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I know this may seem like a strange thing to say, but Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful. I say this because for many of us the true meaning of the holiday has in so many ways become clouded in just being another holiday. I think it is sometimes we just need to be reminded what the holiday was originally intended to be. It is so easy for us to get bogged down in the day-to-day worries of life and all its baggage that we lose sight of all the things we have to be thankful for. Without trying...
I came across an article a week or so ago that I have been contemplating whether or not to share with you. I will be honest, when I first read it I became angry, because the author seemed arrogant and dismissing of so many people. I can’t say after thinking about it that all of the anger has subsided, but I did realize that much of the anger arose because it hit a very sensitive nerve. However, I have learned oftentimes it is the stuff that hits the nerve that is the most important for us to c...
I recently did a video on Instagram regarding a very interesting way of looking our lives. There is an old movie that I really enjoy that involves a love affair between a wealthy woman and a very wise man of average wealth. The woman has deep insecurities regarding her wealth and is always nervous someone is wanting her for her money and not herself. When these people meet and fall in love, the guy is not aware of her wealth. Once he finds about it he is thrilled, which triggers her...
As a preface to today’s article, I think it’s important to note that I generally try to stay away from politics in my writing, so I don’t broach this topic lightly. I also try to have an optimistic, feel-good aspect to my articles, but for some of you, today’s article may seem anything but light-hearted or optimistic. It is my sincere hope that some aspect of today’s article hits home and that it has the potential to change a few readers' minds and touch some hearts. Over the past weekend, I exp...
It seems the older I get, the more I find myself thinking about change. Specifically, there are some things we see when we are young and assume will always be around and popular. It may be the music, television shows, actors, cars, type of architecture, friends, or our leaders, that we just somehow take for granted will always be around. As I get older, the more I recognize there are very few things that stay the same, and that all things change. The really hard part comes when one wakes up one...
As I write today’s article, I honestly find myself being very uninspired and struggling to find a topic that jumps out and speaks to me. Oddly, as I go through my list of topics, the only thing that stands out is about my thoughts on being uninspired. So, with that said, today’s topic will be “feeling uninspired.” Whether one admits it or not, there are times that most if not everyone feels uninspired or unmotivated. For me personally at that moment in time, it feels as though I may never b...
First, I apologize that this will be the second article in the last two weeks that is not my original content but rather something interesting, or humorous that I heard. Second, this involves the topic of religion, with some degree of humor. When I first saw the video, I thought for a while it might be disrespectful but, after watching it, I found just the opposite to be true. So, I sincerely hope no one thinks I am intending to be disrespectful in any way. So, with that all said, the video star...
I would like to take credit for the following thought, but I cannot; I heard it on a short video, and it really struck a chord and I want to pass it on. To paraphrase the video, it basically stated that in a world where so many people feel disconnected, left alone and isolated, we so often miss many opportunities around us to connect with our fellow humans. It may be as simple as saying hello to someone on a busy sidewalk, asking someone how they are doing as you are standing in a check-out...
It is amazing how much we take for granted – simple things like running water. Earlier this week our family was personally reminded of that when we had a water line leak that caused us to be without running water to our house for a couple of days. It can bring your life to a stop. For decades, most people in the civilized world have had access to running water to cook with, wash with and drink. We just take it for granted, or, actually, we don’t even think about not having this luxury. How...
I am often amazed when someone either says or implies that they and those who think, act or look like them are right … and that all others are wrong, are less than them, or somehow inferior. Did you know there are over seven billion people on the earth, with each having unique fingerprints, DNA, brains, personalities, beliefs, etc., and that even those who are similar in their looks or makeup, still have experiences uniquely individual only to themselves. In short, no one is the same to any othe...
I don’t often write about religion; however, I had the most unusual experience last weekend that I am still trying to process. Last weekend my wife was doing some shopping in a department store, and while she was checking out I sat down on an ottoman type seat near the door. As I sat there all of a sudden I felt the lightest of touch on my shoulder. At first, I assumed it was my wife letting me know she was ready to leave, but as I turned around I found it was an older Hispanic man who had q...
I was recently in Dallas and want to share this unusual view that I had the opportunity to see. First if you haven’t figured it out by now, one of my favorite things to do is to watch people. So, while recently in Dallas, I went to one of my favorite restaurants and bars for watching people. This establishment is located in the middle of a very expensive and exclusive shopping center. Much to my delight, this restaurant has outside dining that is situated under a great shade tree, as well as num...
I often hear people complain about how complex the world is as a result of technology. Often depending on what I am trying to accomplish, I may be the first person to agree with that statement. With that said, I had an encounter over last weekend that really made me ponder the good things that technology has brought to us, and as a result how the world has actually gotten much smaller. Over the past weekend, my wife and I took our daughter to Tulsa for some extracurricular activities, and as we...
