Goodbye, February

 Goodbye, February.  You have been an interesting month for me.  You and Mother Nature were certainly an interesting pair.  I'm thankful for all you taught me in your short 28 days.  The next time I see you I will be a free man.  My priority of financial independence and my desire to lay low during this pandemic kept me close to home while you dumped more snow on us than I've ever seen kept me close to home.  Next year will be a different story.  I'm ready to see what you offer in more distant time zones.  Thank you for all the lessons.  See you again in 2022.  Have a great day.

Let the Sun Shine

 It may seem strange to those living in warm climates but for me, barbecuing when the temps are in the twenties is normal, especially after dealing with one of the snowiest and coldest winters on record.  It looks like we can add another thirty degrees to our temps this weekend.  There's an added bonus of full sunshine most days this week.  We did it!  We not only survived, but we also thrived.  In a matter of days, the blanket of snow on the ground will vanish.  Time to enjoy the sunshine.  Have a great day.

Build on Yesterday

 One lesson a day.  That's all you need to improve your life.  I'm discovering how helpful mistakes can be. That's why I like to look at my yesterday for the one lesson that can help me make today better.  It's simple but effective.  Imagine what your life can be like one year from today with 365 lessons under your belt.  

Your lessons will come to you in a variety of ways.  They may come from people or situations.  Keep your focus on continuous improvement.  Have a great day.

90 Day Report on Anti-Aging Self Test

I've been experimenting with two molecules for the last 90 days.  These molecules, NMN and Transresveritrol, are produced naturally in the body.  Over time, the body slowly reduces the production of these molecules as we age.  David A. Sinclair, a genetics professor at Harvard, has been studying these molecules and what they do when they are given to yeast cells and mice.  I was intrigued when I learned some of his mice on these molecules were breaking treadmills because they were running further than the limits of the machines.  I'm talking about old mice.  Well, at 60, I'm kind of like an old lab rat.  I'm willing to experiment and see if I can perhaps outrun Father Time.  The informal, non-double blind, unscientific results are in.  Disclaimer here:  I'm not a doctor, so consult one if you're thinking about making changes.  These stories are for your entertainment. 

There is definitely something happening in my body.  It could be a placebo effect.  I really don't know.  If it is a placebo, I'm going to stay with it because I'm improving in every area of my life.  I'm just hoping they don't kick me out of the Men's 55+ tennis league because I'm not eligible due to these molecules.  Here's what's happening:  I can run without getting tired.  I can play tennis for hours with no fatigue.  My memory recall is improving.  I'm noticing the difference in the little things, like typing.  I'm typing faster with fewer keystroke errors.  I can remember names without much effort.  Overall, I feel better.  It has only been 90 days.  I'm curious to see what happens over time as I continue this regimen.  Have a great day.

Discipline Yields Dividends

 Think about an area of your life you would like to improve.  Weight reduction?  Physical fitness?  Debt elimination?  They all have one thing in common necessary to help you with your goals – discipline.  Not once in a while when you feel like it, but everyday discipline.  When it's missing from your daily routine you may find yourself spinning in circles.  

Here's some good news about discipline.  It's contagious.  Improve one area of your life by implementing daily discipline and you see dividends.  Before you know it, you're taking on another challenge with your newfound discipline.  Now the dividends compound.  How would it feel to find yourself achieving all of your goals?  It starts with just one goal and a commitment to staying with it.  You deserve a better life.  Go for it.  Have a great day.

Nine Years Later

 Reminders of my past life in Southern California show up every now and then.  Like the photos sent from friends enjoying life on the beach.  Perhaps they are attempting to show me what I'm missing.  Or maybe they want to tempt me to return to my old life.  There is something missing in their enticements.  Lessons. Life lessons.  They are the kind of lessons you usually don't learn unless you move from a place of status quo to a place of uncertainty.  That's where the real personal growth is.  The unknown environment I relocated to nine years ago is the place where I became a new person.  I became a better husband.  I became a better human.  If you don't believe me, ask my wife.  Nine years ago she told me she was homesick.  I thought to myself, how can a man who grew up in the Arizona desert and spent twenty-two years of his life living less than an hour's drive to the beach survive in a place where Winter temperatures dip thirty to forty degrees below zero?  Was I a bit nervous? Hell yes, I was.  I will never forget my Socal teammates placing bets on how long I would survive.  Most believed I wouldn't even make it through my first Winter.  

