Success Starts Here!

This weekend as Americans mark the unofficial start to the summer season, they do so on one of our nation's most hallowed holidays, Memorial Day. To many millions of Americans, this weekend is a great time to bring the old barbecue out of winter hibernation and flip a few steaks, have a couple of cold brewskis, fill up the Walmart special kiddie pool, and let the kids slosh around all day. To a few million Americans, this most revered holiday is about a lot more. Let's be straight, Memorial Day is not about thanking Veterans or Service-members for their service. This is not their day. Memorial Day is about recognizing and appreciating those Americans who gave their last breath for our country, usually in a land far away. It is solely dedicated to remembering those we've lost. For many of us who have served these most recent conflicts as with war veterans of previous eras, this holiday has a face or two or ten. It is personal to us. So we figure it is personal to everyone

On this day of all holidays, everyone's got a story. We all have memories of days gone by with mom. That is what makes this holiday so universal. It appeals to all of us and pulls at our collective heartstrings. As a young boy growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, my mom was a single mother surrounded mostly married parents. She worked her tail off at dead-end factories and in-between found time to be my mother and father as best as she could. With no father figure in the home, I did what many boys do; I looked outward for those role models. They came in the form of gang members and drug dealers. They were the only seemingly "strong" and powerful men in my neighborhood. To a young boy with no other frame of reference, they were the entrepreneurs, the smart guys in my very limited world view. At times, in an effort to be closer to these men, I found myself happily and willingly in the midst of trouble. Similar to the now infamous/famous "Baltimore mom" there were

The dreaded morning after "Spring Forward." You're feeling extra groggy this morning and you're already dreading you'll have to wake up an extra hour early to go to work. You're just gonna be in a pissy mood all day. If you genuinely want to waste your Sunday in a bad mood then this is where you should probably stop reading...... ....because, here's my take on Spring Forward and sorry people, I dig it! :). The days are getting longer, summer is on its way. The sun has been given an extra hour of life in our lives. We get to greet the day earlier. We have the opportunity to begin working on our goals and dreams that much faster. So when that "opportunity clock" rings tomorrow morning, remember if you heard it you need to get up and go. Cause if you don't hear it, you might have gotten up and gone if you know what I'm sayin'. This is a time for celebration. Sure we'll wake up a little more tired than normal for a couple of days

Did you know the very first written love poem known to modern man is almost 5,000 years old? It was a poem a Sumerian bride would read to her groom on their wedding day. In its entirety, it's a little "erotic" but it starts with: Bridegroom, dear to my heart, Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet, Lion, dear to my heart, Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet. Pretty cool right? As I think back across our human experience it is so beautiful to imagine the role the emotion of love has played on our history. I'm not very religious these days but I totally understand the draw for true believers. There is something beautiful about a relationship with a creator, and especially beautiful when it comes from a place of innocent and sincere love. Similarly, love for friends, family, pets, and the genuine love we feel when we sympathize with the plight of the less fortunate and those in need come from such a beautiful place. The world is indeed a pretty mechanical place. The

Is it me or have the last few weeks been especially trying? There just seems to be an over-abundance of misery and sorrow floating around the world. It got me thinking about my own life and how I might better appreciate just how good I've got it. In previous posts I've shared with you the story of my childhood. Quick synopsis for anyone who hasn't read it, I grew up as the single child of a single parent in the projects, living off welfare and food stamps. That surely doesn't make me unique or special nor do I purport to be. I grew up a pretty angry kid. Breaking out of my cycle of anger wasn't easy. As a young adult recently enlisted in the Army I came across the works of two men whom I would never meet but who changed my life. The first was a country-accent having good-ole-boy sounding sales motivational speaker named Zig Ziglar. About 20 years ago my wife and I were shopping at the thrift shop for kids clothes (we maximized my small check by buying second-hand

For a generation, he was the face and voice of American Sport on ESPN. He was one of the most respected sports analysts in the business. Yet it was a platform he never chose which elevated him to another place in our hearts. Scott’s fight began in 2007 when his appendix was removed and cancer was discovered. He had 58 infusions of chemotherapy before it arrested, only to return. Each recurrence seemed more dire, and yet after each, he returned to his job at ESPN, ensuring his private fight became public. Even in the midst of the pain and suffering of this insidious disease, Scott recognized he could help others by sharing his journey, even if it lead to his last breath. Today word came of his passing and while my natural instinct was to feel sorrow, it was quickly replaced by feelings of appreciation and joy for a man who may have succumbed to cancer, but won at life. He sucked every last drop out of life in his short 49 years, and in his example we learn a great lesson. We're bor