The Medium community is about writers helping writers. — I wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you to Ted Czukor (@noratedczukor), a fellow writer on Medium. Ted and I do not know each other and we have never met. …

We must lift ourselves and others up. — We have the right to live our lives the way we want. We cherish this freedom and fight for it in many ways, both big and small, every day. But our freedom is not total. It has a few conditions that we should be aware of. We must live in…

We sometimes doubt ourselves when our journey is hard. — Everyone loves winning and everyone loves being a winner. We cherish and celebrate our victories with parties, pageants, and parades. But behind many victories lies a long litany of failures. The winning path can be a long one; one so long and difficult that we lose faith in ourselves. But…

We often grow when no one is noticing. — Making changes and improvements can be hard. It helps when we have people around us who support, guide, and encourage us. But sometimes we do not have them and we are left alone to fight through our demons, challenges, and struggles. …

We all have the power to change. — We all love shortcuts, especially when they get us to what we want quicker and easier. We often look to others for advice. We are convinced the secret to success lies somewhere away from us. If we could only catch it, we would win. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. Colin Powell But it is an illusion. We are looking in the wrong places. The secret is all around us. It is in the thousands of examples of hard work, passion, and perseverance we see. These qualities also reside within us. The secret to success is inside us if we would only realize it.

Our narrative should guide us, not confine us. — I am a big fan of the power of narrative. When we begin to see our story and how it can unfold, it brings new insight, power, and opportunity. Unfortunately, narratives can have a downside. …

Every day is a new day. Take advantage of its opportunity. — I have heard it many times, every day is a new day. It echoes of optimism and fresh starts. The problem is that I am not always so optimistic and stale problems often get in the way of fresh starts. It is hard to see new possibilities when you are…