Ask anyone who has been married for 20 years or more what their secret to their marriage is and you will get some inspiring answers.  As I reflect on my life before our relocation to the Midwest, I see one glaring error I made early on.  I did not keep my promise to set up a second home near my wife's family.  Even though my foot was on the accelerator peddle so I could earn enough to set up two residences, I fell short. I took risks that didn't pan out.  I allowed my optimism to blind me to various pitfalls that stymied my plans.  Letting go was the right thing to do.  I couldn't afford two homes but I could keep my promise and set up residence in unfamiliar surroundings.  Today I am a new person.  And now the good news.  Sometime next year we are going to do something really exciting.  In my opinion, it's even better than my original idea to have two residences.  We are going to create a second home on wheels.  There are two things I need to do before we take this step.  Number one is financial independence.  Number two is publishing my next book.  These two goals will help me keep my focus for the next ten or so months.  One year from now we will be celebrating the first ten years of our new lives in the Midwest.  That's the plan.  Stay tuned.  Have a great day.

A Writing Recipe

I think I found the missing ingredient for my next book.  It's like playing chess.  You have an objective – defeat your opponent's king.  Sacrifices are made as the game progresses.  A savvy chess player can convert an insignificant pawn into a powerful ally if he's able to advance all the way to the other side of the board.  That's where I am now with my next book.  I'm the pawn on the board who survived numerous sacrifices and attacks to stay in the game.  I needed to learn along the way how to win at writing.  Something inside me tells me I'm not really playing the game, I'm living the game.  I'm actually living the chapters I'm writing about.  Chess is all about time and space.  So is writing.  

The missing ingredient in my book has been found.  It's credibility.  It will all make sense when this book comes out of the oven.  The pawn has a story to share.  Stay tuned.  Have a great day.

Another Snow Day

 Sorry for my tardiness today.  I was outside my regular routine.  We are all eagerly awaiting Spring.  Hopefully, today's snow storm will be one of the last for the season.  This storm is one of the most dangerous because the temperature gives us a mix of snow and ice.  I left early to commute to my day job at slower speeds.  Have a great day.

36th Hole Looks Promising

It started out as some kind of a fairy tale dream.  I  imagined what my life would be like if I could somehow eliminate all my debts.  The debt hole I created was deeper than the one Mike Mulligan dug in the children's classic, "Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel."  Most people give up when they can't find a way out.  My wife checked out a book by financial guru, Dave Ramsey, and we started our journey to financial independence.  I came up with a game, "Par for the Course," to keep me motivated along the way.  The first twelve holes (months) were rather challenging.  I recorded pars fewer times than I logged bogeys.  Finishing the game in the time 36 months I allotted seemed impossible while I was doing my best to avoid hacking, slicing, and hitting pretty much every obstacle one can face.  

Something changed in the second year of the game.  I found my groove and made par almost every month.  It's year 3 now.  I know where all the hazards are.  I have a really good grip on my club and I'm doing something I dreamed about when I came up with my debt reduction game – I'm finding a way to get consistent eagles and finally get to par.  If I can keep up the eagles during these last ten months of regulation play, it's game over on the 36th hole on the 36th month.  The one thing I refused to sacrifice was a family vacation to Hawaii this summer and that added a great deal of pressure.  Maybe that's what the original Mike Mulligan was experiencing when he struggled to meet his deadline with his beloved steam shovel.  He had a crowd watching his progress.  I have a cyber audience.  I'm going to keep going all the way to the finish line.  When this is over, I'm going to share my game with anyone who wants to achieve financial independence.  Thanks for checking in.  Stay tuned for updates.  The 36th hole is looking promising.  Have a great day.

Guest Post from Casey Leach, Friend, Teammate, Cancer Survivor

I asked my friend, Casey Leach, to share a guest post about his journey.  He is one of the best natural leaders I've ever known.  I would like to thank him for sharing his personal story with you today...

