Have A Ruby Revelation

One of the best parts of my job is the opportunity to work with so many different organizations, meeting thousands of people.  And in my 25 years of doing so, I've stumbled upon what I believe is the essential ingredient that separates those who feel they've found success in work and life, from those still searching for it.  I'm naming it 'The Ruby Revelation' -- and I'm convinced we all need to have one.

Mine came to me this past month.  I had some extra time on my hands to reflect on my year full of changes and the journey my life has taken.  My deep thinking requires music in the background and, as luck would have it, the classic version of 'Over the Rainbow' was on. 

Can wisdom really come through a young Judy Garland?  Indeed it can. 

I got to thinking about the Wizard of Oz and how it's such a great allegory for life.  At one time we all have a bit of Dorothy in us, don't we?  We gaze at the sky, hopeful for a happy life, certain it's on the other side of the fence or over the rainbow.  So we run away from home as we know it, searching for our heart's desire, until the storms of life toss us around and we find ourselves in a new land.  Colorful.  Chaotic.  Sometimes beautiful and magical.  But perhaps also frightening and foreign -- maybe so much so that all we think about is finding our way back home again. 

And so our long journey begins to find the one who can grant us our wishes and give us what we're longing for.  Like Dorothy, we find and help others along the way: a scarecrow in search of a brain (a spouse going through college or career growth?), a tinman in search of a heart (our community, church or school?), a lion in search of courage (our kids?)  Like a true American woman, Dorothy finds a way to make sure everyone elses needs get taken care of first -- even doing the impossible to get 'r done. 

And when it comes time for her, she selflessly sacrifices the one shot she has to go home because she can't leave without her faithful companion, Toto. Now that's love.  (Some of you have been there too.) 

All seems lost until the good witch Glinda comes on the scene with some very good news indeed:  Dorothy has always had the power to go home.

But why didn't you tell her before?   Because she wouldn't have believed it -- she had to learn it for herself, through each and every experience of her journey down the yellow brick road.  Only then would she know how to tap the power found in those fabulous ruby slippers. 

And there you have it: The Ruby Revelation. 

The essential ingredient that separates those who have found success from those still searching, is the realization that it's not up to our spouse, our community, our kids, or even our employer (a.k.a.The Wizard) to grant us our heart's desire.  The answer lies within us.  Only we have the ability to tap the power that comes from walking in our own shoes -- those valuable life lessons that teach us, refine us, inspire us, change and motivate us to find our way to that peaceful place where work and life is good.   

So get rid of the flying monkeys on your back, melt away those wicked witches wanting to capture your beauty and your little dog too, and claim your own Ruby Revelation.

Just be sure to do it in a fabulous pair of shoes.

"If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I'll know not to look any further than my own back yard;  because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with." -- Dorothy Gale, Wizard of Oz