The story of a lifestyle change that grabs me most is the story of Robert Manry, recorded in his book, Tinkerbelle. The story is close to me, because Manry lived in Cleveland, Ohio. I was raised in Cleveland, and as a boy I delivered The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. Robert Manry worked for the Plain Dealer as a copy-editor. At 47, Manry decided he had to do some things with his life that were fun. He never dreamed, though, that they would lead to a change in his total lifestyle.

On June 1, 1965, Manry, in his little white boat with the red sail, left Falmouth, Massachusetts, bound for Falmouth, England, some 3,000 miles away. He spent the next 78 days on the high seas with all of the joys and terrors of sailing. He was swept overboard; he experienced fear, hallucinations, and loneliness. He almost turned back, but finally arrived at his destination and was greeted by nearly 50,000 people. Those people were not there to see history being made; they were there because they identified with Manry’s dream. "The voyage was something I simply had to do," Manry told the world.

The notoriety and new sources of income cut Manry free from the bondage he had experienced as a mundane copy-editor. For the rest of his life, he lived this new lifestyle that came about as he was willing to live out one of his dreams.