Casey Leach with his mother, celebrating family time

• This is my short story:

October 24th, 2012, a day that will be remembered. The year 2011 was a joyous year for me as I was finishing out school at the University of Kansas, starting my internship with a company called Midwest Sports Productions, and looking forward to a career in the sports industry. In January of 2012, I was working at Costco and suddenly had an episode of extreme pain where it felt like I was being stabbed in the back with a knife. This was unexpected and I had to be rushed to the ER to figure out what was going on. After some pain medications and a CT scan of my abdomen, the doctor diagnosed it as external muscle spasms and after examining the CT scan, my parents and I had one question, “What was the small black circle located by my intestines?”. The doctor didn’t seem too worried about it and we moved on. Fast forward four months and my second youngest brother, Corey, was now being deployed off to war in Afghanistan. This definitely was a hard time for all of us because we didn’t know when he would be back or what was going to happen. All we could do was be positive and pray that he made it back safely. 

As another four months passed, it was a chilly, Saturday, September morning and I was out at the ball fields tournament directing a kids baseball tournament. It was about 730 am when I read a daunting Facebook post from my brother's best friend that said “keep Corey in your thoughts and prayers”. I called my mom immediately and the news spread like a wildfire. Corey and a few other military personnel were hit and injured by a roadside IED bomb and he was in critical condition at the time. News a family never wants to hear. To make things worse, I started having extreme back pains that same weekend, but I set those pains aside as I was more concerned and worried for my brother's health and safety. As the next month went on, Corey got shipped back to the U.S. and stationed in Texas where he was able to fully recover, leaving him with only multiple scars and a partially blind left eye (what a blessing).  As Corey was recovering, my pains only got worse. I began seeing a chiropractor to see if that would help, but it only helped in the short term and the back pains would come back after a day. After about a month and a half of grueling back pains, I couldn’t take it anymore and I went to the ER on October 24th, 2012 after I couldn’t sit, stand, walk, eat, etc for about a week prior. The initial diagnosis was deemed as gallbladder stones, but that wasn’t the case when the CT scan came back. Doctors had found a 16-cm diameter tumor lodged by my kidney. What was this? Where did it come from? After multiple tests and surgeries, the doctors found out I had a small tumor on my left testicle and then metastasized near my kidney, causing a massive tumor. That little black circle we saw back in January of that year turned out to be the first sign of my rapidly growing tumor making its presence in my body! 

The first two and a half weeks in the hospital were hell for me. I immediately went through multiple surgeries, CT scans and doctors started me on intensive cycles of chemotherapy and blood transfusions.  To get an understanding of the size of this tumor, AFP is a tumor marker to measure cancerous tumors and a patient is considered severely sick at 10,000. Doctors diagnosed me at around 37,000 …. We couldn’t believe it. Doctors told my parents if they didn’t act quickly, they could start to see my organs failing and shutting down, so there was no time to be wasted. 

The nights got long and sleepless, waking up to constant pains and vomiting from the side effects of the chemo drugs. I lost my appetite for any kind of food and if I was able to eat, it would come right back up. I got pricked and pocked daily with chemo injections and blood being drawn to check my AFP numbers and blood counts. Days were spent lying in a hospital bed, only getting up to walk around for about 20 mins and/or standing next to the window, gazing out and wondering if I was going to make it the next day. Most days were spent alone and when my family/friends were able to come to spend a few hours with me, it lit a fire inside of me. I couldn’t give up and this wasn’t how my story was supposed to end as a young 23-year old. 

