Sometimes the most difficult part of moving forward is letting go of what is behind us.  This can be a loved one, a job we lost, or a home we thought we would live in forever.  As we go throughout our life we will encounter people, places, and things that are necessary for a part of our path and others that will be with us for the entire journey.  While we may not understand the reason for the ones we lose, we must keep moving forward.  We can never reach our destiny if we keep looking for what is behind us.  It is difficult to let go sometimes, but we cannot grow new roses if we use all of our water on dead plants.  So, let go of the past and focus on the garden you are growing today!  “Don’t worry about people from your past there’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future”  Adam Lindsay Gordon

A mountain goat and an elk were in a forest with many Aspen trees.  The elk was eating the fresh delicious leaves to its heart's content, but the goat was too short to reach the lowest branches and had to settle for whatever fell to the ground.  The goat thought to himself "lifes not fair".  That evening a bad storm blew in and the goat sought shelter in a nearby cave.  The elk was too large for the cave and had to stand out and endure the cold pounding rain and wind.   As it looked at  the goat cozied up in the dry cave it thought "life is not fair".  As humans it is sometimes easy to feel that we are not getting a fair shake compared to others around us.  We can always look around and find someone with seemingly more than us and others with seemingly more struggles than us.   The fact is, we were all created equal and given unique gifts and purposes.  However, if we waste time comparing our lives to others we can lose focus of our own journey and never reach our full potential.   Life is fair if we focus on what is within us and not our environment.    “If life is unfair with everyone, doesn’t that make life fair?” — Thabang Gideon Magaola

When my daughter was approaching her teen years, I did a remake of a Jimmy Dean song and put it on her phone for her ears only.   That was many years and phones ago, so I am sure it is now lost in a cloud somewhere.  Today is my her birthday and I am out of town.  So since I can't be there to sing happy birthday to her, I did the only thing I knew to do.  I made a podcast for her!  Haha  If you have listened to any of my episodes you know that I just speak what is on my heart.  Well with my baby girl turning 23 today, this was certainly on my heart so I just poured it out.  She will probably think this is a cheesy "Dad move" to post my birthday wishes in a podcast and for me that is just one more reason to do it!  Aggravating her is still my favorite thing to do, but I really am so proud to be her Dad!  I hesitated to post it publicly, but felt it fits the podcast category of inspirational and I am sure many can relate.  Especially if you're a Dad.    

This is the second episode that I have done on this subject and I could do many more because fear is one of the greatest motivators for success.  Fear also kills more dreams than failure does.  When we come face to face with what scares us we can choose to retreat to our safe place or rise up and conquer our ambitions.  Contrary to popular belief fear is not the absence of faith rather fear requires us to step up in our faith and push through.  That is the formula for success!  “Do one thing every day that scares you”  Eleanor Roosevelt 

There are no rules for being a Dad.  All we can do is offer our best advice, unconditional love, and LOTS of prayers!  In this episode I share a little reminiscing about my Dad and a little perspective from being a Dad. HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

 How many times do we hear the phrase "they say"?   It is used as a confirmation of facts or to demonstrate a point all the time.  However, the "they" in that phrase is no longer a reliable source.  When my Grandmother said "they say" to give advice about children she was referring to experienced Mothers or medical professionals.  Unfortunately, today the most common source for “they” is social media which is unreliable at best because the root is likely some athlete, celebrity, or politician that are clueless on the subject.    It is important for us to ensure our "they" is a reliable source before repeating it because when we say it we become the "they" for anyone listening.  “I no longer listen to what people say, I just watch what they do. Behavior never lies.”   Winston Churchill

It is easy to reflect on our life and see where we are or where we have been.  We can do that by simply looking at our shadow as it projects our every move.  However, it can never project our next move because that is only in our thoughts.  So if we don't like where our shadow sits we can change it, but it has to start in our mind.  A poor mind will give a poor life while a positive mind will give a rich life.  "You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you."  James Allen

In life people will betray us.  The key is not allowing the betrayal to stop us, rather to grow from it and know that God will make everything a blessing if we believe. “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”― Abraham Lincoln

In this episode I share a true story about a man named Bob.  While I only knew Bob for a few years and have not spoken to him in more than 25 years he had one of the biggest impacts in my career.  He believed in me when I didn’t and challenged me to always pursue new adventures.  I have shared this story with many young people over the year who are not sure what path they want to take.   It is okay to TRY new things.  It’s okay to be afraid and you don’t need to have everything figured out.  Jump in, mess up, start over or try something else.  Embrace the experience and have no regrets!    “It’s better to look back on life and say, “I can’t believe I did that.” than to look back and say: “I wish I did that.” – Unknown

Society defines neighbor as someone living next door just like Facebook defines a friend as someone your connected to.  However, just like a friendship is much more than "liking" each other status", being neighborly is more than keeping your dog out of the next door lawn.  The fact is a neighbor is not the person residing in the house next to ours, rather our neighbor is whoever is next to us in any moment.  This may be a friend, loved one, or stranger.    "When we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does, so in appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred."    Fred Rogers