You have waited for months to see your favorite band. The tickets sold out quickly, but you were fortunate enough to land a couple. You grab your favorite partner and head out for a nice dinner before the show. After dropping just over fifty dollars for a great meal, including drinks, you head to the sold-out concert venue. You arrive in heavy traffic and find your seats. After the opening band plays, there is a brief intermission and the lights go out. You are psyched as you wait for the main act. The stage is set, the moment has arrived, and excitement fills the air. The long-awaited band takes the stage, the lights flash on—yet there is a noticeable silence. The band is just standing there, instruments in hand, completely still and silent. The crowd gets restless and begins to clap in sync. Where is the music? Why isn’t the group performing? What’s going on?
After a period of time, the band leaves the stage and the house lights come on. The announcer lets the crowd know that the band has decided not to play tonight. How could that happen?
It happens every day all over the world. Since the day you were born, the stage for you to perform has been set. It begins when we are infants and continues on throughout our lives. Our first steps are celebrated. Our first words are captured and applauded. Your first day of school is a milestone. The day you graduate from high school is recorded and remembered. But, what makes these moments special is not just about that present achievement, as important as it is. It’s the fact that this achievement marks the threshold of an even bigger opportunity. At each new juncture, you apply what you learn and take the next step. You didn’t learn to walk to stop short of learning to run. You didn’t learn to add to stop short of learning to multiply. The key moments in our lives are all about learning how to perform—and going on to perform on a bigger stage.