I was released from the hospital two and a half weeks later after my diagnosis and I couldn’t believe who I was looking at in the mirror. I went into the hospital weighing just shy of 240lbs and left at 185lbs, skin ghostly white, no muscle or hair. Most days at home were spent lying in a recliner as it would take all of my energy just to climb a set of six stairs. During the next two months, I endured extensive rounds of chemotherapy, more blood transfusions, losses of appetite, and no energy for the simplest of activities like walking (we really do overlook the things that are simple to us when we’re in a healthy state!). After my last round of chemotherapy in January, good news finally came and all of the drugs that were being pumped through my body seemed to have paid off! My AFP was finally hovering around 15, 15! It went from 37,000 at the end of October to 15 by the middle of January. There was a light at the end of the tunnel! About a week later, I, unfortunately, caught strep throat due to my low immune system and had to have another week's stay in the hospital. During this time, my blood work was run and my AFP numbers actually started to climb. Without any hesitation, my oncologist made the decision to send me to Indiana University to have what was left of my tumor removed. On Valentine's day 2013, I’ve never cried so hard before going into an open table surgery. I was terrified! All I wanted to do was hold my mom because even though the surgery was two and a half hours, my mind kept wondering what would happen if I never woke up and this was the last time I saw my mom’s face. Thankfully, everything turned out well and the doctor was able to remove the rest of my tumor and any lymph nodes around my kidney without complications. When I had my staples removed two weeks later, my oncologist ran my blood work and my AFP was now down to 8 (under 10 is considered healthy). I was filled with excitement and never thought it would be that low again. The oncologist stated that it would take a few years to get back to full health, but I made it very clear to him that I would come back, full force within six months! And by god I did! 

About a year later, I was able to land a job at Costco’s headquarters in Issaquah, WA, and was able to spend three years there learning about our buying side of the business. I then had an opportunity to come back to KC as a Supervisor for the new North Kansas City building that I’m currently at now (as a manager). After being back for about four months, I was able to get promoted to a Marketing Manager for Costco at the new Lincoln, NE store and this is where Michael and I’s paths crossed. This man has made a great impact on my life and I’ve been able to request his help for other openings that I’ve been a part of. A tremendous man he is.

During these times, I had to continually do follow-ups every few months to every six months as the years went on. When I was in Seattle, the doctor there told me she wanted to monitor me for more than a decade and that didn’t sit well with me. In my heart, the only way I knew I was going to bury this nightmare was to walk away from it all, but I did what the doctor wanted me to. After making it back to KC, I had all of my information sent back to my original oncologist and continued follow-ups here. In May of 2018, I received the best and most unexpected news of my life. I went for a routine follow-up of my blood work and after going over it with my oncologist, he looked me dead in the face and said “I don’t know why I’m still seeing you. To be honest, I don’t ever want to see you again.” It took me a few seconds to register that information, but when it hit, tears poured out of my face faster than a hurricane hitting landfall. I couldn’t believe it! I walked out of that office, sat in my car, and out came tears of happiness … this nightmare that I thought would have never ended had finally come to a close! I could finally move on and bury that nightmare that all started on October 24th, 2012, a day that will always be remembered and thought about it for the rest of my life!

It’s such a blessing that Michael has asked me to share this part of my life (in a shorter version) and I truly hope that I can continue to touch and inspire the lives of hundreds, into thousands and maybe someday, millions of people with my story and leadership legacy!

The Razor-Thin Line Between Success and Failure

 Success and failure are separated by a razor-thin line.  Ask yourself how many times you were defeated before you got out of bed in the morning.  You know exactly what I'm talking about.  Cave into those voices and you're defeated.  That's the first step.  The second step is doing the work.  Daily.  It's so easy to cross that razor-thin line.  Failure is like a black hole trying to swallow you up at every step along the way on your journey to success.  

If you can be aware of that razor-thin line every moment of your waking hour, you can stay on the winning side.  Be cautious.  Champions have fallen because they became complacent.  Should you ever cross the line and find yourself knee-deep in failure, do everything in your power to recover.  These battles are fought daily.  Don't ever give up.  Have a great day.

Time for the Upswing

 It's -15º outside right now.  That's -25º if you count the windchill.  Most of the country is dealing with similar conditions.  The good news around here is that our weather is finally on the upswing.  The temperature change will be dramatic over the next seven days.  I'm more than ready for the next season and beyond.  It's been extra challenging for me because we deferred our family vacation last year when the pandemic hit.  I'm ready for things to finally heat up.  Have a great day.

Can You Become a Champion of Debt Reduction?

