We all have our battles. We all have our struggles. We all want to quit from time to time. But it is so important that we see things through to the end. One of my favorite movies growing up was RUDY. Rudy is a sports movie based on the real-life character Rudy Ruettiger. It is the story of an undersized football player who dreamt of playing college football for University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He grew up in a tough city where most of the men only had one career option

Summertime is here! Spending time with friends. BBQs. Family gatherings. Graduation Parties. Weddings. Vacations. Boating. Beaches. There are so many fun things happening during the summer months. Summertime represents fun. It has ever since we were little kids and looked forward to summer vacation from school. But how do you juggle the inherent desire to enjoy all the fun of summer vs. taking care of your responsibilities of working towards your goals? Maybe you are working

COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY When I was in the first grade, we had spelling quizzes. Bird. Dog. Chair. Red. Blue. Hand. Stop. The teacher would say the word and then you would think really hard about how to spell it and then write it on the line provided. I loved it. There was a problem though. I love it not because I wanted to learn, but I wanted to get the answer right so I could receive my gold star. Although getting that gold star wasn’t enough either. Even at a young a

We hear people talk about being perfectionists all of the time. This is what it sounds like: “If I am going to do something, I am going to give it 100%, or I’m not going to do it at all. I am a perfectionist.” It’s like during a job interview when you’re asked “What is your greatest weakness?” so you answer with “I care too much about doing a good job. I am a perfectionist.” Saying you are a perfectionist is not something to brag about. The majority of people that claim to be

ARE YOU STILL AFRAID OF THE DARK? I can remember growing up in Michigan and spending a lot of time in basements. We would play billiards, we would have birthday parties, video game tournaments, etc. Basements were the place to be…Until you were alone and it was time to turn off the light and go upstairs!!! I don’t care how many times I did it, I still always ran up the stairs as soon as the light went out completely convinced that there was a monster going to grab my leg. The

I once met a woman who would always say “Discipline is Freedom.” At first, that struck me as a pretty odd statement. ‘Discipline’ and ‘Freedom’ aren't two words we often hear in the same sentence. When I hear the word ‘Freedom’, I think of a soaring eagle, or smiling travelers, or people on adventure doing whatever they would like. And when I think of ‘Discipline’ it feels tough and hard. I think of characteristics of warriors or athletes or a scientist studying in a lab. The

Title: WHAT DO FOUR SQUIRRELS AND PETER PAN HAVE IN COMMON? I grew up watching the movie Peter Pan (and Hook), and all I wanted to do was FLY. I daydreamed of soaring high above life and seeing it like a bird. Pure freedom. I’m sure we all admire the idea of being boundless. WE ALL WANT TO FLY. But Peter Pan sold us a pipe dream. He said we never had to grow up and all you have to do is think happy thoughts and you can fly. That's all. Just think happy thoughts and boom, you