Recently, I have been thinking about the bubble I live in. It’s a very homogeneous existence where I associate mostly with middle age people who look, think and act like me. If I’m not careful, I can find myself trapped in conversation about our latest aches and pains and a boil that needs lancing. Lately I have challenged myself to go beyond my natural “habitat” and discover someone else’s perspective. Life is so much fuller when you get off your bubble. I have intentionally spent time with young professionals lately and I have truly enjoyed their perspective. One thing that has stood out and resonated with me is what I call the “power of perspective,” or the ability to dream and to believe that such vision can and will come true. I love engaging 20-somethings and watching them approach their careers full of optimism.  Life has not beaten them down…

If you follow me on Twitter or somewhere else in social media, you might have noticed my early morning posts, usually between 4 to 5 a.m. about going on a run or hitting the gym for a workout. There’s always a comment from someone saying “I don’t know how you do this. You must have a lot of self-discipline.” The truth is that I have some self-discipline, but what I have most is a built-in system of accountability and expectations. Left on my own, I can justify staying in bed every morning and postponing my workouts until later in the day. But with my busy agenda at work, heavy travel schedule and family responsibilities, I know that if I don’t exercise early in the morning, I won’t do it at all. Most days getting out of bed at 4:30 for a run in the dark is 10% inspiration and 90%…

Saturday mornings I do my long run with a group of runners. We meet at the Gates of Percy Warner park in Nashville, TN. Percy and Edwin Warner parks feature 2,684 acres of some of the most beautiful woods in Tennessee. Lot’s of runners make these parks their favorite running grounds along with my running group. I’ve noticed a trend lately that has me a bit miffed. Runners who are coming opposite side from our group who look us in the eye but won’t acknowledge our gregarious “good morning,” or a friendly smile followed by a wave if the runner has ear plugs in. That’s just plain rude. I haven’t seen a guide for runner etiquette but I’m sure there’s one somewhere. Here’s a few rules that should be in it: 1. If you make eye contact with another runner, smile or wave or say hello or maybe do all…