Vince Poscente's Speed Blog

Unusual Future Investment - Great Divide Race

This message is for all of you who know what it’s like to take on a big challenge. You know deep down, the decision to challenge yourself made you a better person. Stepping up to any challenge became part of your DNA.

Allow me to introduce you to a young man named Noah Dimit. He is 23 years old and facing an extraordinary challenge. A challenge not by fate or circumstance. A challenge designed to test the limits of a person’s mental and physical abilities.

Last year Noah attempted to complete the 2,490-mile, backcountry, Great Divide Race from Montana to New Mexico on a bicycle. The race is done alone. Noah’s knee and funds ran out of steam but his desire didn’t. He spent the last ten months training every day for a return to this solo feat but he learned he cannot do it alone.

Cheering him on are people like you and me. Supporting the dream of a young person is no different that making an investment in the future we will hand off to the next generation. Noah needs unique support to fulfill this dream.

Listen. When I started ski racing at age 26 I found out very quickly an unfortunate reality. “Nobody sponsor’s nobody, when you’re nobody.” Noah isn’t Lebron James or Tiger Woods. He isn’t a celebrity that can sell more stuff. He makes enough to live. He holds down two jobs as a bike mechanic and bicycle courier.

Noah isn’t dying from a terminal disease. He is not raising funds for poverty, sickness or some extraordinary charity. He is a young man that will represent the ability that we all have to reach beyond the norm.

I want you to know that some people actually did believe in my dream to ski in the Olympics. I did get sponsorship money and services along the difficult path to march in the Opening Ceremonies. My sponsors never expected anything in return but I think about them every day.

Today, I spend my life contributing to our world. Every book I have written, every speech I deliver, each life I touch has the fingerprints of people like you who believed in a young man.

This message is written for Noah to know that people that barely know him believe in him. This letter is written to inspire you to join Noah in his quest to set the wheels of human potential in motion. He has plans to go back to college. He has a future that awaits his contribution.

Noah needs $4,000 to complete the race. Noah has saved $1,200 of his own money but since time is running out, you and I can step up and invest a small amount in a young man willing to test his resolve. If 80 people contribute $35 his sponsorship is complete.

I’ve made it simple for you.

I will manage all donations that are paid by credit card. I will cover the 2% to 3% credit card company fees and ensure 100% of your money goes towards Noah’s racing fund. Click this link www.vinceposcente.com/noahs.racing.fund. Next month your credit card statement will read Vince Poscente International.

If you wish to donate by check. Please make it out to The Noah Dimit Racing Fund. Please select a donation of $35 (or more if you’re able to be more generous). We will reconcile the funds and send him one lump sum.

Before June 15th, 2008 send your check to:

The Noah Dimit Racing Fund
c/o Vince Poscente International
1401 Elm Street, #4150
Dallas, TX 75202

NOTE: If we manage to raise more than $2,800 then the surplus will be forwarded to Make a Wish Foundation. I’ll post the final amount raised in a future article.

To learn more about this race then check out:

www.greatdividerace.com

Finally, we will post Noah’s results on this site.

Thank you in advance for making this unique investment.

One person can make a difference. That person can be you!

A Fun Look at eMail and Mental Health

If you send excessive emails and texts, you may have a mental illness. According to study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, addiction to texting and emailing could be another form of mental sickness.

Dr Jerald Block, the author of this study, states there are four indicators of this kind of addiction:

1. Withdraw symptoms if a computer cannot be accessed. Which I would think is followed by howling at the moon and delusions of all buttons being “send/recieve” buttons.
2. An increased need for better equipment. No comment.
3. An intense need for more time to text or email. If it feels like your life is similar to the maniacal flurry of a Nascar pit crew, you’ve got a problem.
4. And, experiencing the negative repercussions of your addiction. Repercussions like skipping bathing for a week or two, channeling Bill Gates or phantom vibrations in your pocket every 3.2 seconds.

Instead of expensive medication, hours of psychotherapy or a lifetime of twelve step meetings, (“Hi, I’m Vince and I’m an email-aholic. Hi Vince!”) let’s find the solutions on our own.

First, recognize that the gadgets and computers that you hold so dear are designed to work for you not control you. This may sound simple but rethink the purpose of your Blackberry. It is designed to save you time. Emails were invented to improve connectivity. If you feel a disintegration of your time or the value of connectivity you must take steps to get back to basics.

