imprint and appreciate each day - we can miss our life.
Dale Carnegie suggested we live in "day-tight compartments." I agree it's wise to focus on what we can do to make TODAY the best day possible instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
One way we can do that is to focus on an inspiring quote every morning that helps us lead a right life where the light is on in our eyes.
To help myself and others do that, I will be positing a motivational quote every morning to help us live in day-tight, "day-right" compartments.
Hope you'll check back every morning - or follow this page so the quote shows up in your feed - so you can be inspired by insights that showcase the best of human-KIND, that keep gratitude top-of-mind, and that help you make every day the blessing it deserves to be.
P.S. I know you're busy so each post will be less than 100 words and take less than 1 minute to read. You've got a minute a day to read an inspiring insight that puts the light on in your eyes, right?
I had an opportunity to speak for a national convention on the topic of "Is the Light On In Your Eyes?" The conference theme was "Reflections on Success" and I started by saying many of us spend more time reflecting on what movie to watch this weekend than on what we're going to do with the rest of our life. Sound familiar?
Many of the people in the audience were successful entrepreneurs who have so many different projects and people counting on them, they feel they can't take time off. Many work 60-70 hour weeks and haven't taken a vacation for years. Some are ready to retire, but can't imagine what they're going to do NEXT that could be as satisfying and productive as what they're currently doing.
I told them we were going to spend the next ninety minutes reflecting on what's working, what's not and what we're going to do about it NEXT. I shared a quiz that can help anyone figure out in 4 minutes what's supporting their happiness, what's sabotaging it.
One of the options we talked about is how to make our passion - what puts the light on in our eyes - part of our profession. Many people told me they're too "busy" to do the hobbies that used to bring them joy. I told them, they can COMBINE their recreation WITH their work in a win-win way - instead of seeing them as being mutually exclusive.
Here's what I mean.
Several years ago, I had the pleasure of sharing breakfast with Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, the largest networking organization in the world. After hearing about my full calendar of #speaking, #consulting and #traveling, he asked, "What do you do for fun?"
Long pause. I finally dug deep and came up with "I walk my dog around the lake."
Please don't get me wrong. I love what I do and I am grateful to have the opportunity to do work with smart talented people who are making a positive difference in the world ... it's just that I was going 24/7.
That conversation and several other wake-up calls motivated me to set out on a Year by the Water. I didn't abandon my business ... I just took it on the road. As James Taylor said when he took a break from touring to compose new lyrics and produce a new album; "I didn't quit work - I did a different kind of work. " I went from non-stop productivity to full-time creativity. I did the opposite of my always and the contrast filled me with joy.
What I learned on my travels is that you don't have to be torn between two worlds - you can have the best of both worlds. You don't have to put aside what puts the light on in your eyes - you can integrate it into your work so you feel more balanced and blessed. You don't have to lose your "hobby" because you're always working, you can leverage your hobby to make your work fun and productive.
Want an example of how this works?
When I lived on#Maui, I had a friend named Kathy who was a 4.5 tennis player and a Realtor. We played a couple times a week until the economy slumped and she told me she was too bus" finding clients to play tennis anymore.
I suggested her hobby wasn't an indulgence she do only when she had spare time - it was a competitive edge that could give her access to ideal clients. I suggested she approach the concierges at the Four Seasons and Grand Wailea Resort (both 5 diamond properties catering to affluent travelers - Kathy's target demographic) and let them know they could recommend her to guests looking for a good game of singles. They eagerly did this because Kathy had lived on the island for years, was a respected member of the community, and they trusted her to make this a good experience for their resort guests.
This turned into a win for everyone. Within a month, Kathy was back to playing tennis 3-5 times a week AND had several new clients buying houses. She didn't offend anyone with hard selling. It was natural while sharing an iced-tea after a satisfying match for guests to ask "What do you do?" When they found out she was a Realtor, they'd often ask if she had any available properties for a good price. Not only was Kathy back to being active outside doing something she loved - it became an organic marketing tool that kept her visible and became her secret sauce to success in a down market.
Want other ways to figure out how you can integrate your passion into your profession and keep the light on in your eyes? Want to leverage your years of experience into a new NEXT that makes a positive difference for all involved?
I'm working on a book that shows how to do that, and will be sharing some of the steps on my www.SamHorn.com site and on my LinkedIn page.
You're invited to check out these sample posts to access some of the specific steps on how to create a unique niche ... and shape work you love that matters NOW, not someday ... so you're creating a life-work integration that is personally and professionally satisfying.
Hope you'll visit those sites. You will never regret clarifying what's important to you and bringing more of that into your life ... you will only regret not doing it sooner.
"I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me." - #1 regret of the dying as reported by nurse Bonnie Ware Many people on my Year by the Water talked wistfully of the dreams they pan to do ... someday. Are you waiting until you have more time, money, energy, freedom to do what you really want to do? What if that never happens?
Face it. There never will be a "right" time to do more of what matters to you. You'll never have more time than you have right now. Get clear on what's important to you and begin. Make today the someday you've been waiting for.
I recently did something I've been wanting to do for a long time.
While in Southern California celebrating Thanksgiving with my sister, I decided I was only 90 minutes away from the small town where I grew up and thought, "There’s no present like the time” to return for a trip down Memory Row.
You know how you always hear how SMALL everything looks in your hometown? True dat. The C & H store in Ne Cuyama – which loyally bought our 4-H and FFA animals at the Santa Maria Fair every year – used to seem so far from our house yet it was only a half mile away. I remember tearing there in our hoopy (a golf cart we used to go to the barn and corrals to feed our horses, steers and sheep) to splurge and buy a can of chicken noodle soup, a Babe Ruth bar, a small packet of Fritos and a soda for under a dollar (our food allowance for a summer day and this was way before we starting counting carbs.)
