I created Living ROI as a passion, to share my experiences and support others who want to live more authentic, joyful and fulfilling lives.
Dear Friends,
In July of 2015, when my youngest daughter Marina was 15-years-old, I went to my first Tony Robbins event in Chicago—Unleash the Power Within. I had an unexpected and serendipitous exchange with Tony on the first day of the event.
This conversation came to mind because someone let me know earlier this week that there was a video of the entire 15-minute conversation in a promotional video.
It was serendipitous because the topic at the conference that day was fear, and one of my biggest fears had happened that very morning. At 3 am, Colin, my husband, called me from home in California to tell me that Marina had gotten very drunk the night before.
I was terrified. One of my most important goals as a parent was to shepherd my girls safely through the risky years of age 14 to 16. I didn’t want them to do what I did during those ages. My parents were clueless about my partying behavior. I survived; but I was lucky.
My older daughter, Emerald, was already a junior in college and Marina was about to enter her sophomore year of high school. Marina reminded me of me when I was her age, and it was worrisome.
That morning on the first day of the Tony Robbins conference, I was one of 10,000 other attendees waiting for Tony to come on the stage. Tony came on, said hi and then asked everyone the question, “Why are you here?” I spontaneously raised my hand, along with several hundred other people. I was sitting about 20 rows from the front and off to the left side.
To my great amazement, Tony looked right at me and said, “You.” Someone came with a microphone. After talking with Tony about what’s important to me in life, he asked, “What’s a problem in your life?” I said, “Well, my 15-year-old daughter got drunk last night.” I was emotional, and shocked that I had revealed that to Tony and a small crowd of 10,000 people.
Tony went on to talk with me for 15 minutes with wisdom and humor that soothed my distress. It was such a gift. During the coffee break, dozens of people were coming up to me to say hi and tell me their stories. I had been projected on the two massive screens in the front of the arena during my exchange with Tony, so everyone recognized me and many felt connected because of my vulnerability.
It was amazing to be able to watch the conversation this week and hear again what Tony had to say.
Here are some nuggets I got from Tony that day:
- Don’t take life so very seriously.
- Everything serves the greater good.
- Not everyone wants to live a better life; some people are attached to their problems.
- Stress comes from making things bigger than they really are.
- Don’t be too prescriptive about what you want; head in the general direction and then be open to guidance.
- Enjoy life as it is.
- Consider that life may be perfect just as it is.
- When you expand the quality of your life it will reflect on the lives of people around you.
Marina not only survived her adolescence, she is thriving. Now a college freshman, she was just home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thank you, Marina, for letting me share this personal story.
Much love,
Barbara Fagan-Smith
CEO, ROI Communication
Chief Catalyst, Living ROI
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