I
love getting fortune cookies. They always follow a savory meal at my favorite
Asian restaurants where my taste buds and my nostrils have been tantalized with
fresh, crisp vegetables and spices.
After
the meal, I crack open my fortune cookie to find a simple statement that I am certain has been written just for me:
Your mind is filled with new ideas:
explore them.
A new outlook brightens your image and
brings new friends.
If you put up with small annoyances,
you will gain great results.
Luck happens when hard work meets
opportunity.
The
power of these fortunes rests in my disposition. Sometimes they appear to be trite;
others are simply corny. Occasionally I find the words of the fortune to be a
special prompt – an aha! moment if you will. And most are gentle reminders of
the ability and opportunity in all of us to make good fortune of our lives –
wherever, whenever, and however we can.
My
recent favorite reads like this,
Past experience: He who never makes
mistakes never did anything that’s worthy.
Powerful
words as I consider all that is promised and expected at Wake Young Women’s
Leadership Academy. My hope is that every part of this year and the years to
come will be filled with exponential successes.
Reality:
there are going to be mistakes and lessons learned. The challenge will be to
savor the fortune of the moment and determine how to move beyond it and the
mistake.
The
fortune cookie reminds me, too, of my good fortune to be a part of this
exciting new venture. I have just begun to “crack open” the wit and wisdom of
each of the faculty and staff who are committed to this project’s success. My recent “sampling” of their new ideas, new outlooks, and hard work has left me anxious to
explore with them the excitement of our first year together. In them I hope to
find new friends and great results.
As
I think about each of the young women who will start the school year at WYWLA
in August, each of them holds a “fortune” inside that we will be challenged and
inspired to discover. Each day will provide an opportunity for them to discover new ideas, meet new friends, and have great results. Most importantly, they
will be challenged to apply hard work
to the opportunities provided at
WYWLA.
As
the anticipation builds for the first day of school, my latest fortune reads,
“You will receive a surprising gift very soon.” Perhaps that gift will be
meeting one of you!
