Le monde
Redefines Success with New Book
BY AUDREY JOHNSON ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMANDA RHODES
THE BEST-LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN OFTEN GO AWRY. -ROBERT BURNS Experiencing a spiritual awakening is like feeling all the senses at once; a switch flips, and suddenly you are crying and smiling at the same time. Surrendering to the God that lives inside you. Grateful for the gift of life. Joyful beyond what words can describe. Often, a higher level of consciousness is awakened by misfortune, tragedy, or a significant event that forces us to look at the world in a new way. Some call this enlightenment. Biblical texts liken it to scales falling from the eyes. Kendrick Lamar would say, “Take the mask off so you can see.” Rick Stanfield spent his whole life replacing one mask with another. In his motivational self-help book, I Can and I Will, Stanfield describes going from a career as a third-generation law enforcement officer to flipping houses and owning a chain of convenience stores in Missouri. When a new business opportunity brought Stanfield, his wife, Tina (they’ve known each other since fifth grade), and their son, Ricky, to South Walton, Florida, they felt 108 | JA NUA R Y 2019
like life was good. “We thought we could take any business and make it successful,” Stanfield confesses. But the franchise they invested in didn’t deliver on quality products. Soon after opening, traffic was slow and bills were stacked high. The Stanfields were hit hard by the Great Recession, and the author writes in detail about losing their business, vacation properties, vehicles, and even their family home.
MY RICHNESS IS LIFE, FOREVER. -BOB MARLEY When Stanfield got the eviction notice, he walked to the beach and cried. He had only cried one other time in his adult life, at his father’s funeral. Then he began to pray. “As soon as I stopped praying, something told me that I had the wisdom, strength, and ability to do all the things that I had asked for,” he recalls. “A complete renewal of my soul had just occurred.” At its core, I Can and I Will is a testament of faith and an instruction manual for staying positive in the face of adversity, defining success on your terms,
