Wisdom to Live Your MAGIC!TM

Foreword

Wisdom to Live your Magic is Larry Anderson's second book in a planned trilogy to help fulfill his dream of living his magic. Larry is a self made man in the greatest tradition, but one who recognizes that it takes a philosophy, action and the support and mentoring of many, for one person to achieve their dreams. This book is a part of Larry's gift to others who want to take their lives from normal success to greater significance. Larry's own personal life story, coupled with the wisdom of 50 of the world's most admired and respected people are powerful tools for all to use in planning their own futures.

I have known and admired Larry Anderson for over 30 years as a friend, business colleague and fellow community volunteer. Larry Anderson is a superb teacher - he is authentic, wise, humble, compassionate, creative, curious, passionate, humorous, courageous, a person of integrity and one who takes action when he sees a need or an opportunity. A person of humble and challenging beginnings, he has risen beyond his expectations, but not above his dreams.

Larry learned one of life's most important lessons - the importance of self empowerment. He has utilized a simple formula starting with a strong values foundation. The formula has been: to learn from others, to develop your sense of self worth, to layout a life plan, to take action, to work diligently, to share your success and to mentor others on their journeys.

Wisdom to Live Your Magic is a blend of ancient and contemporary wisdom and should appeal to every generation, every background and faith tradition. Larry has done what most of us hope to accomplish - to make a positive mark through our life's journey and then to pass on the lessons which might help others - like the stories and lessons of the 50 remarkable teachers in this book.

The wisdom on the following pages is daunting to absorb with lessons revolving around the search for meaning and relevance in our lives. Most of the lessons teach us of the power of the human spirit and the immense impact which one person can have if we use the gifts which we have all been endowed with. From Aristotle to Shakespeare, Victor Frankl to Steve Jobs; these great teachers show us the way that has been successful over the millennia. While I find many inspiring lives and quotations, I will leave it to the reader to find their own favourites.

I heartily endorse this book whose lessons have the power to positively impact the lives of its readers if they absorb some of the messages and take action in their own lives to live their magic.

Ralph B. Young

Chancellor

University of Alberta

Edmonton, November, 2013

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the support of my wife Janet, who encouraged me to write the Live Your MAGIC!(tm) series, and accommodated and protected my need for solitude to read, think, and write. She also acted as a sounding board for all of my ideas, always giving her honest opinion.

I also appreciate the support of my business partners, especially Lewis Nakatsui and Mike Gendron, and my staff, especially Percy Pouliot, Ray Mitchell, Wesley Gunderson, and Stephen Anderson, who allowed, supported, and encouraged me to set aside Wednesdays, beginning in January of 2000, to explore my passion for writing.

For this book, Wisdom to Live Your MAGIC!, I thank Glen Stone for his biographical research for each teacher. I thank Mary W. Walters, my book coach and development editor, for guidance, editing and encouragement; you have significantly improved this book.

Finally, I want to thank three people who believed in and encouraged me as a writer.

I met Dave Kirk in the summer of 1953 when I was five years old, at Daily Vacation Bible Camp. He ended up in my grade one class that fall, and in every class until grade nine, when I went to a different school. We were both outsiders and became the closest of friends, and remained so until his premature death in 2005 from cancer. He was the one person with whom I shared my journals throughout my journey, and he repeatedly told me I needed to write a book.

Two other friends, Gerry Riskin and Mary W. Walters, both published authors and friends from university in the 1970s, have consistently encouraged me to write a book. They provided the confidence when mine waned.

Thank you all.

Preface

I wrote this book to keep a promise I made to a 12-year-old boy in 1959.

The young boy had only two memories of his biological father. He remembered being beaten with a belt at six years of age because he wouldn't drink his milk. And he remembered his mother sobbing because of the abuse she and her son were receiving.

One day, when he was seven, his biological father was gone. There was no explanation. The boy didn't care.

A few years later, his mother married another man, who became the boy's stepfather and who later adopted him. This man was kind and supportive, but he was an alcoholic. Many nights, their tiny home was filled with screaming and arguing, usually about money and alcohol, which grew louder as the drinking continued.

One such night in the middle of winter, the boy lay trembling in his bed in the open basement. There were no curtains on the small windows and all around him the laundry was hanging on lines to dry. A car passed by and the headlights shone through the windows, creating shadow monsters of the laundry. The boy pulled the blankets over his head and retreated into his dreams. That night, he made a promise to himself; if he ever figured out how to make his dreams come true, he would share what he had learned with others.

That young boy was me. I had three dreams: to find a girlfriend and have a loving family; to start my own business and make money; and to travel the world.

At 16, I dropped out of school and left home, to escape the chaos and pursue my dreams.

At 19, I was a lonely, penniless, unemployed high-school dropout, living in a basement room and clinging to the hope that my dreams could still come true.

