Good Morning People!! Jai was a tad bit overweight, with slightly oversized teeth and freckles. At one point, people made fun of her because of these differences. It never seemed to bother her, though. You see, Jai knew who she was—inside and out—and there was nothing anyone could say or do to make her feel bad about her appearance. When asked by a friend how she never seemed to be affected by it, Jai simply responded by saying: “I pray every night, meditate daily, I reflect

Good Morning People!! Robbie loved hiking. She loved it so much that most of her weekends were spent hitting many of the trails around the Arizona mountains. She knew 60% of its 113,998 square miles pretty well and could navigate through them without a map. When she told all of her family and friends that she was thinking about starting her own hiking tour business, no one really took her seriously. Many of them only fed her doubt. Instead of taking their advice into consider

Good Morning People Balthazar sat in his gaming chair, battling with another gamer halfway across the world when his phone rang. It was his neighbor from across the street. For the last two weeks, he and his neighbor had been walking the trail a mile to their west daily to get the blood flowing in their aging bodies. He had originally figured that walking would help increase his motivation to be more active, but today, he didn’t feel like walking. Instead of answering the cal

Good Morning People!!! While visiting Nairobi, Kenya, I had the pleasure of going on an amazing safari across the wilderness of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. While traveling to the campsite, we encountered a roadblock that prevented us from entering the region. This was due to a protest involving a light pole blocking the road, restricting anyone from coming or going. The villagers were standing together in response to a tragic incident involving two brothers who had been

Good Morning People!! Charlie was powerful and full of energy. Born into a lineage of prize-winning racing horses, she was trained and groomed to do the same. She was a very smart horse, so she was fairly easy to train. Her only hiccup was her curiosity. This curiosity made it harder for her to stay focused during training sessions, so her trainers decided to help her by minimizing what she could see. Charlie was fitted with blinkers —devices that cover parts of a horse’s eye

Good Morning, People!!! While making repairs to a pole light reported out on a bridge overlooking a creek, Chuck observed a man approaching to cross. Not wanting to pass under him while he worked, the man stopped halfway across, looked out at the water underneath the bridge, and just stood there. After a few minutes of trying to complete the repairs quickly so he wouldn’t intrude on the man’s journey, he decided to speak to him. “Sorry for the wait. I’m trying my best to hurr

Good Morning People!!! Lorietta disconnected the call she’d been on for over an hour. The call was about an argument her oldest daughter and her daughter’s husband had been having. She was angry with him because of his lack of communication, while he was mad at her because of her unwillingness to physically and mentally connect with him. Both points were arguably sound, yet their stubbornness made way for a train wreck ready to happen. Not wanting to display any advantage to

Good Morning People!!! Joshua turned up the street just a mile from his home, continuing at a steady pace to complete his daily run. He was already 108 pounds down from six months ago, and thanks to the daily running habit he had developed, he knew he would reach his goal of losing 150 pounds by the end of the year. This sudden drive came from being sick and tired of always feeling sick and tired. He knew his health wasn’t the best, and to improve, he realized it was up to hi

Good Morning, People!!! I grew up in a household with only my mom and my brothers. At one point, there were six of us brothers with just my mom to take the brunt of all our behaviors. There was no dad, so you can imagine the trials and tribulations we put her through. When something happened—like something being found broken or missing—it was almost impossible to pinpoint who did it. This would not stop her from punishing the culprit, though. She would line us all up and ask

Good Morning People!!! Shelly stood looking out of the airport window, watching as her plane crept across the tarmac and pulled into Gate A6 . Since her divorce, she had been determined to travel to the four corners of the earth to see the wonders of the world before she passed on. Her first stop was Paris. Ever since she was a kid, she had dreamed of climbing the Eiffel Tower and taking in Paris from its spectacular views. In less than 10 hours, she would be marking this ad

Good morning, people!! “By failing to plan, we are ultimately planning to fail,” were the last words spoken by @heretothereconsulting ( Sheri Berger ) before scanning the audience one last time, thanking everyone for listening, and exiting the stage. She was the author of a book entitled Here to There Consulting , and her focus in life was on helping others manage the battle between professional life and personal life . She knew firsthand the daily challenges of juggling t

Good Morning People!!! Davis picked up the phone and dialed the only number he knew by memory. It was his only free call before being escorted back to the cells where other inmates awaited. His mother answered the phone and immediately recognized her son. “Davis? Is everything alright?” Davis then told his mother what had happened. He had been arrested again for driving while intoxicated—his second offense—but this time, he would need to pay $5,000 to be released until his co

Good Morning People!! Tracy. The infamous adventurous risk-taker. She doesn’t like to plan, doesn’t like to delegate, and definitely can’t stand having too many options to choose from. She just likes to take things one day at a time—go with the flow. On this particular day, Tracy decided to have the hardtop cover on her 1972 classic Chevrolet K5 Blazer removed for a weekend drive up the coast. It would be a four-hour drive to her destination, but the view, along with the wi

Good Morning People!! A few years ago, I had the honor of reading a book written by Russell H. Conwell entitled Acres of Diamonds . The book is about an African farmer who sold his farm and liquidated all of his assets in order to fund an expedition in pursuit of diamonds. Long story short, the farmer never found what he was searching for. He did, however, lose everything he had while searching. With nowhere to turn, the man threw himself into a river and drowned. A short tim

Good Morning People!!! Alberto needed a new facilities manager. He had just fired the previous one due to his rude behavior and decided that the next hire would need to have compassionate qualities. So, he placed an ad for the position and scheduled interviews to be held the following Tuesday. When the day came, Alberto dressed up as a homeless man and positioned himself on the ground just outside his office entrance with a sign that read, “Anything helps.” As the interviewee

Good Morning People!!! Today was Franklin’s last day. He had been planning to start his own painting business for years, but until he gained enough knowledge about painting—and how to actually run a business—he worked for a company as an employee. The owner of the painting company didn’t foster the best practices, and after years of witnessing some pretty unethical behavior, Franklin decided to expedite his business plans. He still needed to keep his job, though, and remember

Good Morning People!! “Everything’s Going to Be Alright” by Bob Marley could be heard playing through the speakers of the 1963 Lincoln Continental that 43-year-old Iris was driving. Even after the doctors told him that he had less than a month to live, Iris woke up each day with the idea in his mind that, despite what they said, he was going to outlive them all. The longer he maintained his positive and optimistic mindset, the longer he lived. The doctors didn’t understand ho

Good Morning People!!! Nothing seemed to be going right for Cynthia, and the attitude she carried around each and every day did nothing to help her situation. You see, Cynthia had a self-entitlement problem, and her belief was this: she was never wrong about anything, she needed no advice, and her only issues were financial. Because of this, the only way she felt anyone could actually help her was by paying her way out of all of her problems. The more people paid into this, t

Good Morning People!!! It was almost midnight, and Lauren couldn’t sleep. She lay in bed, scrolling through reels on one of her social media sites, when one post in particular caught her eye. It was about an audition for the show American Idol . Lauren had an amazing talent for singing, and her whole life she had dreamed of performing on a stage in front of thousands of people. This could be her chance—this could be the opportunity she had been waiting for. What if she filled

What’s Good People!!! I grew up without a father. My mom gave up hope and walked out on him when I was (pretty much) still a baby. I grew up missing the feeling of having that strong male leader during my developing years, and because of it, my first attempt at being a father turned into a horror show. I never learned the attributes of what being a father consisted of until I graduated to prison at 15—and what a feeling it was going from having no father to gaining a prison f