 When it comes to financial independence, I've made every mistake.  The most important lesson I learned is that as long as you don't give up there's hope.  I'm going to cross the finish line approximately 39 months after coming up with a game I devised to help me on my journey.  That's three months later than I originally forecasted when I set up the game but my tardiness crossing the finish line is still far better than a lifetime of living in debt.  For me, tracking my progress is an important key to success.  

The first year of playing, "Par for the Course" was filled with bogeys.  Bogeys are missed targets for the month, just like coming in over par on the golf course.  During that first year, I recorded my scores and looked for ways to improve my swing.  Year 2 was much better.  I believe I came in at par for about ten months.  Year 3 should come in at par or above for all twelve months.  The three additional months in Year 4 are needed to compensate for the poor performance during the first twelve months of the game.  When it's all over, I will retire the last dollar of my mortgage and share my story with anyone serious about debt reduction.  Today is a great day to get started.  Yes, you can become a champion of debt reduction.  Have a great day.

Surprise Family Day Today

Much to my surprise, I found out last night that our family is off today for another family day.  I was so excited to have a rare Saturday off last weekend that I overlooked President's Day.  We have no agenda other than to spend the day together.  All I can say is I'm in deep gratitude for our time together as our schedules are often out of alignment.  Have a great day.

A Creative Way to Deal with You Inner Voice

 How are you doing with those conversations going on in your head?  I'm primarily referring to the negative voices trying to stop you from all you have planned for the day.  You know them well... "You don't need to go outside today, it's too cold."  Or, "Why not call in sick so you don't have to deal with all that traffic on the icy roads?"  Well, I have an idea for you that may help.  Give a name to the source of your inner voices.  If you name him or her, you can take charge and make great counter-arguments as if the voice is a real person.  

I'm naming my voice, Hank.  Hank is a bit of a loser.  He doesn't like it when I set goals.  Hank is a champion of making excuses.  I want to improve my life.  Hank wants the status quo.  Hank has a vast circle of secret friends no one else can see.  His friends are invisible.  Somehow, Hank communicates nonverbally with his friends attempting to form some kind of a coup to overthrow any attempts to make positive change.  I'm fairly lucky because I cut Hank off from his sources of information, like TV.  Hank thrives on negativity.  My job every morning is to make sure Hank doesn't get the upper hand.  When I meditate, Hank is always lurking.  He tells me I'm wasting my time sorting my thoughts, perhaps because my meditation time is dedicated to keeping Hank at bay.

Give your inner voice a name and remember who's boss.  Should you fail, try again tomorrow.  If you win, you have the life you dreamed of.  Allow your inner voice to be in charge and you will be destined to a life of status-quo.  You deserve better.  Not Hank.  Have a great day.

Date Day Today

Our fun date day is starting out at the gym.  I'm testing out of my second six-week spiritual boot camp this morning with 2 minutes of max pushups, 2 minutes of max stomach crunches, and a 5k run.   Then it's a fabulous lunch at Monica's followed by a movie with my Valentine sweetheart.  The outside temps may be approaching -30º today with the windchill factor but that won't spoil our date day.  Time to layer up.  Have a great day.

Testing the Lower Limits of Human Capacity Today

 The current temperature reading in my town is -6º right now.  That doesn't count the high winds.  The weatherman tells me it feels like -27º and that number may go even lower as the gusts pick up.  The coldest I've ever experienced is -34º and I know exactly how that feels.  I'm planning on multiple layers as I head out to my day job.  The roads are icy from last night's snowfall so the drive will be on the slow side.  Have a great day.

Why Living in Gratitude Allows You to See Better

 Today's story is one of the best lessons I've ever learned.  Your gratitude allows you to see better.  The opposite is also true.  Lack of gratitude shrinks your opportunity to see the blessings in your life.  Gratitude increases abundance.  It expands your vision.  I don't know the reason why but I do know firsthand that I have improved my vision when it comes to spotting the good there is in this world.  This includes the days when I'm driving in a blizzard.  Yes, there is always good to see.  Give living in gratitude a try and see for yourself.  Have a great day.

Can You Survive a Cytokine Storm?

