Once you know what you want, passion becomes a daily decision — not a one‑time revelation.
Like most adolescents, I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. In high school I joined Key Club and volunteered as a teacher’s aide in a Head Start program. Teaching kids to read and appreciate nature. Classes held in a small Episcopal church and city parks. A young seminarian intern named Brian playing guitar and talking about giving back. That was the first spark — the moment I realized how good it felt to be of service to others.
That led me to a college major in personnel and labor relations. It was the late 1960s — civil rights, anti‑war protests, environmental activism — and I joined a band that sang about peace and equality. It was a time when you could actually meet the poets, academics, clerics, and troubadours you read about in the papers. People who believed they could change the world. People who made you want to try.
From there came a career in Personnel — and I watched it evolve into what we now call Human Resources. I was fortunate to work for a company that believed employees mattered and proved it every day. In an upstart casino industry that understood a simple truth: happy employees make happy customers who drive the bottom line.
At some point in all our lives, we get to decide what we want to be. And that decision gets tested every day. Sometimes it leads to change. Sometimes it leads to reaffirmation. But it’s always ours. Others can mentor, coach, and inspire — but nobody can choose our passion for us. That’s what gets us to show up. That’s how I became the Mayor of The Mirage.
Know what’s right for you. Hold onto it with real passion. And when the time is right, help others find their way. Because once you know what you want, passion becomes a daily decision — not a one‑time revelation. Every day. Starting today.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865): 16th president of the United States (1861 – 1865) He led the United States through the American Civil War. Abolished slavery. And was assassinated in office.
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