the little guy
WARNING: THIS IS NOT MY TYPICAL SORT OF POST. IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED … RUN.
I read the following in a blog post this past weekend (I’ve changed it a bit and not mentioned the writer’s name, because I actually don’t want to give them a bad rap):
Be careful how…
all about me
A friend of mine read my last post and texted me the next morning:
How do you keep from turning into someone who sees other people around you as background props?
His question was a sincere one, that came from a place of wanting to grow. But I think my answer surprised him. Maybe it will surprise you, as…
how to open
Anyone who knows me at all, or who has read much of anything I’ve written, knows that I am passionate about and committed to engaging with the people around us in everyday life – seeing them as real people rather than as background props on our stage, objects in our way, or machines designed only to…
a marked man
Lately, I've found that the only time I have to hit the gym is after 11:00 PM. Yeah, I know. Trust me – it's not that I love it so much; it comes down to discipline (OK, and probably a little OCD). But there I was, out in the middle of another frigid night, trying to get it done.
Now, no matter what anyone…
you can’t make me
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I live by this mantra: “You always have a choice.”
When I think about the daily interactions I have with people, the stories and circumstances change, but the truth of that one statement – and its implications – does not. If you do not accept that you always have…
no is nice
The following is an excerpt from a chapter out of my book, The Best Advice So Far, entitled “Saying No”:
I used to have a hard time saying no to people. It didn't matter how many plates I had spinning at the time, if someone held another plate out and asked, “Gee, could you spin my plate, too?” I felt obliged…
(un)hidden treasures
I was at the gym recently with my friend Dave. After we'd picked things up and put them down a while, as we sat to have our traditional post-workout protein shake, Dave picked up a nearby magazine and started to thumb through it. There was a picture of some kind of luxury sports car on…
easy street
I've lived in the same apartment community for 20 years. I've been asking to have my windows replaced for 15 of those 20 years. The pressure seals had long since broken, resulting in permanent condensation between the panes of glass and essentially rendering them non-windows (if we define "window" as…