Have you ever found that you don’t enjoy something as much as you once did? It is not that the activity has changed, you have. The things that mattered the most at one point in time are now trivial things that only come up now and again. Seasons change and so do people.

A wise man once said, "For everything there is a season." I am finding this true in my own life more and more. The more the seasons change, the more I find myself different than I once was. This is not a bad thing. At one point in time I considered it madness to get up before 8 am unless I had to. Sleeping till 10 was even better than that. Now, my alarm is set for 5:00 am every day (except maybe Saturday and I will sleep in till about 7. It is hard to pass up waking up next to my wife and son. I am usually gone before they get up.)I used to enjoy laying around and loafing my days away. Now I have to be doing something productive…or mostly productive.

It is more than just these things though. With every stage of life I find myself at a place of possible reinvention. The things I have outgrown I have the option to remove from my life. I have the freedom to discover the things that my heart and soul are searching for. I don’t have to be a fixed object. The seasons change and I can too. I must.

One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over the same way and expecting different results. Could it be the seasons have changed and it is time to change with them? I would much rather be my authentic self in the season that I am in. Do you resist change? Are you trying to remain in a season of life that is over?

Change is never easy. My thought is this: If it takes you closer to being your authentic self, it is worth the struggle.

I went to a wedding the other day. I don’t know the couple that well, but I used to be the groom’s youth leader and he asked me to come. It was a small ceremony. Very intimate. Very nice.

I went to the wedding by myself and I found that I missed my wife very badly. I saw the bride come through the doors of the chapel and suddenly I went back in time over 11 years to one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. My wife was stunning as her father escorted her down the isle. She glowed like I had never seen before. I cried when I saw her. She was beauty in all its splendor.

The minister asked who would give the bride. Again, I was taken back, standing at the alter. My father-in-law gave her to me and then whispered in my ear that I had his full blessing. Words that still are precious to me.

They stood in front of family and friends and pledged their lives to each other. Standing there eleven years ago I had no idea how precious and true those vows we spoke to each other were. The vows we spoke to each other are as follows:

I take you to be my wedded wife / to have and to hold from this day forward / for better or worse / for richer or poorer / in sickness and in health / in the happiness that may brighten our days / in the sadness that my darken our days / to love and cherish till death do us part

With this ring / I pledge my life to you as your husband. May my strength by your protection / May my character be your pride / May I so love that you will find in me / the haven for which your heart truly long / I will endeavor to love you as Christ loves me / in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

With this ring / I pledge my life to you as your wife / I will receive your love as you have pledged / and endeavor to return to you the same kind of love / At all times and under all circumstances / I will love you constantly / Only death will break the pledge which I give to you today / In this spirit I give my love to you.

When we were first married we were full of dreams (still are) and we were certain that nothing bad was going to happen. Here we are 11 years later. I am more in love with her today that ever before. Life has battered us at times. We have had opportunities to grow apart over the years, but we have never taken them. Nor will we. We have held on to each other for better and for worse. We have lived through times of plenty and times where we didn’t have much. We have lived through sickness and been healthy again. We have walked loved ones to the grave. We have welcomed new life into our family. I cherish her. I know she feels the same. It hasn’t been easy, but the most worthwhile things rarely are. She is my bride. I am proud to be her husband.

So, I pray for this couple that they have a long and happy marriage. We never know what the years will hold, but it is so much better to walk along together.

I love you Marixa.

I got stopped the other day. I was heading to lunch south of where I work and an officer saw me without my seatbelt on. The moment I saw him I put it on. He followed me for a few blocks, flashed his lights, and pulled me over.

He came up to the car and asked me if I knew why I was being stopped and asked for my license and registration. I had my seatbelt on when he got up to the car. He looked at it and then told me that when I had passed him I was not wearing it.

In this moment I had a choice to make: Do I admit that I had done wrong? Or do I a make a case that I had it on now? Fortunately I took the responsible route and owned up for what I had done.

He went back to his car to do whatever it is that police officers do and it gave me a few minutes to think. The public has a skewed picture of most police officers. The man who was writing me a ticket was professional, courteous, and kind. He was doing the job that he had been entrusted with, keeping the public safe. He came back to the car and I apologized for now following the law and thanked him for his time. He did his job and did it well. I didn’t like the ticket I was now holding, but that was my fault, not his.