Second, as the saying goes, Tony Roma’s wasn’t built in a day. Undoing years of disintegration is a process. Reverse your addiction one step at a time. The cornerstone of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) is, “One day at a time.” (Not to be confused with the other AA - American Airlines. Theirs is, “One delay at a time.”)

Third, seek an outside perspective. Ask friends and family to keep you accountable. If you slip and need to sneak a gadget peak at a movie, show or child’s play, give them license to remind you of your commitment.

The Age of Speed is about managing our time for the significant things in life.

If you have read this far and don’t feel you have an issue. Remember that denial is the first sign of a problem ;-)

Endless Happiness is Dangerous and Boring - Happiness vs Fullfillment

How’s that for an attention grabber? Dr. Eric Wilson in his book Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy concludes “happy types” that run from sorrow are cheating themselves from a richer, more creative life.

Dr. Wilson states, “I really feel strongly that Americans’ addiction to happiness is dangerous. In some ways it’s leading to a kind of superficiality and vapidity that cuts away a lot of creativity.”

Years ago I had the chance to hear Tony Campolo speak in his home city, Philadelphia. As a Caucasian Pastor in a predominantly African American congregation he was a dude that was bound to have a unique perspective. As an aside, he ended up being the “expert” who counseled Bill Clinton in the aftermath of his Monica scandal. (Wouldn’t you have loved to be a fly on the wall for that conversation? Well Tony I really don’t know why I did what I did. -- Well Bill, I’d say President Johnson doesn’t need to be making any more executive decisions for starters.)

Let’s get back on track. The thing that caught my attention in Campolo’s speech was when he asked everyone, “Parents, what do you want your kids to be?”  In a chorus of agreement, one word was fed back in remarkable unison. “Happy!”

“Happy?” he said. “No, it’s not happy. You can take a pill and be happy. Happy is something of a temporary state. It’s fulfilled. We want our kids to be fulfilled.”

Dr. Wilson’s point is congruent. He feels “standing against happiness” opens the door to for joy. Joy grows out of melancholy whereas happiness is a cursory state. The polarity of joy and sorrow, to Dr. Wilson, is a more complete, authentic human experience. Just as the natural interplay between opposites of day and night and up and down.

Seeking fulfillment in our fast paced world can be challenging. The Age of Speed has us looking for quick fixes. But let’s not be so swift that we vilify instant gratification. If something can improve your experience of life then it can be a good thing.

Consider the BlackBerry for example. The seeming addiction some people have to their PDA can be downright destructive. “Hey, we’re having lunch here. Do you think you could put the CrackBerry away for 30 minutes?’ But, if it’s used in another scenario to allow more time for the significant things in life, it’s a positive tool.

The idea behind pushing against happiness has to do with the broader pursuit of a deeper, richer and more vital life. Being fulfilled truly is the higher order of the human condition.

Zipping past sadness with a pill or the amazingly effective Hagen Daaz coffee ice cream can be a temporary solution. The lure of a beeping email or a frisky intern can be addictive distractions. Dear reader, a full life is not for the timid.

The valuable alternative is to fully engage, embrace and harness those pesky melancholic moments on a path to greater fulfillment and joy.

Which would you rather be? Happy or fulfilled?

Finding Clarity in the Backyard - Life Balance in the Balance

Most of us are looking for ways to find more balance and less busyness in a society that has its foot firmly planted on the accelerator. It’s like my not-so-eloquent buddy says, “I’m busier than a one armed cab driver with crabs.”

My wife and I have jobs that more than fill our days. Our kids are 10, 9 and 7 and they have their weekly commitments with school, sports, music and their friends. Pile on the list of things necessary to sustain our busy gaggle and you’d think there’s no time to think, let alone relax.

Down time is not only precious it is essential. That’s why we have a household VP of Operations named Mary. More about Mary later.

If you were a subscriber 18 months ago you will remember that I was particularly proud of my backyard creation; a 26-foot cascading stone creek and picturesque pond. The adjacent fire pit makes for a serene spot amongst the trees in our backyard.

