This past month, travel and tourism leaders from throughout North Carolina converged on the Charlotte Region for the Destination Marketing Association of North Carolina – our state Convention & Visitors Bureaus. This year, I have the great fortune to lead our state association as the incoming president as we create strategies to promote the travel and tourism industry. At the annual banquet, I shared with our association leaders that I love my job. Each day we are afforded the opportunity to write a new page of fresh memories. We are given a blank canvas on which we can paint the portrait of our choice and our future is as unstructured as a dream. We are bound only by the limitations we impose upon ourselves.
During one of our workshops we were treated to a presentation by David DeNotaris. Some of you may have met David at a Blue Chip Luncheon sponsored by OTC – The Lake Insurance Company this past year. David agreed to return to Lake Norman to speak at our DMANC Conference. David was born with a rare eye disorder called Retinis Pigmentosa and he lost his sight at age 18. David shared how difficult it was, once having sight, and now stripped of this sense many of us take for granted. He told the story of how one day he needed a haircut and he decided to venture out of his new apartment. He knew there was a barber shop on his street. Using his remaining strong senses of hearing and smell, he ventured down the bustling sidewalk with the aid of his stick to guide his step. On several occasions, he started to turn back, but his instincts and courage pushed him to take another step. Finally, he heard what sounded like men talking about hair and he stuck his head in the door to inquire if this was the barber shop.
“Sure ‘nuff,” came the warm reply. David hesitantly stepped in using his
guiding stick and waited patiently for his turn. The barber studied on David and then inquired if he was a “De Notaris.” David, somewhat surprised replied that was his last name. As David took his place in the chair and the barber prepared him for his trim, he informed David he knew his now deceased father. “He spoke of you often. He was very proud of you.”
You could have heard a pin drop in the room as David told his story. To hear a stranger remind him of his father’s unbounded love meant the world to David. It was a magical moment – an undiscovered treasure which might never have been found had he not ventured past his comfort zone – to go somewhere he had not been. He knew the adage, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. David stood on stage that afternoon and told all of us, “I believe my eyes were closed to help others see their own true potential.” David reminded us all to step out of our comfort zones – to have the vision to see past those things in our sight – and to trust our instincts as we realize our unbridled opportunities.