I was reminded of all of this yesterday when I went to the county courthouse to pay for the ticket. I was standing in line at the court clerks office. An officer was standing against the wall watching over everything. A woman walked up with her granddaughter in tow. She looked down at her granddaughter and told her to be good or the police officer would lock her up. He smiled at the girl and told her that he wouldn’t do that and that he was there to help. The lady smirked and told the girl again to behave or the cop would do her in. He smiled at the girl and told her again that he was on her side. The officer walked away and the woman looked at me and said, "On our side, yeah right." This man was kind and very professional. He didn’t deserve that.

I was standing in line to pay for a ticket that I deserved. I am certain the woman was standing there for the very same reason. She and I had very different views on why we were there and whose fault it was. Have you encountered situations like this? Passing blame and making someone else the villain seems to be a way of life for many. I don’t want to live like this. Through this whole process I didn’t get angry (except at myself). I chose to be accountable for my actions. I made the right choice.

I read it in the news a couple of days ago. HP has ousted its CEO after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint found that he had falsified expense reports and other documents to conceal a relationship with a contractor. (quoted from http://www.newsok.com) The article went on to say that he had also helped the woman get paid for work that she had not done. The board of directors at HP issued a statement indicating that they did not believe that it was in the best interest of the company to have this man leading anymore.

From what I have read, he has been instrumental over the past few years in reshaping the company. HP is now an industry leader because of this man’s leadership and vision. He has been good for the company. So good, in fact, he was in negotiations for a new contract worth 100 million dollars. He is good at what he does and was to be rewarded for it.

Now, because of poor personal choices, he has to settle for ¼ of what would have been his. I have no clue how much money he funneled to this contractor, but was it worth losing 75 million dollars? I read that he offered to pay for everything that went on. While that is good, at this point it doesn’t fix the flaw that caused the problem in the first place. The damage has been done.

The choices we make send ripples out into the world that we are a part of. Some of our choices seemingly cause little impact because of the sphere of influence that we find ourselves in, but we will not be able to find ourselves in a larger sphere of influence unless solid choices are made. This man is in an enormous sphere of influence. His choices ripple out like ocean waves crashing into everything they hit. When this news hit it caused the stock of HP to drop 10%. Not only did his choice affect his pocket book, it affected the pocket book of every investor of HP.

I make no attempt to judge what this man did or didn’t do. I do not have enough facts, nor am I fitted for that role. There may be very little wrong doing here. But, the appearance of wrong is all it takes sometimes. People have no problem making up the story line from a few random facts that are thrown together.

For my own life, it reminds me to be faithful in the small things. God forbid I find success one day and not have foundation to handle it. What are you doing to build your foundation for success? How do you respond when you read stories like this one?

Choices. We make them all the time. What we want to wear. What we want to do. What we want to eat. The decisions and options are endless. Some choices are hard to make. Some are so ingrained that we make them without having to think.

It is easy to let your brain go on autopilot isn’t it? We make choices all the time this way. I am not so sure it is the best way.

I have tried to pay attention of late to how and why I make the choices that I do. Why did I respond to that question the way I did? Why did I not get done what I set out to do? Why did I say yes to that extra piece of cake? Every one of these decisions stemmed from a choices, and maybe an earlier choice.

It may seem like I am being picky here, but all of the little choices are as important as the big ones. It is smaller choices that pave the way to the bigger ones. The little details are important.

The truth is this: I am responsible for me. I chose the way I respond to things. If I choose to get upset with my son because he misbehaves, it is a choice that I make. How I handle the situation is a choice. How I fashion my words to correct him is a choice. How I give him instruction (positively or negatively) is a choice. How I reassure him after correcting the wrong action is a choice as well. Through the entire ordeal, I can choose the message I want to convey to him.

This is relevant to all of life. We make choices every day that are building blocks for other choices. If I lay a foundation of good choices, I can continue to make good choices. I will get things accomplished. I can build trust with people. If I choose not to deal with whatever the issue is at hand, that is a choice as well and problems can compound from there.

So, I choose to show my family love and not frustration. I choose to eat things that are good for me, because I want to live life to the full and be here for my family. I choose to be responsible for me.

I have turned off the autopilot. The ride may be bumpy at times, but when I arrive at my destination it will be where I have chosen to go.