his was a defining moment for me. Once the shock of losing my father began to fade，clarity and a new sense of purpose became the dominant force in my life. I remember feeling as if I had“met myself ”for the very first time while also became conscious of my life’s true purpose. It was in that moment that I had made a major decision. Not only would I change my own life，but I would also make a difference in the lives of others.
Enlightenment and epiphanies can show up in some pretty strange ways. The Buddha found it under a Boddhi tree，Nelson Mandela in prison and spiritual guru Ram Dass through psychedelic drugs. Little did I know，mine would arrive in the form of a hard-shelled reptile simply trying to cross the road—a turtle.
But this wasn’t just any turtle，this was the world’s most optimistic one. He was tenaciously determined to cross twenty feet of tar as cars zoomed by at 55 mph. But today was his lucky day. My wife’s quick reflexes not only ensured that“turtle soup” would not be for dinner that night，but her act of kindness would eventually become the foundation for everything I teach today. As unusual as this sounds，the simple act of pulling our car over，removing this little turtle from harms way，and placing him back into the wild，caused something extraordinary to happen inside of me. As I stood there holding this tiny creature in my hands，a wave of pure joy came over me. It was that warm，teary-eyed sensation that we feel during life’s greatest moments；like falling in love or the birth of a child. I honestly felt as if my heart was completely opening up as everything stood still around me. In no way would I have described it as“enlightenment”，but there was no doubt about it—helping this little turtle just felt so damn good! But why? After all，it was just a turtle，right?
And then it hit me. I finally realized what was happening. At that point，a flood of inspiring thoughts surged through me. I walked back to the car，opened my journal and