I am an old soul that grew up too fast. Not more than eight weeks out of college, I was hired as a financial analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank of Denver and I found myself eating lunch with my coworkers one day. Momentarily freed from my beige cubicle cell, they were talking about what they ‘wished’ they had done with their lives. Even at my young age I thought, “these people can’t be more than thirty and they acted as if it was over for them.” Wow. Eat your sandwich, shut up and plow on, I thought. Suddenly, without forethought, I had the uncontrollable urge to leave. I mean quit. I literally couldn’t take another minute. I remember my coworkers staring...
Dear America, This Thanksgiving, I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately. And truth be told, I’m sorry to say I think I have been taking you for granted during times like these. But I wanted you to know that from the day I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were incredibly unique. Swimming on your Atlantic shores as a child I looked up proudly at the American flags adorning the homes and boats. My team. My place. My HOME. Seems we’ve been turning our backs on you recently. Turning from glory to grief. Bickering, divisions and separateness when we should be loving you and showing peace to the each other and the world. This year, I want nothing more than a world...
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Chances are good it was when you were completely out of your comfort zone, took a chance and went for it, quaking in your shoes, but nonetheless stepping forward, both literally and figuratively. I had just that night. The jet landed, I hopped in a cab and was whisked off to the Hilton Las Vegas, my first time there, marveling at all the flashing lights and massive buildings. Once there, the private elevator carried me up to the penthouse suite, the one that Elvis spent decades staying at. But, tonight it housed Ronnie Dunn, of country music fame, Brooks and Dunn. Quick backstory, Ronnie was given a belt buckle from...
"Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh". -Henry David Thoreau First of all, I don’t believe anyone who says they have NO regrets. But, I’ll get to that later. I was physically exhausted from working all day, it was cold out and I just wanted to go home. I had been invited to dinner and thoughts of canceling came into my mind. But then I thought of how much I loved seeing my dear friend, Angela and how few people invited me over for dinner these days. So, I packed up my belt buckles that she wanted to...
“ALL ONE” sounds good in theory, but do we really believe that? More importantly, do we really ACT that way? Several years ago, I was in a packed plane, full throttle up, front wheels off the Fort Lauderdale sand when suddenly the pilot slammed on the brakes. You could’ve heard a pin drop as we taxied back to the gate. Once there, the captain came on and said that we had lost an engine. What a miracle not to have been in the sky! We were all ushered back to the gate where a ticket agent would rebook all of our flights. I didn’t care, I was just thrilled to be alive in that moment. But, as they say, there’s one in every crowd. This...
