As a teenager, long before there was “The Voice” or “American Idol” I was a frequent participant in vocal talent events. I wrote often and published my first editorial at the age of fifteen. At the age of seventeen, a California talent scout met with my parents to explore a promotion agreement after I won a state vocal music event. The scout left with the promise that I would hear from him soon, but I didn’t. Decades later, I cannot recall his name. Yet, after my father passed away, I discovered a diary entry I had written the night the talent scout met with my parents. The excitement captured in the words I had written was palpable. I remember this girl, the one with the stars in her eyes.

This is not the life I had expected.

Life circumstances would place me on a different path, one that would use my interests and talents in a unique way. Far from glamorous, my life has been and continues to be, a mix of extraordinary moments lived within the ordinary day.

I never made a conscious decision to live life the way I have for these many years. In hindsight, when I reflect on life, the opportunities presented to me were the direct result of small and seemingly inconsequential choices I made along the way. The experience of those early years in nursing is what fueled my passion for wellness; footnotes in a career firmly planted in preventive health. It is a marvel and privilege to view life through the long lens of time.

Meditation

Choices, even those that seem insignificant, can have a profound impact on life.  Like steps on a trail, each choice represents a decision to move in one direction over another.  A choice may feel isolated, but over time a path is laid for the longer journey.  Sometimes, the impact of a choice is seen only by looking back over years of life experience. It can be very hard to see the path ahead from the bottom of the trail.

On one particular evening, decades ago, I was singing at the bedside of a woman dying from cancer. She had been a singer in her younger years and a music teacher until the disease had put an end to her career.  She listened to me sing from her nursing home bed, on what would be the final day of her life. When I finished, she motioned me closer and whispered the following words in my ear, “Don’t waste your gift.”  At that time, I took her words as encouragement to pursue a career in entertainment.

Now, I know better.

This is not the life I expected, it is even better.