 The cytokine storm may be one of the most dangerous storms mankind will ever face.  Few have heard of it, perhaps because it cannot be seen by the human eye.  It's a storm that strikes inside our bodies.  In my opinion, it's one of the worst-case scenarios we may ever encounter in our lifetimes.  

Imagine you contracted COVID-19.  You're in the hospital on a ventilator.  The doctors are doing everything in their power to keep you alive but your body is fighting itself and you're dying.  You may be one of the 5-7% of patients in the danger zone because your own immune system is out of control.  That means your healthy cells are under siege.  How do you survive?  I have good news.  Hold on a moment...I'm having a flashback moment from the time I played Nathaneal in a play about the Last Supper many years ago.  My line, right out of John 1:46..."Can any good thing come from Nazareth?"  Okay, I'm back now for the answer to the question and it's a resounding YES, something very, very good is coming from the Promised Land.  It appears there is modern good news from the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.  EXO-CD24, an experimental inhaled medication, has cured 100% of the patients in Phase 1 of the trial.  This is an inhaled medication that calms the "cytokine storm" inside the body.  Once the body is calm, it ceases attacking itself.   The body heals.  I'm super excited to share this news with you.  Please pass it on to anyone concerned about getting sick from COVID-19.  Have a great day. 

Teammates Volunteer Time for Essential Tennis Video

Four of my tennis teammates traveled to Milwaukee recently to meet with the men who run Essential Tennis, an online instructional company.  I spend hours on the courts with these men weekly.  Take a look at the video.  My team captain, Jim, is featured along with his doubles partner, Steve.  The guys on the other side of the court are Fred and Paul.  All four of these men have helped me over the years to improve my game.  I'm thankful for their friendship.  Have a great day.

Conversations with God

 I discovered a correlation between the quality level of my conversations with God.  When I'm in periods of danger, my petitions are most dire and I find myself listening more intently.  For example, three years ago when the ambulance was transporting me to the trauma unit at the University of Iowa Hospital, I was praying fervently.  That prayer was continuous for almost the entire time I was in the hospital.  My injuries led me to believe I would be there for a long duration.  My prayers were for healing.  The doctors were unsure about surgery, waiting to see how my body was handling the injuries.  Much to my surprise, my spleen was healing almost immediately.  In fact, it healed enough to call off the surgery and I was released within 24 hours!

Flash forward to another great need for a conversation with God.  It was Thursday, February 4, last week.  I was in the middle of a blizzard on my commute home along I80.  Visibility was almost a zero.  My prayers for safety were so intense that I was almost having an out-of-body experience.  This song I had never heard before came on the Christian radio station by King and Country.  The song title is "Amen."  The music inspired me as if God was speaking directly to me.  I looked up the video on YouTube when I got home and was surprised by what I saw.  The video starts with darkness and a singer is holding a lantern.  It was similar to being in the SUV when my prayers were being sent like an SOS call to God.  Take a look at the video and picture yourself stranded in the darkness like I was during the storm.  Picture God talking to you.  I hope you get a small glimpse of how awesome our God is, not only in those times of danger when our senses are more receptive to hearing God speak.  Have a great day.

Teammates Win Epic Battle

 Nothing was going to stop us yesterday.  Not the snowstorm.  Not the long drive to the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, IL.  Not even the fiercest opponents on the courts in the Men's 18+ 4.0 division in our state.  They showed up with young legs in the singles portion of the league match.  We countered with savvy play in our three doubles matches.  In the end, the match was decided in a 14-12 super tiebreaker.  Our guys have been working hard all year.  I wanted to give a shoutout to my teammates and congratulate them on an epic win.  I was extra happy to have thirty minutes to warm up and defrost my body before our doubles match began.  I was also fortunate to team up with one of the strongest servers on our team.  Thanks, Joe, for your great play yesterday.  We needed all three doubles wins to keep our 2021 winning streak alive.  Have a great day.

Trade Wars

We, humans, struggle with deferred gratification.   It's a trade war.  Trading what we have today, or some portion of what we have, for some far off benefit is a delicate balancing act.  The successful among us are willing to make that sacrifice and it works out well.  Those who are unwilling risk failure in the later years.

