Day 65

Tonight, at my PRSSA meeting, we had a really awesome speaker which led me to an epiphany (that I will get to in a second.) His name was Reed Dickens, a former White House Assistant Press Secretary, and the founder of Outside Eyes (a crisis management PR firm in Newport Beach.) Basically, he started working at the White House in his early 20's and was quickly promoted by the age of 24, overseeing hundreds of people in his daily work (not to mention his office was 25 feet from the president, no big deal!) During his five years of working in this position, he traveled to over 40 countries and almost every state in the U.S., via Air Force One, and frequently spent time at Camp David. Those details blew my mind! I think the coolest part of the story though is that he grew up in a small town in the south, didn't know a soul in politics, and "made it" literally just from hard work, determination, and perseverance. Three traits that many people aspire to have, but don't necessarily demonstrate. So, the important part of the story, my epiphany. From listening to him speak, it occurred to me, (and this might sound really obvious), that you really can do anything you put your mind to. He is living proof of that. I think the reason it hit me so hard was that I have heard advice like that my entire life, that if there is a will there is a way, but I don't think I ever witnessed a person telling their first hand account of how they prove it to be actually true. (That's an exaggeration, I know plenty of people who have accomplished many things that they have wanted to, I think the caliber of his work is why his story impressed me.) I can't imagine working for the president at the age of 24! And I am sure that many people could agree with me on that. It's incredible that YOU have complete power over what you can and can't do, and you truly are the only person standing in the way of your dreams and goals. Deep subject for today, but it was a huge positive for what I thought was going to be a regular old Tuesday.

:)