“All through my growing up years as I would run out the door of our home, my mother would yell the phrase “Remember who you are and what you stand for”.  I would guess I have heard that phrase literally thousands of times as a child.  Most days she said it I would roll my […]

I loved recess as a little kid. I loved being out on the field running around with the sun shining. Now that  I am an adult I can look back and see that not only was recess a time for fun, it was also a teaching ground full of life lessons that would apply to […]

Every one of us is a leader in our own right. Whether we lead an entire company, or a team of people, or a group of friends, or our families, or just ourselves…we are all leaders in some form or fashion. Whatever size our circle of influence may be today, if we work to improve […]

Boredom…there is little worse…That is why every now and again you just need to shake things up a little in life. It’s so easy to get in the same old rut day after day, doing the same old things. Life becomes mundane and you start to lose that excitement and drive. You find yourself having […]

“It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone.” Most everyone will have times in their life when they have to make a choice to stand alone. For most it comes during childhood when a group of kids is doing something you know you shouldn’t do and you have two choices…you […]

“Stop waiting for Friday, for summer, for someone to fall in love with you, for life. Happiness is achieved when you stop waiting for it and make the most of the moment you are in now.” What an awesome reminder, right!?!  I admit that I have often found myself waiting for Friday to be excited […]

Even the most successful people in this world had to start somewhere. Often times I hear people express that they just don’t know where to start. My answer to that is simple – Just Start Somewhere. The truth is that it doesn’t really matter WHERE you start…what matters is that you DO START. People can […]

“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down or resisting the impulse […]

Everyone has a story…a history…a series of failures and mistakes that have shaped them into the person they are today.  I, for one, believe we shouldn’t be ashamed of our story. Our story is what helped us become the person we are. That story is what taught us great life lessons that we might not […]

We all have a limited time here on this earth, and none of us really know exactly when that time will come to an end. We all hope to live to an old age and then pass peacefully in our sleep, hopefully with our spouse right next to us going at the same time just […]

Isn’t it great to know that when you wake up each morning you start your day with a fresh new chance to make of it whatever you will? I think it’s fantastic!!! I love the quote in today’s title:  “Life always offers you a second chance.  It’s called tomorrow.” Because it reminds us that it’s […]

How do we stack up? It’s a question we seem to constantly ask ourselves. Our brains want to know how we are measuring up compared to everyone else. Do we matter more than other people matter? Is our position more valuable than another person’s position? People can spend their entire lives trying to determine where […]

Do you remember how fun Valentine’s Day was when you were a kid? You would spend hours making your cute little cardboard mailbox out of the empty Quaker Oats container or an old shoe box. You would cover it with colored construction paper and then put cute heart stickers on it, and don’t forget the […]

As those of you who follow my blog know, once a week I get an email from my daughter who is serving her mission.  This week she shared that her group set a goal this week to see if they could follow all the mission rules with “exact obedience”.   Now I don’t know about all […]

I LOVE authentic people. People who are genuine and real and ‘what you see is what you get’. People who are open about their fears and insecurities are endearing because they are people you can relate to. Whereas people that act like they have never made mistakes or that they know everything make the rest […]

I was working hard on preparing a Powerpoint presentation for a talk I will be giving at a University tomorrow evening when my computer crashed, and of course it crashed before I had saved my work. After hours of hard work I yelled out “Why did this have to happen?!?!”  Arggghhhh!!! So frustrating, right!?! At […]

Only five more day’s until Valentine’s Day! Have you figured out what to give your significant other yet? Well today’s blog is my little reminder to all of you to figure that out now rather than becoming that sorry person at the grocery store Friday night trying to find any Hallmark Card left on the […]

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You, too? Thought I was the only one.” – C.S. Lewis So true! One would think that it becomes easier to make new friends as you become an adult because at that stage in life you are more comfortable in your own […]

“Some people see the glass half empty. Good people see the glass half full. But extraordinary people are just grateful for the glass!”  That quote came today in the weekly email letter I get from my daughter Ashley on her mission and I loved it so much I had to share it with everyone. What […]

Most all of us are our own worst critic. We pick ourselves apart, we put ourselves down, we stress over every flaw and imperfection. And heaven knows we women are far worse than the men when it comes to vocally putting ourselves down, although I happen to believe that men are just as hard on […]

With all of the amazing technology we employ today it’s amazing the credibility we attribute to the shadow of a little brown rodent each Groundhog Day. But every year I admit that, I along with everyone else, wait to hear whether Phil saw his shadow or not. It never fails to bum me out when […]

Last Thursday iconic independent filmmakers Robert Redford and George Lucas sat down to be interviewed by renowned film critic Leonard Martin at the Sundance Film Festival Power of Stories panel. I was fortunate enough to be present for this discussion which was titled, “The Visions of Independence.” It was clear from the conversation that these […]

This last week has been an absolute whirlwind! It has been back to back events for the Sundance Film Festival. I wish I could sit and write every amazing experience I have had this week but it would result in far too long of a blog for anyone to want to read. I will tell […]

“Expecting a trouble-free life because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian.” It’s so easy in life to think that because you are trying to live your life right and do good things that therefore nothing bad should happen to you. I mean […]

“There is a superhero inside all of us. We just need the courage to put on a cape.” Today I saw a documentary at Sundance that showed the story of normal man who had the courage to put on his cape and become a superhero to many children who were being abused and taken advantage […]

What impact do you want to have? How do you want to influence your world? In each of our lives, at some point we will find ourselves in a position of influence. It may be influence that comes as a result of a talent in filmmaking, or acting, or music, or writing, or speaking, or […]

If the world was blind how many people would you impress? What a great question to consider. We live in a world that applauds beauty. After all, beauty attracts the eye. When there is a thing of beauty we stop and take notice. We are drawn to a person of beauty…at least momentarily. So we spend […]

Tonight was opening night for Sundance Film Festival! The next ten days will be action packed with amazing movies, movie stars everywhere, speaker panels, and of course incredible parties. The streets of Park City, Utah will be packed with over 45,000 people who come to Sundance to enjoy the festivities each year. I serve on […]

There are a million aspects to life that are out of our control. And focusing on things you can’t control is absolutely pointless…no matter how much you focus on them you can’t control them so why waste the energy? Success comes when we stop worrying about those factors and things that are out of our […]

I still remember as a child seeing my mother standing in the kitchen talking to herself. No joke. She would literally have entire conversations with herself. At the time I just assumed my Mom must be a little bit crazy, after all the woman had ten children so by rights she was entitled to be […]