I feel good about the sacrifices I'm making today.  I find great joy living within my means.  Deferred gratification doesn't mean you also have to give up all the joys that are in the present moment.  It simply means you call a truce in your own personal trade war and find the right balance with your daily actions.  Small wins lead to great victories.  The first step is to become aware of how you are using your resources. Have a great day.

An Important Anniversary Today

 On this day, three years ago, I drifted off highway 149 while following a snowplow.  I thought that was going to be the end of my life.  Drifting off the road wasn't the bad part.  The horrific part was returning to the road totally out of control.  The impact was certain.  All I could think about was rotating my small Honda to keep our daughter from suffering the brunt of the force.  She was in the direct line of fire.  When the van hit us, he didn't see us until the last moment due to the haze in the air and the snowfall.  Looking back, I believe it was an act of God that spared my life.  Our daughter has one small cut on her lower lip from the shards of glass flying through the air upon impact.  Surprisingly, the doctors cleared me to leave the hospital 24 hours later.  The seven broken ribs eventually healed on their own.  The spleen healed enough overnight to eliminate the need for surgery.  As for the 600cc's of fluid from the pleural effusion, that was taken care of at a later date in a routine procedure.  I returned to competitive tennis.  My life is better than normal because of what I witnessed the day of the accident.  I saw emergency medical care first hand.  I remained awake the entire time while observing the medical team in the trauma center.  We are truly blessed to have the best medical care in the world.  I will be forever grateful for every day I've been given on this planet.  This is a great time to thank health care workers for all they do.  Thank you for saving my life.  Have a great day.

Blizzard Today

 It will be here any minute.  Another blizzard.  We already have over one foot of snow on the ground.  This storm will bring a dangerous combo of rain, snow, and sleet.  The road conditions will be hazardous. I'm hoping to leave early and get to my day job before Mother Nature strikes again.  On days like this, we don't see many people on the roads.  Today will be a great test for my anxiety training which began after a similar storm knocked me to the sidelines three years ago.  I'm ready.  Have a great day.

How is That Gratitude Journal Working Out?

 My gratitude journal entries are sporadic.  Sure, I'm grateful every day, but there are times when I slip out of my routine and forget to jot down the top ten things I'm grateful for.  Yesterday was a bit challenging for me.  I woke up struggling to stick with my regular positive routine.  The one thing that helped me get back to where I like to be is that gratitude journal.  I wrote down my top ten things I'm thankful for.  Then it hit me – I'm blessed, even on those challenging days.  This is the best way I know to deal with circumstances that are beyond your control.  All you really need is a blank sheet of paper and a pen.  Try it.  Have a great day.

Be a Winner at Head Games

 There's an easy way to find out how you're doing with head games.  If you're struggling to get out of bed on the first alarm, you can't get things done, or you easily cave every time you want to make a change in your life, you're losing.  The head games you play determine the outcome in almost every endeavor in your life.

Head games are not won outside your own head, even though your mind will argue otherwise.  Every time your mind tries to convince you that what's going on in the outside world is the reason for your failure, don't listen.  Don't cave.  Resist these thoughts.  They are only excuses.

I'll offer an example from my own life.  This morning I glanced at the weather forecast.  When the weather decreases, head chatter increases.  This week we will probably see -30º and that forecast is increasing the stakes in regards to my head games.  I can already tell you I'm going to win this battle no matter how bleak the weather may be.  I will get up on the first alarm.  I will prepare my body to go out into the elements.  My mind will not stop me because I know how to win at head games.  It's really a decision.  How about you?  What's your decision?  Have a great day.

Fabulous February is Here

Wow!  That was a fast month we just had.  Now it's fabulous February.  I say fabulous because it's another clean slate to create the kind of life you want.  How did those last thirty-one days go for you?  Is there anything you can do in this new month to make your life better?  Think of all the things you did well and the things that can be improved.  

One of the things I'm working on in my personal life is focusing on the day.  While upcoming events are fun to dream about, I'm savoring what today brings.  Life is a series of moments.  The moment we have right now is the most important.  If I can sustain that focus for the next 28 days, then this month will be fabulous.  How about you?  What are you going to do in fabulous February to improve your life?  Have a great day.