A Beacon of Light

“Decision making is easy when your values are clear.” Roy Disney It’s been 25 years since I made an unpopular decision I’ll never regret. In late spring 1998, I was asked by Ron Modeste, the principal at Saint Lawrence Academy, to step into the role of Athletic Director. The previous AD, who was also our head football…

“Faith consists in believing  when it is beyond the power of reason  to believe.”Voltaire I was reading a book recently when I came across a word with which I was unfamiliar: pertinacity. Of course, I referred to a dictionary for the meaning of the word: a quality of sticking with something, no matter what. Pertinacity…

“It’s not what we have in life,  but who we have in our life  that matters.” ~ Unknown I first saw Michael on the San Francisco Muni bus on my way to school during my freshman year in high school. He climbed aboard each morning with his school books and his clarinet case. He was…

“American food is not what I’m used to — everything is like three portions.”Estelle, British Rapper I noticed it, but I ignored it. I could see it at the mall, the beach, and in restaurants. I could see it at Giants’ games, on school campuses, and at Starbucks. Worst of all, I could see it in the mirror…

“It’s okay to struggle, but it’s not okay to give up on yourself or your dreams.”Gabe Grunewald The Facebook post was simple and to the point. In white letters on a solid black background, it read: “When all you want is to just suddenly die.” I read it, paused briefly, then dragged the image to my desktop. While…

“It is usually best to be generous with praise and cautious with criticism.” Author unknown I think it’s fairly safe to say that we’ve all been criticized by someone for some reason, valid or not, at some point in our lives. I think it’s also fairly safe to say that we’ve all criticized someone else…

“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.”Dalai Lama For many years, I was a news junkie. Upon waking up in the morning, I’d turn on the television to check the local news, just to see if I’d missed something through the night. I’d listen to KCBS news radio in the car on my…

“No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid,just as long as as you stand, stand by me.”Sung by Ben E. King Kathy and I were sitting in the living room this morning enjoying a nice conversation prior to beginning our day. As is often the case, we had music playing on Pandora. Normally, the transition…

“What if desire wasn’t an urge to be tamed, but a beacon of truth to be followed?”Danielle LaPorte The dictionary has a number of definitions for the word beacon: 1. a guiding or warning signal, as a light or fire, especially one in an elevated position.2. a tower or hill used for such purposes.3. a lighthouse, signal buoy,…

“Life is like a book, it is told in chapters, and you cannot embrace the next chapter until you close the current one.” Casey Neistat When I write, I do so one word, one sentence, one paragraph at a time. I never begin a new paragraph until the previous one has been written. As I consider what to write next,…