Here’s the high school (104 students on its busiest year) where I learned to play tennis by hitting thousands of balls against the backboard, and where Mr. Adams shaped some talent-shy kids into a decent jazz band. Memories of Cheri playing Pete Fountain’s Stranger on the Shore on her clarinet, Fascination on her saxophone, and us rockin it on String of Pearls, Glenn Miller's In The Mood and A-Train.
Here’s the shop where Dad, the ag teacher in town, spent long hours teaching 3 welding classes a day and building a 4-horse stock trailer from scratch. And the football field where we had our version of "Friday Nigh Lights' with 6 man football. And the rec center where our small community gathered for roller skate nights, cake walks and
Aahh, the elementary school where I ran for student body president against Don Cox and lost by 1 vote because he handed out bubble gum at the polls. (Couldn't be anything else, right? Ha.)
And there’s the school auditorium where I gave my first public speech as 8th-grade valedictorian, (which may not seem like a big deal, but in our small town it was to me.) The night of graduation, our librarian Mr. Bowers pulled me aside and gifted me with a pen and ink drawing he’d done of a mustang standing on a bluff overlooking a herd of horses on a plateau below. He said, “Sam, you’re a mustang. Mustangs join the herd at will, but leave when the herd tries to take them where they don’t want to go.”
Thank you Mr. Bowers for seeing me and for reaching out at an influential age to give me a supportive identity. As Henry F. Emerson said, “Teachers affect eternity. Who know where their influence will end?”
Who could forget the library? I used to ride my horse Joe - a palomino who had two speeds, a trot and an all-out run, he never, ever walked – here and tie him to a tree while I went in with the hopes of finding a book I hadn’t already read.
I devoured everything (even the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain that was far beyond my pay grade, so to speak) but the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley were my favorite. They gave me an all-important window into a fascinating world just waiting to be explored outside the confines of our isolated mountain valley.
The Buckhorn was the only “fancy” place and restaurant in town. We would save our money, sit at the counter and splurge on a grilled cheese and root beer float from the soda fountain. Cheri celebrated her 14th birthday at a pool party here by wearing a daring (and forbidden) two piece bathing suit brought in Catalina.
Our home on Cebrian Street is holding up pretty well for being 70+ years old. I couldn't help but laugh as a tumbleweed blew across the road as I drove by. Brought back images of the tumbleweed forts we built by the side of the house to play with our Barbies (really!).
Some of the memories that came flooding back as I gazed at my childhood home included the chickens in our back yard that would fly-run squawking around the corner as soon as we opened the back door, no matter how quietly we tried to turn the knob. My rabbits in their hutches and me asking Mom and Dad on a freezing winter night if I HAD to feed them that night, asking “Cant it wait until tomorrow morning?” and my folks saying what they always said, “Do the right thing.”
The Christmas we gathered in a circle (including cousins Dan, Jim, Uncle Brick and Aunt Carol) to open presents. My brother Dave tore open his gift, unfolded the white tissue and promptly threw the box in the air, dumping its contents all over Mom who was wearing her best “dress-up” outfit, a red wood suit. Unfortunately for mom, the contents were horse manure, our parents’ clever way of saying Dave was getting what he wanted for Christmas - his own horse.
Now I'm in Honolulu under the historic “Hawaii Call’s” banyan tree. On the drive in from the airport, we drove by Tripler, the pink hospital on the hill overlooking Pearl Harbor, where Andrew was born. There’s Queen Medical Center where Tom entered the world on Labor Day (quite a sense of humor.). I remember watching the finals of the U.S. Open, thinking "This doesn't hurt that much. I can handle it," and that's when the doc gave me the Petocin.
I walked over to the Rainbow Tower of the the Hilton Hawaiian Village which reminded me of the last time my sons and I visited here - to compete in the Waikiki Rough Water Swim. Tom served as crew and Andrew beat me (by a lot) to the finish line - the noogie.
To top off my trip down Memory Row, the musician here at the Beach Bar at the Moana just started playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The boys grew up in Maui listening to Hawaiian music ... Brothers Cazimero, Hapa, Keilii Reichel. Tom surprised me by having Brother Iz's version of this song played at his and Patty’s wedding. As he walked me to the center of the floor for the “Mom’s Dance,” he smiled and said “Thought you’d like this.”
Tom was right. I did like it. And I like that its lyrics are poignantly relevant as I reflect on the 25 years spent in these two homes of New Cuyama and Hawaii – first where I grew up as a child, second where my two children grew up.
“Somewhere over the rainbow, Blue birds fly,
And the dreams that you dreamed of,
Dreams really do come true.
I see trees of green and red roses too
I'll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.”
It is indeed a wonderful world, and I am so grateful for the many dreams which have bloomed and come true.
How about you? What have you been wanting to do? Maybe it's not going back to what you grew up - maybe it's to start your own business, write a book, give back to your community, get back into a hobby that brings you joy, head out on your own adventure.
Buddha said, "The problem is, you think you have time." Please understand, there's no present like the time - and no time like the present - to do more of what puts the light on in your eyes. What is something you'll do THIS week that makes you smile just thinking of it?
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Sam Horn, Founder/CEO of the Intrigue Agency, is on a mission to help people create quality one-of-a-kind projects that add value for all involved. Her work - including her TEDx talk and books POP!, Tongue Fu! and Washington Post Bestseller Got Your Attention? - has been featured in New York Times, Forbes, INC and NPR and presented to clients such as Boeing, Cisco, Intel. Want Sam to share her inspiring insights with your organization? Contact Cheri@IntrigueAgency.com
