The fortune cookies are real … so now I believe. Two days before my wedding on Friday in December 2008, my wife ate at a Chinese restaurant, where she received a fortune cookie that read, “A life full of happiness awaits you.” The next day, Thursday, he went out to eat Chinese again and his fortune cookie read, “Next Friday will be an exciting time for you.” Was this a coincidence or was it a specific message brought by the Universe to my lovely future wife?

The fortune cookie story doesn’t end here. Last night I shared my career ambitions, goals, and dreams for my life with my wife. I explained why I believe I have been blessed with a wife and son I adore, a wonderful family, great friends, and a successful career. I explained to Korrel that I have become so rich because of my growing capacity to love, my commitment to personal growth, dedication to my career, faith in my dreams, and most importantly, my ability to make the right decisions in the right moment. An hour after that discussion, in a Chinese restaurant, my fortune cookie said: “Life is a series of choices, today yours are good.” Then I knew I had to write something.

I believe that a successful life comes from the right decisions at the right time, as well as the willingness to pursue the goals inherent in these decisions. Robert Frost nailed the challenge of “elections” in his poem The Road Less Traveled. In this poem, he saw the value of ending up at a “crossroads” in life.

“Two roads diverged in a yellow forest

And I’m sorry I couldn’t travel that much

And being a traveler, for a long time I stood

And I looked down one as far as I could “

At this crossroads, we are faced with two distinctly different paths, which have two equally distinct different outcomes. Perhaps, at this crossroads, we will be led to the biggest choice of our life: in which direction are we going? Do we take the path that is most familiar to us, the one we can navigate in the dark, with our eyes closed? or we take the path that is unknown, terrifying and riddled with obstacles and unpredictable results.

The familiar path offers predictability and security, but only a limited version of “success.” However, the “road less traveled” is risky in nature, but has the potential to ultimately change your life. When traveling on the road less traveled, there is no turning back; Life has changed forever and you can never go back to the old life of security and predictability. This risky path is where choices manifest in dreams and dreams manifest in reality.

“Two roads diverged in a forest,

and took the less traveled one.

And that has made the difference. “

Paul Coelho, author of “The Alchemist”, believes that we all have the ability to achieve our “personal legend”, which is the best possible version of ourselves: the person of our dreams. Mr. Coelho believes that by following his personal legend, he has chosen “the path that God has chosen for you here on Earth.” It is a path to the life you believe you belong to, the goals you have chosen and the dreams you know. Through difficult decisions, a commitment to moral and ethical principles, the courage to see mistakes or poor results as gifts, and the humility of not getting lost in moments of success, one can achieve their “personal legend.”

Similar to taking the “road less traveled,” achieving your own personal legend can come at a cost. Life consists of a series of “mini crossroads” where good decisions, despite the best of intentions, can result in failures and disappointments. For those of us who pursue our personal legend, we know that life’s highest and most heartfelt goals can sometimes end in failure and disappointment; But we still persevere By dedicating ourselves to the search for our best version of ourselves, we can transform our moments of disappointment, disappointment or shame into goals and dreams achieved.

The words of Robert Frost and Paul Coelho have inspired me to understand that because life is truly a series of choices, we can achieve our dreams. We all come to this imperfect world, in imperfect families and as imperfect versions of ourselves. We all have our stories of dysfunctional families, financial difficulties, medical limitations, self-esteem challenges, etc. God wanted us all to be able, through conscious choices, to grow and develop into something special. Without committing ourselves to a less traveled road or path to our personal legend, we live our lives, at best, in mediocrity: never knowing how far we might have progressed, who we might have become, and what effect on the world we might have. to have. done.

It is through a series of choices and perseverance to pursue the goals inherent in these choices that we achieve our God-given potential. Elections lead us to dreams.