After my wife and I put the kids to bed I pop out to the fire pit, sit in a rocking chair, take a deep breath and listen to the sound of the running water. Some might think it’s an escape from any number of the honey-do’s that could be delivered on a scroll across the room like a runaway roll of paper towels. I like to think of it as a chance to find clarity without an agenda. Pure downtime.

So there I was in the backyard, either hiding from honey-do’s or looking for clarity, and it occurred to me how we have come to rely on the people that give us the luxury of this kind of freedom.

Instead of spending a few hours each day cleaning, doing laundry, getting meals ready, shopping and picking the kids up from school we hired Mary as our household manager. The pay we offer Mary more than offsets the value of the extra time to hang with the kids, go on a date with my wife or escape to the creek.

Help like this used to be the exclusive domain of old-money families. According to a 2006 US Census, there were over two million people making in excess of $250,000 per year. This is almost twice the number just five years prior. This rise in family income overlaps with an apparent surge in our ability to fit more life in the same period of time.

In the Age of Speed look for trusted destinations, like Mary, to shift a frenetic existence into a life of more balance and less busyness.

There you go. That’s what occurred to me in the backyard the other night. A little clarity and no honey-do’s thank you very much.

Tumbleweed on the US Economy - Let Bernanke Do the Looking

“Don’t look at me!” became the mantra around Tumbleweed. Tumbleweed’s example could teach us something about the U.S. economy.

Tumbleweed was the worst speed skier ever. His pseudonym came from his uncanny ability to crash in the exact location of onlookers.

Training at Fortress Mountain was a weekly event. A dozen speed skiers would convene on the third chute on any given weekend. Tumbleweed got his nickname because he would regularly catch an edge, followed by a spectacular ability to cartwheel down the slope.

The first time he crashed not everyone was looking. But the yelps from fellow skiers alerted the impending wreck. Skiers would scatter in all directions, as Tumbleweed would careen into a collection of hastily discarded gear.

The next time Tumbleweed perched at the top of the training run, all eyes were glued. Everyone had a morbid fascination with seeing a wipe out and Tumbleweed proved capable of satisfying that need.

Again, high up the slope, Tumbleweed managed to hook an edge and give a pretty amazing show. He headed straight for the on looking racers. Again it took us by surprise. We attracted Tumbleweed like a ball bearing to a magnet.

In the lodge we talked at length about our newfound mascot. We named him Tumbleweed. He seemed to like it. We agreed we’d never seen a speed skier capable of crashing in the exact direction of the racer compound. It wasn’t coincidence. It had to be something else.

Conclusion: It was where he was looking when he started to crash. He was looking at us.

The next day he crashed again (the guy had to be made of rubber, especially between the ears). Even though we moved the compound well out of the way, we stood at the ready, with ski poles positioned to release our bindings and gallop away.

As if it were slow motion, Tumbleweed looked at us as he launched into the tuck position. “Don’t look at me!” yelled Laurent.

Too late. Tumbleweed didn’t even get pointed straight when he tripped up over his own skis. As if defying physics, Tumbleweed plowed into our promptly vacated area.

Tumbleweed got up. Shook himself off like lumpy bird in frigid birdbath and grinned.

Tumbleweed’s example has a lot to do with how you run your business or drive sales. It’s impossible not to hear news about plunging consumer confidence, surging inflation, declining home prices and an economy teetering on the edge of a recession.

As individuals, the best thing you and I can do is pretend the economy is saying, “Don’t look at me!” Let’s leave the looking up to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Instead, keep your eye on the prize. Whatever your industry and however small the pie has become, there’s still pie. THAT is what you must look at.

Finally, if you are competitor of mine, “Don’t look at me!” Run out. Buy a newspaper. There all sorts of things you can crash into.

Losing a Friend

I made a friend a year and a half ago. A year ago he died in his sleep from a heart attack. This week’s article (one year anniversary) is about him and some of his wisdom.

Mike Buckley was 52. He had a servant’s soul. His ability to enjoy every waking moment was infectious. Buckley, as people called him, was an extraordinary person. He took a year off his HP marketing job and traveled the world. In that year, he traveled with friends. Visited far away friends. He made new friends.

We met on the India trek in September 2006. The trek organizer, Jeff Salz, described Buckley as “the world’s best human.” Fortunately on the trip, I was able to capture Buckley imparting some of his insights on video.

