The View from 35,000 Feet and the Power of Why Not Me?
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Manuel Aragon is an entrepreneur out of Colorado with a deep background in business, Tax Prep, advisory, and planning. Has served as a CFO, Operations Manager, Finance Director, and Consultant.
There is a strange kind of loneliness that hits you around hour fourteen of a twenty-hour flight home. The cabin lights are turned down low, the engines hum a steady tune, and outside my window, the flight map shows nothing but a massive, empty blue ocean.
Just a few hours ago, I was standing on a brightly lit stage, giving my first keynote speech about “The Balance Sheet” and leadership in a fast-changing world. When I finished, the applause was a blur. Important people walked up to shake my hand and nod in agreement, people who hold power and shape real futures.
But as I sit here, trapped in this metal tube and flying high above the clouds, my mind keeps drifting back twenty-five years.
I was never supposed to be on this plane. I was not supposed to be wearing a suit or speaking to a crowd of highly successful executives. If you looked at the statistics, I should not even be free. At fourteen years old, I was a felon. I had a bitter past, a hardened heart, and a criminal record that felt like a life sentence before my life had even truly started. I was angry, trapped, and starving for something more. Back then, my dream of changing the world was not a business plan. If we are honest, it did not even exist. It was just a desperate, quiet thought locked inside my own mind.
Sitting here now, sipping coffee while the rest of the passengers sleep, the contrast is shocking. A wave of deep, heavy gratitude hits me. But right behind that gratitude is a quiet sadness. I look around at the other travelers, and I think about the kids who are still trapped in the rough neighborhoods I escaped. I feel deep empathy for those who will never get to experience the comfort of an international flight or the dignity of having a room full of people stop to listen to them speak. It makes me start asking heavy questions.
The trap of asking “why”
When you survive a past like mine, it is easy to drown in the “whys.” You ask why life has to be such an uphill battle or why kids make terrible, destructive decisions when they are just trying to survive. You wonder why there is so much hatred and division in our world and why politicians care more about looking good than helping the kid bleeding on the corner.
For years, I asked those exact questions. I demanded to know why my childhood was so bitter and why I had to fight so hard. But looking out into the dark, empty sky tonight, I realize that “why” is a rearview mirror. It demands answers from a world that is often unfair, and it tries to find logic in total chaos. If I had stayed stuck in the “why,” I would still be sitting in a cell.
To break a bad cycle, whether it is personal trauma, a failing business, or a broken society, you have to change direction. You have to stop asking why and start daring yourself to ask, why not?
The power of the shift
“Why” looks at a 14-year-old felon and explains how he ended up there. “Why not” looks at that same kid and sees a future keynote speaker, a father, and a man of integrity.
Instead of asking why I had to come from such a bitter past, I had to ask, why not use that pain as fuel to build deep empathy for others? Instead of looking at a broken, stiff leadership landscape and asking why it is that way, we should ask, why not be the person who brings real thought leadership back into it? When we wonder why so many people never get this kind of opportunity, the ultimate answer is to use our own success to pull others up into the room with us.
A thought in the mind
The kind of change I spoke about on that stage is not about job titles or corporate buzzwords. True leadership is born the moment you decide that a simple thought in your mind is powerful enough to challenge reality. I used to think my hunger to change things was just a crazy daydream. Now I know it can become a reality.
I feel a deep connection to the people who are still stuck where I used to be. I do not just mean people in prison, but anyone trapped in a mindset of anger, lack, or despair. They ask why the world is against them, and they have every right to ask. But my mission now, the reason I stand on these stages, is to whisper a different question into the noise.
The heavy price of the journey
Changing your life comes with a cost, and it is not cheap. When you grow up the way I did, you carry survival traits that do not just disappear when you put on a suit. You carry massive trust issues. You build walls to protect yourself, and those walls make relationships incredibly hard.
As my world expanded, my circle changed. I have looked into the eyes of people I used to love and realized they just do not understand my vision. They see where I am going, but they cannot see the path. It has led to broken relationships and painful goodbyes. I spent a long time asking why the people close to me could not see the future I was building or why they could not just trust the process.
The hard truth of growth is that some people will never truly align with where you are going. You cannot drag everyone into your future. I had to learn that it is okay to love people from a distance. I realize now that I have to let go. Not out of anger, but out of peace. I have to make room for what is next.
What is a legacy, anyway?
As I stare at my own reflection in the dark window with double panes, a deeper, quieter fear creeps in. It is the one we rarely admit out loud when we talk about changing the world. I do not want to leave this earth and be forgotten.
Is that what a legacy is? Is it just the desperate desire to make enough noise while we are here so that our names outlive our bodies? For a long time, coming from a place where I was completely invisible, I thought legacy meant building something so big that the world could not erase me.
But my definition of legacy changed completely when I became a father. I think about my son, Xzander, who is five years old. When I look at him, I do not see a crowd of strangers giving a standing ovation. I see the real reason I broke my chains. True legacy is not about being remembered by history or having my name on a building. It is about making sure Xzander never has to survive the childhood I did. It is about showing him that a man can acknowledge his broken pieces, heal from a bitter past, and build a world out of nothing but a thought.
If I can plant a seed of hope in a kid who is currently sitting exactly where I used to sit, and if I can be the father Xzander deserves, then it does not matter if the world forgets my name. My life will be a massive success. “Why” hooks you to your past. “Why not” ties you to your future.
Landing the plane
In a few hours, the wheels of this plane will hit the runway. The phones will start buzzing, the lights will come up, and the messy, beautiful, divided world will rush back in.
I will step off the plane, grab my bags, and head back into reality. I carry the gratitude for where I am today, the sadness for those left behind, and the hunger of that boy at fourteen who refused to give up in the dark.
We can look at our changing world and ask why it is so broken. We can look at our broken relationships and ask why people hurt us. Or we can look at our own reflection in the window, let go of the weight, and choose a different path. If a bitter kid with a felony record can end up flying across the globe to teach leaders how to lead, and then go home to be a better father to his son, then tell me: Why not you?
Read more from Manuel Aragon
Manuel Aragon, Tax Consultant & Advisory Planner
Manuel Aragon has elite expertise in tax preparation, accounting, finance, cash planning, and tax strategy. Manuel has delivered modern, innovative financial solutions, driving growth and efficiency for multiple companies in Colorado. His leadership and approach have solidified a reputation for excellence, onboarding, and overall client satisfaction. Continues to serve in multiple roles across the Front Range as a Tax Preparer, CFO, Operations Manager, Finance Director, and Consultant.
