We are all meant for some greatness. I am not saying that we are all expected to be worldly inventors, visionaries or generational leaders. Our greatness is just you being the most authentic version of you. If that self-awareness combined with your gifted talent leads to all-world calibre fame and fortune, then that is awesome! But greatness doesn’t necessarily mean fame. Anyone can be famous. The world is filled with notorious murderers and thieves. It doesn’t mean those people are great. Greatness comes from positively inspiring others with your presence and authenticity.

Opportunity to be great

A few weeks ago I had the fantastic opportunity to attend The Titan Summit hosted by Robin Sharma. The Titan Summit is a four-day leadership conference held at the very prestigious, Ritz Carlton hotel in Toronto, Ontario. The conference hosts many world-class speakers and marvellous insight from the one and only, Robin Sharma. The speaker lineup featured great wisdom from Deepak Chopra and John Maxwell. We listened to insightful talks on health and wellbeing from Dr. James Rouse and Dr. Greg Wells. I also had the opportunity to hear mind-blowing inspirational speeches from astronaut Chris Hadfield and quadriplegic Alex Lewis.

All in all, The Titan Summit is a world-class event that brings people in from all over the globe (34 countries represented). Because of the high profile nature of this event, it is not inexpensive to attend. I know with my current situation, I could not afford the tuition. But seeing something within me that I rarely see myself, Dovico (where I work) stepped up and heavily invested in me to attend.

What have I done to deserve this?

I’ll be honest I did not feel worthy of this substantial investment. What have I done to deserve this? What will my co-workers think? How can I take this time away from my family and work? I am selfish going to this! These were all of the feelings and thoughts that rang loudly in my head on a daily basis in the days leading up to the event. Yet, deep down, I knew I had to go, it will feed me and with my determination, it will make me a better person. And when I am a better person, I make those around me better. Isn’t that the sole purpose of our existence?

It wasn’t until the last day of the conference that Robin Sharma threw out a quote that really hit me hard: “When the sun comes up, so do the shadows.” At that moment, all of my self-deprecating thoughts made sense to me. When my sun starts to shine, I get terrified of the shadows.

So many times in my life, when I am about to break the dawn with my sunshine, I retreat into the night because of the shadows that lurk. Always worrying about what others think of me, or the critics that will speak negatively about me, I am scared of the shadows that will appear when the light from my sunshine hits. Little do I realize, the sun will always shine bright regardless of the shadow.

Shadows only exist because of the sun and shadows will always live in spite of it.

I am worthy of this investment from Dovico. I have proven to take advice and go with it. I have worked hard on my mind and body to become a much more stable human being. I am willing to do whatever is necessary to be a better colleague, friend, husband and father. I need to learn what to work on, and that is why I was at The Titan Summit.

So why not me?

If I were a company, I would certainly invest in me! I’m a sure bet.

The biggest take away from The Titan Summit was to keep my sun shining bright and not pay attention to the shadows that lurk behind the objects that stand in my way. Shadows are merely the dark side of those who bask in my sunlight. Shadows are always their biggest when the sun is at it’s lowest. So like the sun, if I keep rising higher and higher in the midday sky, the shadows have no power and eventually dissolve.

I am worthy. I am deserving. I am the sun in my sky of life, so fuck the shadows, they have no power against the warmth of my light.