Category Archives: Life

Having the time of your life

Family, Life

You know when the time of your life is? It is right now.

Why? Because now is all you can be certain you have.

I was at a family gathering yesterday, and we were looking at old pictures of our family: the ones living and the ones who have passed on. I was sitting there and realized that the past 15 years have not only have zipped by, but they are gone and over. Sometimes I think our girls should still be in middle school and Elaine should be in our 30s, but I stop and realize that that period is never coming back. You hear folks tell you that the speed of life gets faster, but when you are young it seems like the children will never sleep all night or be able to dress themselves. Well, it is fast, and the part of our children’s lives that include school, college, weddings are all past now. We are now in the next phase of our family’s life.

At the family gathering, I saw pictures of my grandparents and parents through their life cycles and when they were my age now and took glimpses into their life through the pictures. Many have gone on to be with the Lord.

One day, my children’s children’s children will be looking at pictures of Elaine and I thinking the same things I thought yesterday, such as who they were, what did they do with their life, what did they stand for, what difference did they make, and what legacy did they leave?

So, back to the first question… do you know when the time of your life is? It is right now. KT

Close all exits

Life

In life, sometimes you need to close all the exits. There are decisions in our lives that we need to “abandon” all escape routes and stay with the decision. Sometimes you won’t see success in the short term. Most people will quit and start something else and go from issue to issue because they couldn’t stay long enough with one decision.

There were times in my career when it was stale and stagnant; as we all do, I wondered if this was what I was supposed to be doing. There are situations that you need to move from and there are situations you need to stick with. You and God are the only ones who know the difference. I am not saying that every home, every job, every investment, every friend should be a lifelong decision. As the Bible says, “A wise person sometimes changes his mind,” but that’s not want I am talking about.  What I am referring to are the decisions you know in your spirit/heart is the right one, but because of fear you starting heading for the exit door. Sometimes walking away from the exit door is the very thing God needs to see in us. KT

God’s long-term view vs. our short-term view

Career, Life

There have been times in my life where I made a decision and chose a path that seemed, in the short-term view, like a mistake. Probably the three biggest decisions that seemed like the wrong decisions at the time all involved my work.

In 2000, two of my friends and I left a great company to start our own brokerage firm.  At the company we left, we had a good income, no risk, no liability and great working environment. I remember the day we left to start a new firm, and I came home and sat on the fireplace hearth and said to myself, what the hell (excuse me) did I just do? Here I was leaving a great company to strike out on my own with two friends; we hoped it would work out. The morning after the three of us left the company, we met at a pancake house for breakfast. All three of us looked like a frog in a hailstorm with big, scared eyes. Ha. Well, that company was ThompsonCalhounFair, and it did really very well and proved over time to be a good decision.

The next big one was when we sold ThompsonCalhounFair to a public company in June of 2005. The third big one was when I left the public company in May of 2007 to start over again. When I left the public company in 2007, it was because I literally knew I was going to die a premature death if I didn’t get away from the stress of that environment. See I thought I was ready for that type of environment, but I clearly was not. I wasn’t smart enough, had no formal education, and I stuttered…those things did not go over well in a public company environment. Plus, I had my own ideas on how to run a brokerage firm and my focus was clearly on sales and profit and their focus was sales at the expense of profit. It was a pressure cooker from about the 3rd week after we sold our company.

When I left the public company in May 2007, I was going to go home, semi retire, and sell a few hotels a year for friends and that was it. One thing led to another, we started Hotel AG, and today here I am.

Why am I telling you all of this? One of the greatest revelations I ever received from God was in May 2007 when I left the public company to start over. It may sound silly to you, but to me it was a precious peace I received from that revelation. I had this image of me in a car on a road going around a mountain curve, and I couldn’t see but a short distance in front. God told me that day that this image was of him and me. As long as I was on the right road, it simply didn’t matter that I couldn’t see all the turns and what was up ahead. That day, I fell to my knees and found peace in knowing that all I had to do was be sure I was on the right road and leave what was around the curve to God.

As men, want to see a 10 year layout of the road in front of us so we see all the turns, all the uphills and all the downhills. Thank goodness God doesn’t let us see what’s ahead.

It’s the difference in being at rest and peace with your present location in the journey, rather trying to figure out all the turns to the destination. All you have to know is that God knows. Let me say that again. All you have to know is that God knows.

I have two of the most beautiful daughters any man has ever been blessed with and make no mistake, when they come to me and ask for my help, wisdom or guidance, you better believe I will give the very, very best I have. Listen to me here, that is exactly the way God looks at us as his children when we go to him for wisdom, help or guidance. He will give us his best.

The Bible says that we should make our paths straight and work to make the decisions we make the correct ones.

See, there were many times I felt like the decision I made was the wrong one, but God knew 14 years ago where I would be today. I could only see the present, but he could see around the mountain. KT

Dancing With The Stars

Life

Dancing With The Stars TV show could be one of the most irritating shows I know of except for The Bachelor, where the guy tries to fake fall in love with 20 women at the same time. Dancing With The Stars new season started this week and the best I can tell, this season will last for 18 years.

All that said, I did see one amazing person on last night’s show that I want to share with you. Her name is Amy Purdy, and she was an Olympic bronze medal winner in the Paralympics in Sochi. Amy is a double amputee with two prosthetic legs below the knee. She was 19 when she contracted bacterial Meningitis and to save her life, both legs were amputated.

She is simply amazing and so very beautiful; she’s not willing to let this thing stop her from her dreams. You should have seen her in the Olympics in snowboard competition, and you should have seen her last night handle herself with such a grace; it was simply stunning.

She could have decided her life was over and forgot her dreams. Today, she is a motivational speaker and athlete telling her story of overcoming this life-changing obstacle. Sometimes there are just things we cannot change in our life, and the only answer is to withdraw or to move forward. Fear, anxiety and intimidation are not things that have to be accepted in life. Life-changing injuries, maybe, but fear is not to be accepted.

Find a new meaning for who you are, what you do, and the reason you do it. People need examples to follow like Amy Purdy, and it should be incumbent on each of us to be what we should be. KT

It’s the simple things that matter

Life

How do you get to the point when the simple things matter and are noticed? We get so wrapped up in the destination that we forget the journey. How many times have you heard things like: when I get that job I will be happy, get that house, get that promotion, when the children start school, when the children finish school, etc. What we are in essence saying to ourselves is when “that” event happens then I will be happy. You and I both know there will always be something beyond that event that you will have to have in order to be happy and at peace.

I believe the first three “fruits of the Spirit” the Bible speaks of (Love, Joy and Peace) are the key to a fulfilled life. See, they are all a choice we make, and I believe they operate in that order. I think when you choose to “Love” others, forgive often, and look for the best in people versus the worst, you experience joy in the simple things of life. I believe peace will be a result of choosing first to love.

If we listed the top 10 things we all want in life, peace and contentment would be at the top. Money is way down the list. The thing we want most is to sleep well without strife, have a great cup of Starbucks in morning, laugh with our spouse, hug and kiss our children with such passion, be respected, be loved, see grass, flowers, sky, and know all is well with our soul.

So, Love, Joy and Peace are all a choice, and it all starts with the decision to see the best in people and act in love versus strife. When you do this, you are literally choosing your life because of the health implications of being more at peace as well as the spiritual implication of that decision.

Sometimes you just have to choose and choose well. KT