A few days ago I made a four minute film and posted it on YouTube as a tribute to a life well lived.

The video link

Here is a sliver of wisdom from Mike Buckley:

1. It is important to just stop and take yourself out of the equation. We are all brothers and sisters.
2. Remember the qualities of patience and gratitude.
3. In this journey, be right here, right now.
4. Retirement for you does not have to be your father’s retirement.
5. You are born into your family. You also make your own family as you go. That is a true test of a life well lived.
6. Look at your chosen family and be thankful for that.
7. “Saying goodbye means I don’t want you to go because part of me feels like it is selfish. I want you to go, for you.”

There are times we meet people who set a standard of what is possible. Mike Buckley set the kindness bar very high indeed.

Like you, I try to fit as much life into my days as I possibly can. By doing this I was fortunate to travel to India and become friends with Buckley.

May we all aspire to higher degrees of kindness, a standard that came naturally to Buckley.

Not Too Busy to Speak Out - Beijing Olympics

Sometimes it feels like you can’t add one more thing to your plate. If it could help society be better, it’s hard to say no. In December I got an email from Joey Cheek, gold medalist in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. “I started Team Darfur to help stop the genocide in Sudan. Can you help?”

The request came in on a Monday and a week later I joined some fellow Olympians and actress Mia Farrow in a protest march. The route started in front of the Holocaust Museum, passed the White House, the Sudanese Embassy and stationed in front of the Chinese Embassy.

A week prior I was eating Cheerios with my kids. Then, on a dreary, overcast DC day, I ended up speaking in front of a bank of photographers and Darfur sympathizers. I related the Olympic principles of international understanding, fair play and excellence related to the upcoming Games in Beijing.

China sells arms to the oil rich Sudanese government. The vicious Janjaweed are backed by the Sudanese military. To date there has been genocide of over 400,000 people and displacement of over one million refugees. Children five years old in Darfur only know hunger and violence. Thousands of women have been brutalized, families destroyed and temporary refugee camps have long outlived their infrastructure.

A simple act by the Chinese government of cutting off military arms to the Sudanese government would stem the atrocities that are happening as you read this.

Since that December march, Steven Spielberg withdrew as artistic director for the Opening and Closing ceremonies. He cited, “My conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual. Sudan's government bears the bulk of responsibility for these on-going crimes, but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more. At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur.”

Organizations like www.SaveDarfur.org and www.TeamDarfur.org continue to be lightening rods for awareness and change. Gag orders to Olympians by the British Olympic Committee have been rescinded. And Team Darfur has grown to 200+ Olympians willing to stand up and demand that China participate as a leader in human rights.

It took me a long time to figure out how to write this for you. These weekly communiqués are for your enlightenment and enjoyment, not for political reasons. But sometime we find ourselves in a situation where something has to be said and acted upon.

Hopefully you read and forward this article to raise the awareness of China’s complicity in the genocide in Darfur. Hopefully, this article contributes in some way to change in China’s policies. Hopefully it is one step closer to making the world a safer, more peaceful place.

Meditating on Speed - TM

I didn’t see it in the news. Chances are you didn’t either.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation (TM), passed away at the age of 91.

The Maharishi adapted 5000 year old, advanced Yogic meditation techniques to the Western world. His intention was to simplify meditation in a way that could be integrated into the urban lifestyle. Beyond a technique for inner peace, TM proved to have a plethora of health benefits. Moreover, it even took consciousness to a universal plane with evidence reducing crime and violence in society.

Although I never met the Maharishi I was a student of his since the age of 14. In 1975, following the Beatles exploration of a more natural high, my mom signed-up our family to learn TM basics. My brother (13), sister (6) and parents learned our mantra’s and TM technique over the course of a few weeks.

The result in my own life was astounding. TM, practiced first thing in the morning and just before dinner, improved my school marks, relationships with friends, clarity in a confusing teenage world and even influenced my attraction to community projects. By grade 12 I ended up being the class valedictorian and winning the highest award in our music program.

With a bunch of highlights over the next 20 years my curiosity extended to learning the advanced techniques in the TM Sidhi program; also known as Yogic Flying. After a few months and an immersion program in Fairfield, Iowa at the Maharishi University meditation evolved into a whole new level. “Flying” equals popping off the ground from a cross-legged position. The “flying” is a byproduct of a deep meditative state that takes consciousness to an exceptional level.

