Sunday, February 22, 2015

Synchronicity: a surprising new "why"

This morning when I realized my new "why," and it brought a tear to my eye.  Yesterday was the 31st anniversary of my dad getting struck and killed by a drunk driver near Menomonie, WI.  So how did an "old" event lead to a new driving force in my life?

I always thought I already knew my "why" -- an impetus to get my butt out of bed in the morning and focus my energies.  Personal development trainers constantly admonish us to find a meaningful goal to motivate ourselves into action. For the past several years, I've been telling everyone that I want to:
  • Send my kids to the colleges of their choice
  • Save for retirement
  • Pay off my mom's bankruptcy (new on the list as of last year)
  • Protect the environment
  • Protect endangered wild animal species
The above list has been pasted on my bathroom mirror for so long, the paper is water-stained and yellowing!  (Posting goals in the bathroom has become the modern-day equivalent of wearing one's heart on the sleeve.)

So far, I am still working on making the list a reality.  While our oldest kid IS in college, it was his second choice, which he attends because it gives him the best financial aid package. My "protect endangered species" goal is manifesting through my Youth Art for Saving Wolves MN project. I envisioned myself as a wealthy benefactor, traveling the world and donating large sums and organizing massive projects, but this smaller project is a step in the right direction.  The other goals are still mostly in the "some day" category. 

I was born on my dad's birthday, creating an especially close connection between us.  I absolutely totally freaking adored Dad!  He would take me motorcycling, snowmobiling and four-wheelering.  I even liked watching him tinker under the hood of his car.  Dad was a mechanical engineer with 3M, well-regarded by friends and co-workers.  Just being with him in public seemed to elevate my status.

Bernie Bruins, August 1965
Dad dreamed of breaking away from 3M and starting his own company.  For nearly his entire career, he had been making 3M rich by giving them his time and engineering talents.  In the last few years of his life, he secretly kept a few designs from 3M, and had started scoping out industrial office space to develop his inventions at.  But one cold February night in 1984, during a diabetic attack on a country road in Wisconsin, he stopped the car and was struck and killed from behind by a drunk driver.  He was declared dead on arrival at the Menomonie Hospital.

Dad, you died broke, divorced, lonely and unable to break away from the corporate chains to create the wealth you deserved.  You were a smart guy, and I know you would have seen the brilliance of the ACN compensation plan, with its triple-whammy of residuals, leverage and bonuses.  ...and we are doing all of this while wiping out childhood hunger in the US!

My new epiphany is this: in exactly one year, I will be the same age Dad was when he died.  If, by God's grace, I live beyond that age, it will be like Dad is passing me the baton, and encouraging me to work smarter and go farther than he was able to at his soul-killing job at 3M. Dad, I promise you I will honor your memory and go to the top in ACN!