Book excerpt: The Amazing Balancing Man By David Linden This is the personal story of one person balancing pursuing his dreams and putting bread on the table. Born during the Great Depression to a barber and a homemaker in Albany, New York, Davids prospects were not very bright. However, his parents, who immigrated from Russia and Austria shortly after World War I, instilled in him the belief that you could do anything you wanted, as long as you did the work needed to prepare for it. He left high school before graduating to work and bring in a little extra income to help out the family. This was his first balancing act: finish high school or help the family. It wasnt a lot of money, but it helped stretch the family budget a bit, and taught him valuable lessons about doing every job as well as he could and always trying to do better. David, it turns out, was an excellent salesman, regularly winning bonuses and recognition for tripling and quadrupling a departments sales. Whenever he needed to put bread on the table or a roof over his head, David could always get a job as a salesman. He was very good at it, but was not particularly passionate about sales. As a teenager, David enjoyed participating in all sports and started developing a love of physical fitness, reveling in what he could get his body to do and enjoying the cheers of the crowd when he made a great play. It was while learning and practicing diving and some basic gymnastics at a local park with a pool that he started becoming aware of the strength and gratification he received from cheers and applause, especially from the attractive girls. When the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus was came to town and he saw Ove Unus The Talk of the Universe perform a one-finger handstand and heard the thunderous applause, David knew that was what he passionately wanted to do perform acrobatics for live audiences! He taught himself the art, building up the necessary physical and mental skills, watching others perform, and studying pictures of acts to figure out how to do them. Along the way he recruited others to join him, met and became friends with other performers, first in the Albany area and then at Muscle Beach, California, and around the Western Hemisphere. David performed with many circuses around the United States and Canada. In 1976 he joined the Harlem Globetrotters for a five month tour of the United States, Canada, and South America, performing his acrobatic and plate-spinning acts during half time. During one show in South America, he had a major fall which left him nearly paralyzed from his waist down. In only five weeks, he rehabilitated himself and rejoined the tour. He continued performing acrobatics and selling shoes and fitness equipment as needed to put bread on the table for another twenty years. In his seventies, he retired from acrobatics and tried retiring, but couldnt stand the quiet, so he re-invented himself as a stand-up comedian. The mental and physical preparation for appearing before an audience and the applause for a performance well done are as essential to Davids well-being as having blood pump through his veins. Without the former, the latter is of little importance. Ultimately the story is about balancing ones inner passions that define personal success against societys measures of success.