Hell and Back

I've been through hell, more than once.  I've smiled and laughed in the face of true adversity.  My passage through hell wasn't easy, but it was necessary.  I've come through it all, not an angel, but stronger than you can imagine.

You cannot break me. 

You don't have that kind of power.

Level Up

If you want to grow you have to sit with winners.  You can’t grow from people that complain about everything and don’t take initiative to change their circumstances.  I am, and have been blessed to have such great influences and powerhouses that have guided, coached and continue to force me to grow. Don’t settle to be like everyone else, when you yourself know your better than basic.

Health is Wealth

What is it that you are wishing for this holiday season?  To my mind, the number one thing you should be asking, praying, and working for during this holiday season is your health.  Next to being surrounded by people that actually love you that is.  Without each our health, we have so little.  Just as we ave so very little without the necessary support system.

Support systems are as unique as we are.  Be they biological, adoptive or blended family, without them we are each often limited in what we can achieve.  Don't be so quick to be hung up upon the old standards of what "family" is.  Family after all is what you make of it, not what you are born into.  We are each often richer in family than we realize.  Look around and see the reality in the language of love.

Synonymously family and health can be used interchangeably. Ask for the things that count.

Carpe Diem

A couple hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. ''Never leave that till tomorrow, '' he said, ''which you can do today." This is the man who discovered electricity. You'd think more of us would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of pain, fear of rejection.

Whatever it is we're afraid of, one thing holds true. That, by the time the pain of not doing a thing gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we're carrying around a giant tumor. Metaphorically in any case. He who hesitates is lost, after all. We can't pretend we haven't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day.

Still, sometimes, we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. Lock the door. We have to learn our own lessons.  We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore, until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin meant. That knowing is better than wondering. That waking is better than sleeping. And that even the biggest failure, even the worst, most intractable mistake beats the hell out of never trying.

Be A Beautiful Soul

Money does not impress me.  Show me more.  Show me your true character.  I can be very hard not only on others, but more so on myself.  Show me a beautiful soul.  For a beautiful soul speaks far louder, and rings clearer to me than your trinkets or wealth. 

A lonely castle is not a castle worth living in.

1 year & 7 months

One year and seven months ago I met a man who accepted my past, inspired my future, thus he has a confirmed seat in my presence.

Together he and I can accomplish anything.

End Game

The game. They say either a person has what it takes to play, or they don't. Still some try, knowing that they'll never be front runners in the game of life, but they do try. My mother thought she was one of those greats. She wasn't much of a team player, but she played. She taught me how to read people, how to duck and cover. She taught me how to be overly critical, not only of others but of myself as well. She taught me many things. How to be a great team player, wasn't one of them. So I....I was kinda screwed from the start.

Each of us starts out here on this 3rd rock from the sun; clueless but hopeful. Wanting in on the game. A the years pass we look back, remembering when we were the students in school being taught by teachers. Today, we are the teachers; be it through parenthood, career choices, or just being a leader of people in general. The fourteen years plus we spend in our chosen schooling paths, well they were  the best and worst of our lives. Still even at the end of "class" out here on the field of life we will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition, if competitors they be. Some of those around you will look for the easy way out. Others will crack under the pressure and head for the hills. Others still will be asked to leave the field of play. This is your starting line. This is your arena.

How well you play? That's up to you.

Like I said. I was kinda screwed. There comes a moment when it's more than just a game. And you either take that step forward, or turn around and walk away. I could quit. But here's the thing: I love the playing field. I found my team. My cheerleaders. My people. So. I made it through 25 years of teaching, although looking back now I believe they taught me more than I did them. I have found my people. We all have it would seem. My team, they're all good people, you'd like them. I think. I don't know. Maybe. I like them. I love them.

Oh, and while I once swore off love; I've changed my mind. I'm not going to run away or hide. I've built a life. It's not a fairytale. But it is home, you know?

I'm home.