Throughout the years I would make it a point of listening to lessons by the effusive Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He never wavered from his mission to introduce TM to people dealing with an ever-increasing crush of more-faster-now.

I’m aware there is distrust in some circles that opening the mind with a repetitive mantra is dubious. I know religious zealots who denounce TM for a variety of ill informed reasons.

Being criticized is something that comes with almost every pursuit. Heck, writing The Age of Speed opened me up to a bunch emails. One bit of feedback I got recently:

The main challenge I see is becoming more thoughtful about our choices (regarding the desire for speed) – and re-establishing a rhythm of renewal to life. We need to balance off the sprints and marathons of focused action with time out to recharge!

The opportunity in our busy lives is to find ways to have more balance, less busyness and even peace. The challenge we each have is to find a way to have what we want faster in a healthy and contributory way.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi led a worldwide movement to make the world a better place.

May his teaching and example continue on.

Speed Up - Feel Special with High Speed Connection

Remote employees can feel out of sorts. They can feel disconnected to the company. They can feel outside “the team.” A solution resides squarely in the realm of speed.

In 2002, Riverbed Technologies was a brainchild of two neighbors who quit their jobs, moved to San Francisco and sought to accelerate data transfer.

Sound boring? Not if you look at what this speedy technology created.

A feeling of belonging for remote employees using it.

You heard it right. This couple of loveable techies found a way for people to have touchy feely connectedness. And I’m not talking about what Facebook or My Space does.

By speeding up the painfully slow and seemly boring exchange of massive CAD files, enterprise document management and the like, Riverbed was able to improve more than the efficiency.

Let’s say a company was working on a project in Korea in collaboration with a Canadian office. The only two options would be to FedEx these files on hard discs or transfer the digital information over the web (which might take longer than an overnight package).

What is interesting regarding Riverbed’s accomplishment is not just the efficient, digitally aerodynamic flow of binary information. Cofounder and CEO, Jerry Kennelly said, “collaboration and inclusiveness is critical to the success of Riverbed Technology.”

An example of this collaboration and inclusiveness is a remote employee feeling disconnected from his coworkers as he suffered through the arduously slow data transfer. Located off site he was not feeling “part of the company.” Yet, according to Riverbed and their platform, transfer time accelerated up to fifty times faster and he felt like he “was part of the team. Part of the company.”

With Riverbed’s focus on speeding up data exchange they changed the experience an employee had in a remote location.

If you work with remote employees how do you facilitate a stronger team experience? What ways can you accelerate the mundane to create a more ‘real time’ encounter?

If you are a remote employee what 1-900 numbers make you happy?

Just kidding.

In the Age of Speed finding ways to accelerate the routine things will enrich the significance of any job. Like Riverbed discovered, speed can give a leg-up on happiness.

To all the remote employee's out there... What slow stuff is driving you crazy? More importantly, what things could speed up to help you feel more connected?

Don't Push the River - Easier Life

If you ever forget who said something, just call is a Chinese Proverb.

“Don’t push the river” is one such proverb.  AND… for what it’s worth, what does it really mean?

There are three basic messages inherent in, “Don’t push the river.”

1. Go with the flow.  This is not about being a helpless cork in the river of life.  This refers to an awareness of the natural order of the environment you are in.  It is a balance of the instinctual interpretation and a cerebral context.  Where is the flow in your job or relationships?  How can you maximize your position where everyone wins?
2. Use your energy wisely.  It can be tempting to conquer all that stands in your way.  With dogged determination and brute force, you can be the victor.  A worn out, bewildered victor might be your reward.  Use the martial art technique of using the force that faces you to your own advantage.
3. Rest with intention.  Find the places in the metaphorical river of life to rest.  There are eddies where you can recoup your sprits and regain perspective.  Rest frequently, pop back into the flow when you have caught your breath.

Here's to an easier life,
Vince Poscente
Personal Development
Success Strategies
Performance Psychology

Sundial in the Shade - Discover Your Strengths in Business

Your company can make more profit!  And you, my friend, are the solution.  Capitalize on your strengths and everything will improve.  You will be a hero and gain job security all at once! 

Easier said than done.

