Success Starts Here!

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