Outside Forces that change the course of your life.

Gordon - excellent food for thought! My major epiphanal moment came when I was a marketing VP for Lockheed on my third trip from DC to LA in ten days. I was tired, fed up with the corporate life, but still in the golden handcuff rut of so many professionals.

Instead of going directly to the LA office, I instructed the young guy that picked me up to head for Gladstones for Fish (a restaurant overlooking Malibu Beach) to get a couple beers. I needed a break. While there, we perused the gorgeous views of the ocean, beach and naturally, healthy, tanned and beautiful ladies running up the beach. I reflected on my youth (five years prior!) when I too used to run on the beach.

When I went to the mensroom to recycle some beer, I saw my "seventy year old" reflection in the mirror (I was then about 35!) and had an instantaneous realization. The job was killing me and I had to make a change.

The rest is history - I started my own business within three months and am still there ten years later. With all of it's ups and downs, for me doing what I do has provided learning, adventure and the freedom to choose. I'm forever grateful to Gladstone's and have memorial libation there on each LA trip!

So, the moral is, you never know where outside forces may strike to change your course - even in the bathroom mirror of a bar on the beach!!!

Regards, Bob