Drownproof

If we can agree that fear will be present, it is no longer a question of whether or not you will be afraid; the question becomes whether you are going to allow it to control you or you are going to control it.

Most friends in your life are going to be fair-weather. They will be there to celebrate your highest moments, and nowhere to be found when you are at your lowest. People will eventually show you who they truly are, but not when times are good, and not when they are getting what they want. What I did not realize until far too late in my own life is that the real person does not reveal themselves until you tell them "no."

The question I have chosen to ask my children is not "What do you want to be when you grow up?" but "What are you interested in?" it is OK for them to take time to explore interests, to make wrong turns and course correct, and to calibrate their own compass that they will use to navigate life.

We will all find ourselves in moments when we feel like the world around us is on fire, or when we feel like we are drowning. The path out of those situations is neither to ignore the environment or to become consumed by it, but to focus deeply on the things you can control, and work through them.

The most powerful tool I had to make them quit was not an external inanimate object that I could use to exhaust them, it was an interruption of their internal voice. Not only did I want to interrupt their internal voice, I wanted to hijack it, and I have found that the quieter you speak, the more intently someone will need to listen. The more someone listens to you and allows you to interrupt their thought process, the more control you have

There is nothing that I value more than my children, but I do not tell them they are special. Instead, I tell them that I am proud. I tell them I am proud to be their father, proud of who they are, and proud of who they are becoming. When they fall, I don't rush to pick them up. I rush to make sure they are OK, and then I do my best to teach them to pick themselves themselves themselves up. I teach them to value work, honor, integrity, and family. We discuss accountability, responsibility, and the consequences of words and actions. I tell them that the most valuable and powerful weapon they have access to in this world is their mind. I teach them to stay calm, regardless of what others are doing around them. I teach them about violence, and I do not shy away from the darker aspects of who we are as a human race. They need to understand that evil exists, and that there are those who would do them harm, and that it should be fought every time it is encountered.

You get to choose how many excuses you put in your backpack, slowly anchoring you down as the ounces become pounds