In a Gallup survey of over 1.7 million people, in 101 companies, in 63 countries, only 20% of employees working in large organizations feel they predominantly do what they do best.  Even more astonishing, the higher a person climbs in an organization, the less likely he is to use his strengths.

According to authors Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton in Now, Discover Your Strengths, “Most organizations remain startlingly inefficient at capitalizing on the strengths of their people.”  There is an “unrealized capacity that resides in every single employee.”

Wasted strengths are a powerful adversary to well-run organizations.  Put more graphically, wasted strengths, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, are like “sundials in the shade.”

There are three ‘steps’ you can take to properly illuminate your strengths or the strengths of your people.

1. Step Back.  Take a system-based look at what your strengths may be.  Use a self-discovery tool like an advanced learning and coaching system to shed direct light on you or your people.  Find out what really makes people tick and you discover a wealth of opportunity. 

2. Step Sideways.  If your job feels like a Hamster Wheel, your best option might be to step off.  Clearly it takes courage to take a new course.  For example, after acquiring a degree in economics and a cubicle on a massive New York office floor, Chris Lattanzio took a step sideways.  Expression in a unique form of art was his passion.  After years of unfaltering dedication to his strengths, Lattanzio now sells his art for thousands of dollars and was just selected as the official artist for the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy. 

If you are a manager with a struggling employee, heed the words of Peter Drucker, “To keep misfits in jobs they cannot do is not being kind; it’s being cruel.” (Note: Stepping sideways does not necessarily mean firing or quitting.  Finding a new role in the organization may be exactly what needs to happen.)

3. Step Wisely.  Once you identify and execute on the things that you love to do and are great at, accelerate growth by managing your steps.   Prudently balance your weaker performance activities through delegation, limitation or elimination.  Power ahead with what jazzes you up and you will ultimately reap rewards beyond your expectations.

It takes resolute courage to take any one of these three ‘steps.’  With courage, take your sundial out of the shade and enjoy the time of your life.

Vince Poscente
Business Strategist
Olympic Speaker
New York Times Best Selling Author

No Mistakes - Unanswered Prayers

Scanning down the list of nineteen I couldn’t see my name. I looked again more carefully. I was not listed. There had to be a mistake.

I found the head coach in the hallway of the hockey rink. Choked up and shaking in my sub five-foot frame I said, “My name’s Vince Poscente. I looked at the list and wasn’t on it. Do you think I was left off the list?”

The coach, Ken Hitchcock, looked down and said flatly, “There are no mistakes.”

I couldn’t believe it. Earlier that day he had faced the forty young teens and said, “If you work hard and show the desire, you will make this team.” From the age of five my entire hockey career was short on talent but long on hustle. I knew that I had more fire than any of the pubescent players in the arena that day.

I played out that season in a B league but quit immediately after. My disillusionment with the politics and my own mediocrity made skiing far more appealing. In skiing I could just play and do it on my own terms.

Had this not happened I would not have been in the position to take up ski racing eleven years later. Had I not ski raced I would not have competed in the Olympics in Albertville. If this didn’t happen I would not have had the privilege to impact hundreds of thousands of people, write four books, reach the New York Times bestselling list, establish some amazing friendships and, just this past Saturday, be inducted into the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame.

Garth Brooks has a song called Unanswered Prayers. In the lyrics he describes how he and his wife chance upon an old girlfriend of his. “As she walked away I looked at my wife and then and there I thanked the good Lord for the gifts in my life. Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

Meanwhile, Ken Hitchcock went on to be one of the NHL’s most successful coaches leading the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup in 1999. Two years after that I was backstage with Ken at a function. I introduced myself and said I grew up in Sherwood Park.

His eyes lit up and we realized that we didn’t live far from each other. We also figured out that he sold me hockey equipment at a store in Edmonton. Finally I dropped the bomb, “Hey, did you know you cut me from a hockey team in 1975?”

He looked back and said, “Are you over it yet?”

“Oh ya. It was the best thing you could have done,” and I left it at that.

In our fast paced world today it is easy to get passed by opportunity or other people. But rest assured, you will only be limited by the forward speed you choose to employ. Leave setbacks behind and put your foot on the accelerator. You never know what unanswered prayers await you.

There are no mistakes!

What unanswered prayers have you noticed in your life?