Wayne Gretzky famously stated, “you miss 100% of the shots you never take.”

The shot I share with you here (in my humble opinion) is breathtaking. Wandering the beach without a phone in hand, this moment was so viscerally powerful, I knew I would be remised not to capture and share it.

I ran a list of options in my head: I can go back to get my phone (too far, this moment is about this light and the sun setting); I can teleport my phone over, damn, haven’t mastered that skill yet; I caaaaan ask those boys serendipitously struggling with their bike yards away if I can borrow a phone…..

Immediately the response from the depths of my brain was a resounding “uh, Rachel, you are going to look like a weirdo… they are going to think you are crazy. Maybe they’ll let you take the shot, but you will just embarrass yourself and they will never send it.”

I asked anyways.
You miss 100% of the shots you never take.

It's a photo I now cherish for its beauty and what it represents. And I get to share it with you.

As a kid, I astounded others by what I built: I had crazy tenacity. At sixteen my sister and I started a jewelry business even when others said, “you are too young and don’t have enough experience.” A year later, college shopping in Boston, I was stopped dead in my tracks by someone who recognized my necklace design: she had purchased one of our pieces in Florida.

Somehow, that fearlessness got shoved down and in many ways, took a Sleeping-Beauty nap.

This year, I commit to noticing those “don’t try… it won’t work” moments and I commit to asking anyways. I commit to going after my goals and dreams with a reborn tenacity.

What would your life be like if you went after every goal and dream? What if you had your childhood dauntlessness?

My wish for you is to go after every shot. To live like Wayne Gretzky. Because as Fyodor Dostoevsky reflected, “when I look back on my past and think how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futilities, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul – then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute can be an eternity of happiness.”

Life is a gift. Life is happiness. Every minute can be an eternity of happiness. If you let it.

With love,
Rachel