The teacher looked angry as she handed back our writing assignment. Everyone's paper was loaded with comments in dark, red pen. My paper looked like a bright fireworks display. I missed a comma in one spot included a comma in another spot where one didn't belong. She had comments everywhere. I love writing, but I... Continue Reading →
Choosing Hope #6: A bright future
(The last in a week-long series on hope and optimism for the future.) Life has a way of bringing struggle and challenge — who hasn't felt overwhelmed by the mountain we have to climb — but it also means any number of opportunities. We often just need to open our eyes. The challenge then comes... Continue Reading →
Choosing Hope #5: Reasons to be hopeful
(Fifth in a week-long series on hope and optimism for the future.) I closed my email and turned my phone over so that I couldn't see the screen. I didn't get the news I wanted. I had been hoping for something else. I wanted to shout, I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry out... Continue Reading →
Choosing Hope #4: Hope for when things go bad
(Fourth in a week-long series on hope and optimism for the future.) Some days it’s hard to see the good. I'm not talking about trying to be "sickeningly sweet and optimistic." No, no, I'm talking about being realistic, but still seeing the good that comes up in life. We've all had those days. You try... Continue Reading →
Choosing Hope #3: Be the change
When I was a young manager, my team and I were going through a tough time. I was new in my role, we faced a number of tough obstacles, and didn't have a lot of time to plan and get acquainted. We needed to get to know each other on the fly. I remember feeling... Continue Reading →
Choosing Hope #2: Seeing the big picture
(Second in a week-long series on hope and optimism for the future.) The guy on the radio was talking about how the world has "gone to hell in a hand basket." He was clamoring against the rise of organized sports, participation trophies, and "woke" and over-involved parents. He talked glowingly about the seventies and eighties... Continue Reading →
Choosing Hope #1: Where’s the optimism?
(First in a week-long series on hope and optimism for the future.) When I was in elementary school, the teacher would turn on a projector and pull down the screen in the front of the class and we’d watch grainy film clips of Astronaut Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon and saying,... Continue Reading →
Westward Ho!
In April, I was stuck in traffic a few miles from home and the drive seemed to take forever. Five minutes passed and we barely moved. I rolled my eyes. Would the drive ever end? Fast forward to early May, my son and I were driving cross country, more than 2,500 miles away to get... Continue Reading →
The wind at our back
In the middle of the craziness, I don’t think I yelled it, but I could have. I know I was certainly thinking it: “Run Toto run, run like the wind.” My son needed his car with him in California, so when he was on leave earlier last month, we drove it cross country. The “California... Continue Reading →

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