I read Random thoughts by a childhood friend where one of the sentences caused me to pause for a minute and think. The thought that caused me to stop was “… why would I never tell my closest people some of the things I write here.” How else can we be close with those closest to us if we are not able to share all our thoughts and feelings? This reminded me of a lesson learned when I was maybe eleven or twelve…

Having experienced the house building process, I have learned a lot and wanted to share a few thoughts here in case you ever face the dilemma of building vs. buying. There is an Armenian saying that every man must “plant a tree, have a child, and build a house.” I think the last one is questionable in the literal sense (though in the saying it’s really about making a home for a family)…

As I was driving to work a couple days ago, a strange question came into my mind. Why am I so different from so many men who enjoy working on their cars? They like to keep their vehicles clean, engines bright, and wheels shining. Many men (around the globe) spend hours on their cars while also dreaming of owning better cars. Being fairly mechanically inclined, I am sure I could fix just about any issue in a car but I don’t even have the interest, let alone the tools. I …

Everyone has heard this a million times, but how many actually slow down to do a good job… This lesson is taught at least daily in my observation and experience. Finding the right pace for each job is often the difference between a great job and an acceptable job.
The first time I seriously thought about this was when I was fixing a closet door at my wife’s late grandmother’s house a few years ago. The brother of my wife’s grandfather was there. After observing me work, he said (more or …

This early morning has brought with it another perspective on mistakes. Mistakes come in different forms. Some are small, some are catastrophic, some impact only ourselves, some impact others, some are made in a second, others are made over many years, some take a minute to correct, others require long-term commitment. Following are some of my ways of dealing with mistakes.
Listen and get the message. I make mistakes all the time. If you are like me, you do not always recognize your mistakes immediately. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes days, weeks, …