Favorite Song From Their Picks: “Landslide”- Fleetwood Mac
Both my Papa and my Dad have very unique stories when it comes to blazing their own paths.
Papa came from the very bottom. He grew up in a poor Jewish family in Detroit. He was a gambler and a self-described “bum” before my Mimi pushed him to get his life together. He went to college and was the first in his family to get his degree. They moved to Phoenix, at the time barely more than a town. Together, they built up a Pharmaceutical chain that spread throughout the West Valley. Essentially, they went from 8-mile to Mummy Mountain.
My Dad spent most of his early adult life training to become an Accountant. After a few years in the industry, he had to make the tough choice to give up what he had known and try something new. He started a few different companies centered around real estate and never looked back.
What was funny about my interview with Papa was that my Mimi was also present in the room at the time. Afterwards, he admitted to me that he had gone out of his way to try and include her in this. She explains that blazing your own path means taking chances. Even though there is risk in everything, your internal strength can help you navigate the uncertainty. For them, that was certainly the case. They left everything they had ever known. They left their comfort zone. That alone takes strength that most of us don’t have. Certainly in my life I could use more of this.
My dad also hits along many of these same points. He mentions the fear that he had to battle during the switch. He knew it was necessary because he could not imagine him doing this work everyday. Yet, sometimes leaving the beaten trail can be really hard, especially when you have spent so much time getting to where you are. My dad again gives the story of his recent business relationship. He had invested a lot of time with this person, but true strength comes in admitting that you made a mistake by starting anew on a different path.
Blazing my own path is something that I have been good at in some ways but struggled in others. Very early on, I decided that I wanted to try and go to Law School. I have been working hard at that goal ever since. However, since I started blazing that path, I have struggled to find the strength to address if it was really what I wanted to do. Sometimes, I am not sure, but I lack the strength to really question whether I would change. After talking to both my Dad and my Papa, I realize that I must look deep inside and ask myself the hard questions. Specifically, my dad’s story about being a CPA really makes me think. It takes a lot of courage to do what he did, and I hope that I can find the courage to do the same thing if I need to.