Today I want to follow up with an old Facebook post I made five or six years ago, and how people read into a situation their own point of view and biases. My original post was about being face-to-face with a panhandler at an extremely long stop light in Oklahoma City. Prior to that moment in time, I had always held a very strong opinion regarding the homeless, panhandlers and such, that was they just need to get a job, stop taking drugs and/or alcohol and pull themselves up from the situation...
About a month ago, I wrote an article on being grateful for what you have. Today, I want to look at the difference between being grateful and being entitled. This article is not written to be critical of others and their methods of decision-making, but rather to illustrate a point that is very often clouded. When I was a young attorney, I was appointed to represent a family that had numerous issues. In representing this family, I got to know them and was allowed an insight into their personal...
I have always been deeply interested in humans’ decision making, and why or what it is that makes or drives us, myself included, to make the decisions we make. Let me begin by saying that I really believe most people try to make the correct decisions at the time they make them. It pretty much goes without saying that most people wouldn’t consciously, knowingly and intentionally make an incorrect decision. Now with that said, often humans make very poor decisions, and the kind of dec...
Before getting to the substance of today’s article, I want to say it is less of a statement and more of a pondering or a questioning that, honestly, I don’t have a definite answer to, rather only questions. The other evening, I had to go into my teenage daughter’s room to discuss her college application. As I was there, I looked around her room, noticing her décor. Her décor is what you would normally expect from a teenage girl: LED lights around the ceiling, lots of posters of pop stars, numero...
There is some odd irony in today's article that I hope will become apparent. I want to discuss the normal summer weather for northwest Oklahoma. Usually, about the first week of June, the rains stop and the temperatures range in the 100s. If we are lucky, we may get the next rain in the third week of August. If not then, it will usually be late September or October before we get any relief. Thankfully, this year has been quite different – it seems like we get a good rain every 10-14 days, and w...
Some of the best advice (and, honestly, it was this saying that got me to begin thinking outside the box) was given to me by a professor my first year in college, when he said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.” For me this simply and succinctly defines what it takes to have a successful outcome in whatever it is you are trying to accomplish, be it large or small. Let’s face it, this is good advice and if more of us could strictly follow this advic...
This being the week of the 4th of July, I think it only appropriate to say something about it. Don’t get me wrong. I am all in favor of celebrating the 4th with barbeques, a trip to the lake, fireworks, good times with friends and maybe a cold beer or two. Ultimately, however we need to take a moment and reflect on what the 4th really means and its significance. I hope I don’t sound patronizing, but the 4th of July is to celebrate the day, 248 years ago, when some bold leaders came together to d...
Recently, I was driving home from an out-of-town business trip, and for some reason the old saying, “Don’t compare yourself to others,” entered my mind and consciousness. Throughout most of my younger life, I was not a good athlete or a good student, and when I was feeling bad about my performance, my parents would say, “Don’t compare yourself to others; just do the best you can.” This saying makes good sense, as there will be things you are good at that others aren’t, and others will be good...
Do you think you know who you are, or what you see is what you get? Well, if you do then I am going to respectfully challenge this belief. First, I used to believe this too, until I saw a television program 30 years ago or so. That made me understand there is far more to us than we could ever realize. The program was about people who, as adults, suffered some type of brain trauma, and found after they’d recovered they had somehow obtained or exhibited some new talent, skill or knowledge. The f...
My dad was a carpenter, and as a young adult, I often worked alongside him. One of the things he was obsessed with was not wasting a board or a piece of lumber. He often repeated the old saying, “measure twice, cut once.” Most of the time this saying made sense, extending beyond the concept of cutting a board and serving to remind one to be very careful to think something through before taking an action that cannot be reversed. In the case of being a carpenter, once you cut the board, it is cut...
For the last two weeks I wrote about Life Lessons from a Wayward Cow, about how my son and I spent several hours on horseback riding through canyons, grass and weeds taller than our heads, through brush, trees, thickets and deep-steep streams, trying to corral and reunite a cow that had inadvertently got lost from her calf. Today, for the last lesson, I want to illustrate how something that you may dread or that looks like a bad task, situation or job may ironically turn out to be something real...
Last week I wrote about the first Life Lessons from a Wayward Cow, about how my son and I spent several hours, on horseback, riding through canyons, grass and weeds taller than our heads, through brush, trees, thickets and deep-steep streams, trying to corral and reunite a cow that had inadvertently got lost from her calf. As you may recall, the first lesson was that if you are going the wrong way, no amount of effort will ever get you where you want to go. Today I address the second lesson,...
