What do you do when you don't have a good answer? How do you react when you hit a dead-end? What do you do when things get really difficult?Do you shrug?

A video tribute to actor Keanu Reeves came across my feed the other day on LinkedIn. In it, Reeves is shown in some interviews and still shots through his career with text describing his struggles as well as various examples of his humility and kindness. In one snippet, he describes himself as "simple."

We recently had a farewell dinner with some friends who were moving their family from Indiana to Pennsylvania.

Can you remember your graduation? High school? Undergraduate? Graduate? To graduate is to complete a course of training. The experience is a gateway to the future.

I remember the beginning distinctly. At 16, I was obsessed with goal setting, positive thinking, visualization, and the belief that anything I could "conceive and believe, I could achieve."

May I be so bold as to share some good news? I realize that the very notion of “good news” might be somewhat radical in our world of hyper-negative, the-sky-is-falling soundbites. I guess I’m a bit old fashioned this way but I actually find joy in seeing good things happen to others.

Pulling up to my house, I saw the truck dumping a massive quantity of mulch onto my driveway. As I walked up, the driver stepped out and smiled saying “That’s a lotta mulch. That’ll keep you busy today.” I smiled bravely, knowing that it had been years since we had done our own spring cleanup on the beds around our house.

Spring Break Season is in full swing. For many living in places prone to a March 30 snowfall, heading to the warmth of the American South is an annual pilgrimage of necessity as the outer limits of tolerance for cold, cloudy weather are surpassed. Hopefully, as you read this post today, you are sipping a cup of coffee looking out over blue waters and white beaches kissed by the sun’s warmth.

A growing sense of foreboding permeated every waking hour. For weeks, he'd watched as the situation worsened. Unsure. Fearful. He prayed. He cried. He struggled.

Have you ever stopped to consider the moments when you are at your very best? Times when you are "in the zone" creatively, physically, or spiritually? In these moments, the clouds part, sunlight casts itself upon you, and clarity comes like a bolt of lightning.