The magical gift of joy

Written By: Hans Appel

For the past 6 months, I’ve been slowly working through a book called “Find Your Why”, by Simon Sinek.  I’d seen Simon’s powerful Ted Talk years ago and like millions of other people, I devoured “Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better”, etc.  At 41 years old, I thought I was pretty in touch with my WHY.  But then a funny little thing entered my life this year….a whole child, school culture program called: Character Strong.  But perhaps I should back up...
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Those that know me well, know that I knew what I wanted to do when I was quite young.  By the age of 5, I had moved past NBA basketball player and settled in on professional magician.  Yes, long before thoughts of education, school counseling and helping young people; I was focused on the art of deception.  I spent hours reading magic books at the public library and more time than I’d care to admit standing in front of a mirror practicing some secret sleight of hand maneuver, that I’d hope you’d never see.  While I had other detours of interest like basketball, video games, and girls….magic was my first real obsession. I spent the next 15+ years studying things like misdirection, inattentional blindness, and emotional conviction. (BTW, a very strange set of skills to have at this point in my life).

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