How do you define success? Having been in business for myself for twenty years now, I’ve recognized that the way I define success can shift over time, and has a big impact on how much I enjoy my business and what it is that I’m creating.
Last month, after coming home from dōTERRA’s Convention, I found myself saying “yes” to a business training in Prague. While my business has been successful in many ways, I’ve also been craving change–so I went to the Czech Republic with an open heart and an eye toward the future.
2019 has been the year of the unexpected—it’s challenged me and surprised me, and brought me clarity in many ways, too. This year has felt like a percolation period, a time of transition for what’s yet to arrive…and yes, I’ve felt impatient at times!
This business trip to Prague turned out to be full of synchronicity, and what started out as “business only” turned out to be deeply affirming in my personal life, as well.
First, within 60 minutes of the training program beginning, I was completely assured that I was in the right place, at the right time, with the right people. The energy in the room was incredible, and I felt full of renewed inspiration and focus for my business!
The training was intensive, and after the long hours spent indoors each day, I couldn’t wait to explore the sun-lit beauty of Prague.
It was important to me to visit the Jewish Quarter in Prague. I haven’t been to Europe since 1994 (!), and connecting with my heritage and the history of the Jewish people in the Czech Republic felt vital to my very core.
One of the first sites I wandered into was the Old Jewish cemetery, with headstones crowded together and leaning on each other haphazardly. Many of these graves were from the 15th to 17th centuries, from the time that the Jewish community was allowed only a small piece of land to bury their dead. To accommodate for the lack of space, graves were stacked up to ten layers deep, one upon another.
As I observed the ancient, leaning headstones, I was struck by the profound metaphor that in life as in death, we can find strength and solidarity when we lean on each other.
In modern times, we tend to believe that we should be strong enough to do everything alone. We may feel deeply ashamed of asking for help—but the truth is, we are all connected. No one is an island, and we can tap into such enduring strength and fortitude if only we acknowledge that, and find the courage to reach out for support.
There is profound strength in acknowledging our interdependence and sharing not just our joys, but also our struggles with others. We can accomplish so much more when we stretch out our hand and choose to be vulnerable and trusting.
Standing there, in that tiny, ancient graveyard in Prague, I was reminded of the theme of dōTERRA’s Convention for 2019: Together.
At that moment I felt so humbled, realizing just how big an impact Togetherness has on humanity, whether we face unthinkable atrocities–or the mundane, sacred rhythms of life.
As I was reflecting on all of this, I walked across the street into the Pinkas Synagogue. Every square inch of the walls is covered in the caligraphied names of 80,000 members of the Czech Jewish community who lost their lives in the Holocaust, but upstairs is a room filled with artwork that almost brought me to my knees. Encased in glass cabinets, I saw artwork that I instantly recognized from my childhood.
When I was in the 5th grade, I was gifted a book called I Never Saw Another Butterfly, by Celeste Raspanti and Hana Volavkova. It was filled with artwork and poetry created by children in the Terezín Ghetto during the Second World War, all of whom perished with their teacher in Auschwitz shortly thereafter. The Terezín Ghetto, which had been located just outside of Prague, was filled with Jewish scholars and artists, and the Nazis permitted drawing lessons as part of a children’s program for these young inmates, all under the age of fifteen.
That book profoundly affected me as a child, to the point of influencing who I was to become. It was a waypoint in my journey of consciousness, part of my awakening to the breadth of human experience, and how far-reaching one person’s impact can be.
I was moved to tears to find myself face to face with the original drawings and poems from the book, connecting my past so powerfully full-circle with my present!
Synchronicities are all around us, if we allow ourselves to be perceptive and willing to follow the subtle threads that lead us to them. I had no idea that in Prague, in the midst of a business training, I would find echoes of something in my past that meant so much to me…and yet, it turned out to be exactly what I needed.
I’d been thinking so much about the future—the future of my business, and of my life’s purpose—that it was a beautiful experience to be plunged into my 5th-grade self by stumbling upon that art exhibit. It helped remind me that even as I strive for a brighter, bigger future, I haven’t forsaken the hopefulness and passion that I had as a child.
There is no doubt in my mind—my trip to Prague absolutely put me in the right place, at the right time, together with the right people!
Bonds of friendship, family, and love sustain and nourish us in ways that transcend science or logic. Alone, we struggle. Together, we can accomplish truly inspirational things, whether in business, life, or love—and we can define success in any way we choose.