In my early twenties, one profound insight changed the course of my life in an instant. I realized my past did not have to define my future. I began the journey to live my MAGIC!

At 66, I'm living my dreams. My wife, Janet, and I have been married for 38 years. We have two wonderful adult children, Jennifer and Stephen. I started my first business in 1974, which became part of a business group in 1978 of which I'm president and CEO.

Janet and I are financially independent and we travel six months a year. We have visited every continent except Antarctica (the Antarctic seas are too rough for Janet, but we waved to Antarctica from the Strait of Magellan as we passed the southern tip of South America). This book is part of keeping the promise I made to the 12-year-old me.

For over 40 years, since I was 19, I have kept a journal. These journals were sometimes ten-cent coil notebooks, sometimes leather hardcover volumes, but more typically were small, hardcover notebooks I would carry in my pocket.

In order to answer the question, How did I make my dreams come true? I have reviewed my journals five times, and the process of distilling the answer has taken over ten years.

In the end, the answer has three parts: inspiration, wisdom, and the journey. Together, these three parts can show you how to live your MAGIC!

I have written two books, and created a six-episode video series with nine workbooks that together will tell you how to make your dreams come true:

Inspiration to Live Your MAGIC! 75 Inspiring Biographies (the first book, published in 2011)

Wisdom to Live Your MAGIC! Life Lessons from 50 Amazing Teachers (this book, published in 2013)

The Journey to Live Your MAGIC! Five Gifts, Five Choices, Six Tools (a six-episode video series and nine workbooks, written with Sarah Janzen, released in 2013)

To publish these books and other media resources, I established a publishing company called LIAP Media Corp.*

LIAP Media Corp. is a social enterprise. I receive no compensation and all profits are donated to charities that support youth.

Having accomplished the dreams of my 12-year-old self, it is now my dream that these books and other media resources will help you and others to live your dreams through embarking on The Journey to Live Your MAGIC!

Larry Anderson, October 2013

*LIAP is an acronym that stands for Life Is A Promise, a phrase from a quote by Mother Teresa: Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Introduction

In Wisdom to Live Your MAGIC!(tm) you will meet 50 of the most amazing teachers in human history. I will share a single powerful life lesson that I learned from each teacher - although I learned several life lessons from many of these teachers.

This book is, in part, about meaningful life lessons. However, it is mostly about how to take a life lesson, wherever you discover it, and understand it in the context of your own life, connect it to your dreams and goals, and use it to improve your life.

One of the most amazing teachers in this book, Eleanor Roosevelt, put it this way: What counts, in the long run, is not what you read; it is what you sift through your own mind; it is the ideas and impressions that are aroused in you by your reading. It is the ideas stirred in your own mind, the ideas which are a reflection of your own thinking, which make you an interesting person.

It is my experience that at times, understanding the lesson and what it means to you can take years. Other lessons are the answer to a question you have been living with for a long time, and the insight will have an immediate impact in your life.

It takes time to absorb the messages in this book - or the lessons you will learn from your own teachers. It takes us years to build confidence in who we are, even to learn who we are becoming. Be patient with yourself.

For each amazing teacher, I have included a brief biography, an original portrait illustration, and a discussion of the life lesson I learned. This is followed by a selection of quotations from each teacher. Perhaps you can find some wisdom in these quotations for your life.

(Please note that many of the teachers in this book are from a time when it was common practice to use man and he to refer to both genders. Please don't let this get in the way of the wisdom contained in their words: I am sure that these individuals would have used more gender-neutral terms if they had been alive today.)

After you've read the book, please read the Afterword and meet my mentor, Vivo Saggezza. He will share a technique that I used to understand, connect and apply the life lessons I learned to my life.

Albert Einstein

(1879-1955)

Albert Einstein is one of the most famous and influential scientists and intellectuals in history. In 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his theory of relativity that revolutionized our understanding of time and space. In 1999, Time Magazine named Einstein the Person of the Century, one hundred top physicists named him the greatest physicist ever, and a Gallup Poll recognized him as the fourth most admired person of the 20th Century.

Einstein was born in Germany; his father was a salesman and engineer. Although intelligent, Einstein had some learning difficulties and rebelled against regimented and rote learning. Still, in 1900, Einstein graduated from the Polytechnic in Zurich with a diploma in mathematics and physics. As a philosopher, Einstein taught us to value curiosity, respect and peace.

Albert Einstein

My Greatest Gift

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

I knew Albert Einstein's name even when I was a child, as everybody does, but it wasn't until I began to read about his life and what he'd written that I learned what an amazing man he had been. He wasn't just a brilliant scientist: he understood human nature, too. One quote of his had a particular impact on me. He said, I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. It wasn't until many years later that I realized how very important that statement was.

The power of that quote led me to read many other things Einstein had written.