As a teenager, my major life-altering traumas were generally self-inflicted, like flunking a test for which I hadn’t bothered to study, getting dumped by a girlfriend whom I’d totally ignored to hang out with my friends, or the tragedy of all tragedies: damaging my car because I liked to drive...
I can still remember the day I woke up in a panic. It was November 24, 2008, around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. For a moment, I thought I was late. For the previous four and a half years, my life had been planned out by college football coaches in fifteen-minute blocks. Meetings, workouts,...
I’m not a military man, but my younger brother recently retired from the US Air Force Reserve. Whenever I take a trip, especially out of the country, he always reminds me to ‘watch my six’, and it doesn’t stop there. He continues with, ‘be aware of your surroundings’, ‘carry your valuables in your...
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. — Matthew 5:5 If humility had a dashboard light, mine started blinking the year I thought I had everything figured out. I consider myself one of the most blessed people I know. I grew up surrounded by heroes—my father and my grandfather at...
No championship team can survive on daily pep talks, even if given by a fantastic coach. At some point the athletes need to be self-motivated enough to be enthusiastic about the game and their contribution. Joyless players—regardless of their natural talent—simply won’t reach their potential as...
I’m honored to live in a City of Character and thankful that we make time every month to focus on a quality of character worth cultivating. It’s always helpful to remember that being a City of Character doesn’t mean that we always get it right. It means we have a standard we can celebrate when...
