Success Starts Here!

So there I was, caught red-handed. I had a greyish Fred Flintstone and purple Dino the Dinosaur vitamins in my hand when my son Nathan walked in the room. Of course he went and told on me and I was "reminded" that I am not a kid anymore and that I needed to take "adult" vitamins. Well fooey! This is America and if I want to take Flintstones vitamins I have a Constitutional right to do so. Don't I? Well ok ok, you know me, always finding "meaning" in things that probably have no meaning. In all honesty, we all laughed about it and I took the vitamins anyway before anyone could take them out of my hand. But it got me thinking about how quick our kids grow up. I have some great friends whose kids have already left home. I've got friends from back in High School who have college student children and/or are grandparents already. My cousin Carmen's kids aren't just college age, her oldest is a successful entrepreneur succeeding at a job he lov

There are very few things I get nervous writing about. Politics and religion are at the forefront. I rarely even comment about it on my Facebook page unless it is a funny or disarming jab at both sides. I have very strong feelings about both topics and LORD knows I have friends who let their feelings be known on Facebook. In all honesty, I find that refreshing in many ways. I love when people take a stand for what they believe in. I just really dislike when their stand is so dug in that their opinion cannot and will not be swayed by anything or anyone. Thus my hesitance to usually speak about those two taboo topics. People lose any sense of objectivity or common sense when it comes to those, so please give me the benefit of the doubt during this blog as I am not espousing religion. I "Believe." Like most Hispanics I was born Catholic. I grew up with those beliefs, did my fair share of questioning as a teen and young adult, and found myself becoming what I call a hybrid Cath

You thought I was going to say wallet like the commercial didn't you? Hello friends, I'm finally back in the states after a LONG year away from family and friends and while I made some amazing friends in Korea I am truly thankful to be home. Thus, the two blog posts in one week. Woohoo!!! I'm flooding the internet obviously. Hey, here's just a quickie because I just experienced it and I bet every single one of you has at one point or another. Isn't music awesome? Whether you're into Bach, Led Zeppelin, or the Jonas Brothers, I say have at it! In this world of craziness where we are always so busy looking for inspiration, we sometimes forget about that radio dial in our car or living room (maybe even office). I can't imagine a single person reading this who doesn't remember the impact some song, or some music style made on them growing up. I mean my God, I was a music junkie as a teenager. I found songs to match every mood I was in. Remember those days

This morning, many of my friends were posting notes on Facebook about their children heading out on their first day of school. In the United States, children return to school at different times depending on what region of the country they live in. Today was one of the main dates for the start of school. It prompted the memory of Whitney Houston's song Greatest Love of All. You know, the whole "I believe the children are our future." As a young boy, I loved the first day of school. It held such promise. I still felt I could be whoever I wanted to be. I could dress however I chose to dress. I could surely get straight A's. Of course the truth is, I probably acted pretty much the same as the prior year, dressed similar to my friends, and straight A's? That hope faded with my first homework assignment. Yet, the first day of school is a day of hope and one of the few days of the year when we and our kids probably agree on something. It is a day when we as parents ima

You know, things ain't easy these days. The world moves a million miles a second, we're all so busy, everything is a priority until nothing is a priority. We are moving at the fastest speed we have ever done so in the history of the human race. We are overwhelmed at work and at home. Sometimes it's all we can do to just keep our heads above water, to survive. Yet, for those of us who have people around us that love us, there is a certain strength which emanates from them. It is part of our human connection. As long as you feel like you've got people on your side, people who understand you, people who care, everything else is tolerable. Yet the reality is not everyone "feels" that lucky and sometimes honestly isn't. Feeling lonely, abandoned, and pushed away leads some to thoughts of suicide. Over one million people die by suicide each year around the world. Around 20 million attempt it. It is the leading cause of death among teenagers and adults 35 and u