In the late 90’s I was the COO of a publicly traded company and we took about 100 employees and their guests to a spa resort in San Diego as a ‘thank you” for great performance. As part of the trip, I had the privilege of hosting a beautiful dinner celebration at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. That evening Julie Scardina, the famous San Diego animal trainer and (at that time) regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, brought a cast of her animals on stage to entertain and educate us all.
Prior to the trip I had a serious accident where I crushed my sternum and broke my collar bone along with a number of ribs. As I ambled on stage to wrap up the evening and to thank Julie, our CEO and most importantly our team and guests, Julie unbeknown to me, released the two cheetahs she had with her (glad she kept hold of the boa constrictor). There I was bandaged up, in a sling, and these majestic cats gently joined me at center stage. They then began licking my bruised arms and chest, a gesture of healing that will be with me forever. The crowd gasped and a surreal quiet came over the room. I managed to keep my composure, looked at those beautiful creatures, and exclaimed into the microphone, “Who would have believed it if I would have told people at breakfast this morning that two cheetahs would be licking me up here on stage tonight?” That became the metaphor for the trip. No one can make up the wonders our life has in store for us.
Character Move: be open and take in the beauty of the unexpected. Accept.
Life is the Triangle,
Lorne