Sunday morning I was having breakfast at Newark International Airport in my home state as I prepared to travel to Florida for business.
We woke up early, and I just wasn’t in the mood to eat before heading out the door. So a coffee to go was my breakfast on the ride to the airport.
I checked my bag, worked my way through the dysfunction at TSA and headed to the gate.
I was so far ahead of schedule that the prior flight departing from my gate still had not finished boarding upon my arrival.
No big deal — I had a 3 hour sit ahead of me so I started wandering around the airport like an idiot.
Eventually I figured I better eat something before getting on the plane, as the food they serve is, well, less than appealing.
For the heck of it I walked up to this almost empty airport eatery and asked the gentleman there if they served breakfast.
He welcomed me in and found me a seat where I could set up shop while I burned time.
A cold glass of OJ and quite possibly the best steak and eggs I’ve ever had was the perfect breakfast.
There was a beautiful young woman waiting on me and a woman sitting next to me.
Mind you, there was no one else around — so while I wasn’t intending on eavesdropping, it was kind of unavoidable. Frankly, I’m glad I did.
She takes care of me perfectly, tops off my water, checks on me to see if I need anything. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better meal or service.
As the woman next to me was paying, the waitress asked her, “What do you do for a living?”
The woman replied, “I’ve recently changed career paths and I now work for myself.”
The waitress hesitated before asking her, “Was it hard to make the change?”
The woman responded, “Incredibly, but it was something I had to do for myself.”
The waitress paused and then proceeded to tell her that she had a passion for performing arts and writing but she doesn’t know how to get started.
The woman encouraged her to follow her passion and then left to board her flight.
A little time passes. I eat my meal and the place is starting to fill up.
Once again, she comes over to check on me and I ask her for the check.
Upon paying her, I offered her the following thoughts…
No matter how little progress you make each day, a little is better than none.
If you’re not getting out of bed in the morning to do something you truly love, you’re selling yourself short.
You’re better to wake up in a small home, drive a cheaper car, carry an inexpensive bag and love every single day of your life over trying to live a life defined by what others tell you success is.
She paused as I believe I struck a nerve that just simply needed to be struck. She nodded her head with emotion and said thank you for taking the time out of your day to share this.
She asked if I owned my own business. I said yes, I own multiple.
She asked if it’s hard, and I told her: Every single day it is. But it’s what I live for.
She asked where I was off to. I shared with her I’m filming an endorsement of my company with one of the sharks from Shark Tank.
Before leaving after sharing these brief moments together, I assured her to have faith and passion, put your fears aside, go out there and live your best life. You deserve it!
Look, it doesn’t matter if you want to excel in the performing arts or you want to be the world’s best trader. If you’re passionate about it, if you’re willing to have a little faith and do a lot of work, anything is attainable!