What’s your magic bullet?

(Celebrating 9 years after I was held up at gunpoint for my car)

How come some people live a life of their own choosing while others don’t?

What stops people from doing what they love every day?

What would it take to get you to quit that dead end job and start making a living?

A. A million dollars
B. A near death experience
C. A gun to your head
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

Nine years ago, on the night of June 15, 2001, I was out promoting for an upcoming party in Los Angeles. A few weeks prior, I bought a used 1990 Mercedes Benz 190E at a car auction for cheap only to find out that the following week’s repairs would double the price I bought it for.

Why a Mercedes Benz? Well, I bought into the belief that a child was supposed to do better than their parents, and since both of my parents had Mercedes Benzes, I thought I could show them that I was doing better than them like I was supposed to by getting what they had at a younger age.

As a party promoter, you either went to every party or you showed up at the end to hand out flyers and on this particular evening, we arrived at the end. I pulled into a parking lot to wait for the party to let out. As soon as I turned off my engine and lights, two men jumped out of car in front of me with a guns drawn—one came to my door and the other one approached the passenger side. There were four of us in my car—my passengers ran while I starred down the barrel of a gun.

In less than a few seconds, my entire world turned. What used to be important—the car (especially the car), the house, the money, the seen and tangible—became less important. And what I used to take for granted—life, love, friendship, God, the unseen and intangible—became more significant.

The gun could have been empty for all I know or care, but inside that gun was my magic bullet. I was blessed with everything. I had two parents for doctors, a silver spoon in my mouth, self-discipline, intelligence, business savvy, and love from all kinds of people and places.

But until that moment, I was on a path to mediocrity, middle-classness, and melancholy instead of path to meaningfulness, self-mastery, and of my own making.

I don’t even recall the exchange of keys, perhaps I left them in the ignition, but just like that my car was gone. Though my car was stolen, in exchange I got my life back. I was lucky because I only got car-jacked—unfortunately, people are getting life-jacked while sitting inside their own lives every single day.

I ask those I love:

Where is the gun?

Who is holding it?

How accurate is it?

In other words,

What’s stopping you from doing what you love?

Who is holding you back?

Is your fear really real?

In a world where no one is holding a gun to your head…

In a world where you are the dictator of your own future…

In a world with so much freedom and choice…

Why do people still do things against their own will (i.e. work for forty years in jobs they don’t like, let alone love)?

Why do people with so many gifts never unwrap them?

Why do people with so many talents cover them with dirt?

If someone had a gun to your head, would you be a coward or courageous?

Would you finally start doing the things you’ve been wanting to do and say the things you’ve been wanting to say?

Or would you be able to smile in the face of the barrel knowing that you were already doing the things you wanted to do and saying the things you wanted to say?

There are two roads to take in life.

The road of fear or the road of love.

And there are two ways to travel it.

Aimlessly or with aim.

And there are two ways to end the journey.

Dead or alive.

The question isn’t if, why, or how. The question is when.

Each one of us has a bullet with our name on it, but nobody knows when theirs is in the chamber. So in order to live now, today, in this moment, we each need a magic bullet.

I’ve seen them come in the form of newborns, car accidents, spiritual experiences, near death experiences, death of loved ones, dreams, pilgrimages, diseases, loving people, stories, books, movies, songs, and more. They can be hand-crafted by you or hand-crafted for you, depending on how long you wait for who-you-think-you-have-to-be to die.

Whatever you choose, don’t wait too long. You only get one shot.

Your magic bullet awaits you!

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