There is a fable about a wise peasant who lived many years ago in China. He had a son who was the apple of his eye. He also was the proud owner of a fine white stallion which everyone admired. One day his horse escaped from his grounds and disappeared. The villagers came to him one by one and said: “You are such an unlucky man. It is such bad luck that your horse escaped.”

The peasant responded: “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

The next day the stallion returned followed by 12 wild horses. Again the neighbors visited him and congratulated him on his luck. And once again, he just said: “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

As it happened, the next day his son was attempting to train one of the wild horses when he fell down and broke his leg. Once more everyone came with their condolences: “It’s terrible.”

Again, he replied: “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

A few days passed and his poor son was limping around the village with his broken leg. The emperor’s army entered the village and announced that a war was starting. They enlisted all the young men of the village to fight for the emperor. However, they left the peasant’s son since he had a broken leg. Everyone was extremely jealous of the peasant. They talked about his sheer good luck, while the old man just muttered: “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?”

Discouraging Setbacks

When I experience a setback, it’s very easy to get discouraged. When something seems like it's perfect and then it doesn’t come through, I doubt myself. I applied for a job yesterday that seemed like it was just about made for me. This morning I woke to find an email from the job site that said, “You have not been selected for this position.” It's amazing how quickly my mood plummeted. Why don't they even want to talk with me? I'm exactly what they're looking for! This is a job I’d really enjoy doing! I was really down about it, and it was hard to get motivated to do anything.

Surprise!

Well, later this afternoon, I was surprised to receive a call from the company. It was easy to answer their questions enthusiastically and well. They do something wonderful that I can stand behind and get excited about, and I really feel that I can bring value to the role. Long story short, I have my second interview with the company tomorrow.

The Sundrop Flower

In the meantime, strangely enough, this has made me think about Disney’s 2010 Animated Adventure Tangled. At the start of the movie, a single drop of sunlight falls “from the heavens” and, where it lands, a flower grows. The Sundrop Flower is then made into an infusion to save the life of the dying queen. And so, the flower is gone; but the MAGIC is not – it has just changed forms. The queen lives, and gives birth to baby Rapunzel, whose hair now contains the magic. All through the film, Rapunzel thinks that her hair is what’s magic; but – spoiler alert – at the end of the film, her hair gets cut short, and the magic leaves it. It’s a heart-wrenching moment, as it seems like the magic just disappears and is gone forever. However, only moments later, we learn that the magic is now in Rapunzel’s tears. When she cries, her tears have healing powers.

The Spark

This is a wonderful analogy for the spark that’s within each of us. I know a young lady who can look at numbers, and they just seem to magically arrange themselves into patterns and equations that others can’t see. She’s able to solve problems that baffle me. I have another friend with an uncanny knack for connecting people with one another. He loves meeting new people and quickly gets to the crux of what is truly important to each one. He keeps an immense people-database in his mind and can quickly figure out who would benefit from being connected with whom. Then he makes these connections happen.

Magic in Me?

As for me? I’d say my magic is the ability to see the best and strongest in other people. With my help, their faith, courage and confidence is restored, and their challenges become surmountable. They pursue their goals with renewed vigor, feel good about themselves, grow, and make positive changes.

The Journey Begins

The journey to find my purpose had barely begun when I attended my first Broadway show as a pre-teen: Les Miserables. I watched two men in suits in the row in front of me bawl their eyes out. I was blown away by the power that theatre had to reach in and make people feel. I’m sure these guys were not expecting to be sitting in this theatre sobbing; but they had been moved by the beauty and the message before them. I knew right then and there that that was what I was called to do. There was such a diverse audience in the theatre – all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual identifications – and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wasn’t on the edge of their seat, completely emotionally committed to what was going on onstage. I knew that those people were going to leave that theatre changed, just as I did. And I felt like it was my calling to be a part of changing the world for the better in that way.

Dissolving Flower

Well, I got as far as one national tour - made it out from MA to CA - before I injured my vocal folds and had to fly home early and miss the end of the tour. That kind of felt like the sky-flower being dissolved, and my dream truly seemed to have disappeared.

Incredible Catalyst

But that led to my being able to open PaperMoon! Incredible people gather here. They make friendships, encourage one another, tease one another, treat one another like a big family. In addition to amazing dancing, we have a lot of social outings where everyone feels included, and we do service projects together that make the world a better place. I feel like PaperMoon has allowed me to be a catalyst for wonderful things to happen.

The Haircut

But lately I’ve been facing a number of injuries and surgeries. They seem to be coming one on top of the other. Each time I tear a meniscus in my knee or bruise a bone in my shoulder, it feels like Rapunzel’s hair being severed. And I know I’m being a little too optimistic about this; but I feel like this new job opportunity could be my magic tears – the new door that my gift can flow through.

Which Way Next?

I’m going to try to reign in my emotions before they run away with me; because I think the lesson that I really need to take from this is that, whether I get this job or not, the magic is still within me. I can either focus on and mourn the loss of my long, magical hair; or I can take a moment to take stock, look around, and figure out which way the magic is meant to come out next. Because it’s always there, it just changes form. As far as the good news, bad news, I think it’s OK to take a moment and say, bummer, it’s bad news that such-and-such an opportunity has ended; but then I’ve got to recognize that the very same circumstance is concurrently good news, because it means I now have new ways to use my gifts.

The Gift Never Dies

Rapunzel didn’t question why or how or when; she just opened herself to whichever way the gift chose to come out next. When people have magic inside of them, the gift never dies, it just finds a new way to reveal itself. So, should I say wish me luck with the interview tomorrow? I guess if that is the way my gift is meant to manifest, I open my heart to it, and so be it!