B I’ve always loved scouting ( 童子军活动 ). I’ve held other jobs, but for the last thirteen years, I was one of only about 4,000 professional Boy Scouts in the United States. I was good at what I was doing. Promotions ( 晋升 ) came. Pay raises came. I moved to four different areas of the country to lead districts. I was serving in a district when the Boy Scouts were challenged on their standards for membership. It became difficult for me to create new units and to market activities in my area after that, so I was asked to resign. After thirteen years and many Chief Scout Executive Winners Circle and Boy’s Life magazine awards, I was fifty years old and unemployed. I had loved being a professional Boy Scout; I had won many of the awards because I simply challenged myself to be better each year. For some time, I found that the hardest thing I had to do was get out of bed in the morning. I was out of a job while my wife continued working in a skilled job in a bakery. We celebrated every time we got the bills paid . We couldn’t eat out any more; I became lazy because I had no purpose. Finally my parents told me about someone they knew who was a signing agent as a mobile notary ( 公证人 ). I took the training and if I had one signing every ten days, I was thrilled. I kept looking and thinking about what else to do. I had been a professional magician, and so I went back into training. With the help of a friend who allowed me to make several small payments for the tuition ( 学费 ), I attended the Magic 2 Motivate program to learn how to become a motivational speaker with a magic base. I remember the long discussion with my wife as to whether we could afford my flight to Orlando at the time. The class was inspirational, and now I promote my magic everywhere. I think I have found where I belong.