When I was a teenager, my friend, Rik Schwinden, told me that I was like a guy running who would fall into holes and then bound out of them with a big smile on my face. "Don't you get tired of the holes?" he asked. Yes, I do. But I also know that the one skill I have is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Over those areas of my life in which I have control, I don't give up. I persist... Rik defined it in terms of "holes," but prior to his definition, I looked at it as occasional rubber bands stretched across the highway of life. Sometimes, you run free and clear, with no obstruction. And other times, you encounter resistance. The more you push, sometimes you break through easily. Other times, it's everything you have in you to push and push and drive forward. But if you put one foot in front of the other, you'll eventually break through. I'll be damned if a stupid rubber band will get the best of me. A long time ago, I had this concept I called Four Adjectives. If there were four adjectives to describe me, they would be: - Driven
- Giving
- Principled
- Independent
At the times when life is hard, you have to remember who you are and push like crazy.I still am who I choose to be. | 
