Success Starts Here!

Alright gang, this one is definitely dedicated to the fellas, but ladies' if you'd like to stick around and hit me with an amen or a halleluja, please feel free to do so. Let me just qualify this with two things, I am far from the perfect gentleman or husband. Thus my comments are as much a reminder to me as a word to the wise to anyone willing to listen. Fellas, I can't say my mode is fully scientific, but I do make observations based off friends, family, and those I have the ability to study or observe. In this case, after hearing from and seeing close friends go through this, I wondered what was going on with women stepping out on their husbands or long-term boyfriends. What was it that would prompt a woman to look for love and attention in the arms of another man. I think I figured it out. Generally speaking, it's our own damn fault! We live in this high-stress, high-paced society. Very few families are based off the old traditional one-income salary household. Y

Ever had a F*&^% it moment? You know, that moment where things aren't going your way and the stars just seem to be aligning against you? When seemingly all the news is bad, and you really can't fathom from where you're standing just how the hell you're going to make it? I'm going through one of those right now. Please know, I'm not sharing this with you for sympathy but to make a point. I am luckily versed in "tough-times". More than once I've been at a crossroads which would significantly alter the rest of my life and with the assistance of some unknown being or force, I have always seemed to choose the correct path. Sometimes a new one, one I didn't even consider possible opens up right in front of me. Yet in this case, I fear no magic paths will be showing themselves. I think the future of my life and those who depend on me is yet again, strictly weighted on my shoulders. And so I will, hesitantly take one step, and then another, and ho

Happy Easter everyone. Today is a day of celebration the world over. It is Christianity's most important day. It is the day Christians believe salvation manifested itself in the resurrection of a very special man. Quite a heavy concept. I have strong feelings about religion, in particular my faith. Yet this is not the forum for my thoughts on this topic. What I do know is today in America, much like many of our holidays, Easter doesn't really mean much to the average person. I mean everyone is happy to have a day to enjoy with family and friends. Some people get Friday off and that is always a good thing. We cook out or eat in, have a couple of cold ones, and for an increasingly shrinking portion of the population, make a trip to our local church. We tend to chide those "ignorant believers" more and more openly and in my opinion, strictly from a motivational perspective, miss the great opportunity for inspiration on this day. Today is a day of new beginnings. It is

A few days ago, a photographer and filmmaker named Tim Hetherington died in an RPG attack in Libya. I don't know how well he is recognized in "Hometown, USA" far from the military since this is the world I live in, but I do know he was revered by many troops for his gritty, award-winning documentary Restrepo, about the Soldiers on a small post in largely Taliban-held country in Afghanistan. Troops identified with his storytelling because of the realism and emotion he portrayed. Tim died doing what he loved, being in the middle of the action, in incredibly dangerous situations, helping to tell stories one human-being at a time. I was intrigued by the outpouring of shock and sadness portrayed by my military friends on Facebook and it really hit home how most of us will truly not know the moment of our passing. I think for certain celebrities or the more famous in our society the effect is magnified. Just think back to the day Michael Jackson died, or for those of you old

Remember the Bangles? OK so no this isn't about the song in particular but hopefully I haven't lost you. I wanted to share a couple of thoughts about that dreaded day of the week. I always find it amazing how much power we tend to give really innocuous things, like Mondays. When you left on Friday, you probably knew you'd be going back to the office three days later right? :). So much of our distaste for Monday seems to be tied to the fact it is the one day we blame for stealing our short-lived freedom away. It is also the day the "good idea fairy" visits our bosses and they come up with some real doozies don't they? I'm sure we all have our horror stories. Having said all that, I'm here to share a thought or two about navigating through that hated day. First, choose to have a good day. I know what you're saying, "how do you "choose" to have a good day? Don't they just sorta happen to you?" I submit that we can choose to

Don't you love that Billy Joel song "Just the way you are"? I love the way it starts, "Don't go changing to try please me. You never let me down before." And who could forget the famous chorus, "I took the good times, I'll take the bad times, I'll take you just the way you are." You might be wondering why the heck I'm wasting your time telling you about some silly Billy Joel song. Well, you may have noticed I'm always gushing about the great friends I have. Let me tell you about my friends, I've got some weird ones. Yes the bulk of them are what society would consider "normal", but I've got me some strange ones. There's the wanna-be gangster, the dreamer, the forever-cowboy, the free-spirit, the I-can't-stop-talking-long-enough-to-breath one, the one with the strange crick in his neck, the one with the perverted obsession, the OCD one who has more things that annoy her than things she thinks are fine with

It has been awhile since my last blog. In the days following the earthquake and tsunami which devastated parts of Japan, I was directed along with an incredible team of service-members from my unit to respond. Within a few days we were on our way to help humanitarian efforts and also charged in helping to plan mass departures of American citizens and others if need-be. In the month since, I was so lucky to witness two amazing things; first the incredible power of the American people to help those in need. We worked closely with the U.S. Embassy and other agencies in planning for every possible scenario. Our troops scoured the countryside in the worst affected areas to help the Japanese Defense Forces save lives and bring much needed food, water, and shelter to those whom the waters had ravaged. I have been in war-torn countries and stood shoulder to shoulder with men and women fighting terrorists and criminals who would harm our way of life and while that is the first mission of my A