Dear reader,

Remember when you were a child and wanted to run away from home, like Tom Sawyer? Maybe you did run away, maybe you didn’t, but some part of you felt the powerful urge to cut ties with all you knew and journey forth in search of adventure.

That urge to go on an adventure that’s just a part of us, from our early years to our grave. We would like to do great things, to be memorable, and that stays with us for all of our days. We want to put our signature on the things we touch, to affirm, “I did this.”

Consider Aladdin–the original story from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. In our heart of hearts, aren’t we all that poor street urchin living in poverty, looking for a magic lamp that will transport us to the heights of glory? Aren’t we all dogged by an evil sorcerer of some kind that foils our plans–perhaps an addiction, perhaps a bad habit, a poor choice that’s undone our plans? Yet our true greatness doesn’t depend on a magic lamp; it comes from being true to ourselves, to the full measure of our originality.

It’s generally understood that not all of us were born to fly like eagles or to rule like lions, and so distinction takes many forms. Even the armadillo has a legitimate place on the continuum. As we trek on our solitary and at times reckless journeys, we need to leap from the ordinary plateaus. We need to ascend to the higher peaks of individual destiny by investing that extra effort from deep within us to do exceptional deeds—more than we ever thought we were capable of.

In the end, we are not leaving behind mere hand splotches on cave walls, nor light footprints on the sands of eternity. No, we are imbuing the world with our one of a kind spirit, laced with a permanence that says our mark was valid after all.

We’re on an adventure to greatness… the wondrous greatness of being.

Patrick Wood

Publisher