davidNprogress

With Lance in 1999 Finally I have come to openly accept that Lance Armstrong cheated during his reign as the Tour De France champion and as the allegations spread over the years he engaged in a fierce campaign of denial to protect his reputation , his legacy and his foundation. Whew that hurts to write yet at the same time also feels good to face the truth openly. There is a big part of me that did not want to ever admit to what happened. Deep inside I wanted to him to remain on the pedestal his legend created. After all, Lance and I did go through our cancer experiences around the same time. I even met him in person back in 1999 as I too was working on my personal comeback from cancer to start a life changed forever by the experience. Like millions of others, I wore the bracelet and felt inspired as he won tour after tour. Most of all, I saw firsthand the inspiration and good work that would become Livestrong.org. Now thanks to piles of undeniable evidence my one time h...

 The Sprint team from 1997  Today is my 16 year anniversary as an employee of Sprint and anyone that has ever spent any time with me at all knows I love being part of the wireless industry. It is rare these days to work for the same company as long as I have but I guess I am the kind of guy that sticks with things. Really that was an amazing few years in my life. During the period between September 1995 and the end of 1997 I experienced the death of my Mother due to cancer, got married, started a new job, purchased our first home, became a father, was diagnosed with cancer and completed cancer treatments with best possible results. Now that is a lot of change and looking back it was a time that is fully impacting me today. Experiencing so many highs and lows in such a short span of time made me resilient gave me a foundational appreciation of life that carries me forward even today. I am thankful to Sprint for giving me the path to provide for my family. I ...

“If you learn unhappiness too well you will get good at it”  David after 11 days on the trail  This is a great slap in the face quote I heard recently from one of my favorite podcasters. The point was that the more time we spend unhappy then the more we will become comfortable with it. I went on an 11 day hiking trip this summer and one of the rules was that we were not allowed to wear deodorant due to it being a smellable that could potentially attract bears. I wondered before the trip if an attack from a bear would be better than the smell of a group of unwashed and un-deodorized teen boys. Whew! I realized on the trail this was not going to be a problem since we very quickly got used to our own smells and soon none of us noticed the stink. Things changed quickly however upon my return home when suddenly the smells that had surrounded me without notice attacked the senses much like a rampaging bear. Of course much of this was due to the equally powerful remarks from my ...

I have been a little uninspired these last several months as far as blog writing for some reason. It was a busy summer with work (new boss) family (teen son) and Scouts (trip to Philmont). Now fall is approaching and I find myself in a difficult in between life event time. These are times when I find myself seeking a future goal to achieve and reflecting on my recent past. Looking back, I am finding myself once again wishing I had done more. More time in prayer, more time in deep conversation with my teen son, more time showing Michelle that I love her, more time being a mentor to the youth in our Troop, more time helping my team improve performance…. This list seems to go on and on. The truth is that I never feel I am doing enough yet at the same time I also know I can’t do it all. Glancing through my personal journal this morning a run across these questions that I posted more than five years ago: • What are YOU passionate about? • What has God put in YOU? • What needs can...

It is hard believe that our son just weeks ago from completed his freshman year of high school. The realization that everyday day brings my wife and I another step closer to him moving on to college and life as an adult has hit me hard lately. Well and there is the whole turning 45 recently too. The future is sitting hard on me. Much of it is financial with the expenses that come with children and time marching towards retirement. Trendy clothes, summer camps, a car (yikes!) and of course there is college. The current cost per year of an in state school is estimated at close to $20,000 per year if you include room and board when figuring expenses. The roller coaster that is life working for a company that has layoffs most every spring also does not help at times. So how did this first year of high school go? Overall I would say Conner experienced success and the challenges one might expect as a student in a very diverse 6A public school. He made new friends, found himself with a n...

I am turning 45 in a couple of weeks and that has put me in a bit of a reflective mood I guess. It really did not help that one of my magazines had an article this month about starting the second half of your life at 45. Next while checking my Roth this week realized I am only 15 years away from 60! I know there is a midlife crises phenomenon that many people experience around this time as they seek to create new achievements or to return to old glory days. Funny thing is that I happen to think I am living my glory days right now with more to come in the future. I have a great job, loving wife (beautiful too BTW), amazing teenage son, and a full plate of volunteer work with kids that help make life fun. There are many great days behind me and I am sure there are even better days ahead. For sure there are big changes with our son soon off to college and a new stage in our married life as empty nesters. I am excited about the future and genuinely thankful to wake up to a new day ...

A ran across this video from Tony DeShare recently. It was really cool to see these wonderful proposals and the joy on their faces as they take that great first official step to marriage. It did not take long though for the little cynic voice in my head to jump in and remind me that statistically more than half of these journeys will end in divorce. Many of these will also have the added tragedy of a split family with children torn in the middle Why is it that so often things go wrong? My marriage is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I know that Michelle is my wife for life no matter what challenge we may face in the future. We are in this together and work hard to make sure our relationship continues to grow. Now I do not want to throw stones in my glass house. What I do want to do is especially encourage my guy friends out there. Love your wife, never stop pursuing and hold on to that joyful feeling you had in those early days. Watch the video closely and ...