Success Starts Here!

Remember that one time when you had a goal and every single person in your life stood behind you and then you succeeded and everyone was happy for you? Chances are, if you're alive, you've probably never fully experienced this. Not fully. And if you have, you are one incredibly lucky person. Unfortunately, in real life some people are going to root for you to fail. I'd like to tell you I understood all the psychological reasons why but I am not expert. All I know is for whatever reasons, many very complicated, there are always people who will wish for you to fail. This is even more prominent in this era of social media because let's face it, far too many of us share way too much with people who should have zero say in our lives and the choices we make. I consider myself an incredibly positive person. I "choose" to be positive and happy and for anyone who has followed my blog for any amount of time, hopefully I have expressed that opinion many times before.

I'm not the most exciting guy. Actually at Casa di Jose, weekends are just sort of rest-and-recharge days for the most part. I've got friends who are so incredibly adventurous. They'll back their camper trailers onto their trucks, jump in and go. Others will buy a last minute plane ticket to the islands and just disappear. While others head to the mountains to hike and climb. Me, the furthest I tend to go is the gym to get my swole on and maybe hit the store if we're out of something. So why am I so different than many of my friends? Well I guess I have to admit, I'm probably not as unique as I'd like to believe. I suspect many of us follow the "Casa di Jose" weekend model. As I've searched for all the reasons I'm wired the way I'm wired, I think back to growing up and wonder if some of the things which happened then, don't continue to affect me subconsciously. Growing up in what many people outside that world would call "the hood

Today is a great day in my household. my youngest son is receiving what we Catholics call, his Confirmation. For those who may not know, the Catholic church has a series of sacraments or steps we take in our walk with God. In their most sincere form, they're designed to involve us closer in the church and help us grow spiritually. The Confirmation is particularly very important because it is the opportunity for a child, usually a teenager, to confirm his beliefs and if you will, validate that the Baptism his/her parents held for them when they were babies, is indeed still acceptable to them. That the grace the parents asked God to bestow on them when they couldn't speak for themselves, is a grace the now-teenager consciously chooses in his or her life. I know to those of you from other beliefs or who may not believe at all, this may sound like silly mumbo jumbo, but I hope you will respect it as our belief. Anyway, the point of this post isn't to teach you about Catholic