A parent received an email from her son’s teacher:
Sam is often unfocused and is on his phone during class.
The problem: The parent, the teacher, the principal, the school,
the superintendent and the school board. Why?
Because they are allowing students to have cell phones in the classroom.

We all now know smart phones are highly addictive, and there is proof that app and technology innovators purposely inject the phone with addictive tech widgets. Isn’t this the same as when tobacco manufacturers laced their cigs with toxic additives known to cause addiction? The tobacco industry got smoked to the tune of trillions of dollars in law suits and lost sales. That hasn’t happened to big tech yet, but I foresee it coming once we are all too messed up to put our phones down long enough to go to work or school.

“Mingle often with good people to keep your soul nourished.”
— Anthony Douglas Williams

I grew up in a household where friendships were revered. Almost every Friday night my parents would hang out with their friend group and whoop it up. I got dragged along well into my teenage years but, for the most part, I didn’t mind because their friends had children who also got dragged along. Us kids would play, while our parents did the same. We also rarely went to to the lake or the beach without friends or family joining us. To say the least, the importance of friendships was ingrained in me as the key to fun.

They say America runs on Dunkin’, and I wish it were true.
But it seems more and more that America runs on over-stimulation.
Whether you believe “less is more”, “enough is enough” or
“too much is not enough,” I’m here to say I experienced too much,
and it’s time to realize enough is enough
because in many cases, less is more.

I was lucky to travel down to Jacksonville in August for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns pre-season football game. It was my first NFL game, and I had a great time. Getting out of town occasionally resets my mind and rejuvenates my energy. Sometimes a change of scenery is just the cure for a case of the mundanes. I went with a bunch of friends, we went to a crowded energy-filled sports bar for pre-game cold beers and then headed to the stadium.

“Intuition is the GPS of the soul. Is yours turned on?”
— unknown —

The theme of this issue is #FightLikeAGirl. It’s a catchy twist on what used to be a slam, but is now the ultimate compliment. It’s about embracing women power, but most of all it’s about embracing your power.

There is only one thing I want to talk about when it comes to fighting like a girl, living like a girl or surviving like a girl and that is the girl.

Last month, Facebook was filled with happy pictures of lots of parents dropping
their children off at college and setting up cute dorm rooms,
all of which is a wonderfully exciting time. Congratulations to you all!
You’ve worked many years to get your children to this point.

Some freshmen are filled with dreams and aspirations, while others are excited to be at college, but have no idea what they want to do career-wise, and that’s alright. While I had a great career in marketing, I didn’t find what I really wanted to do until I was 38 years old, but I know my years spent at college helped me get there. A college education expands far beyond academics. In fact, most graduates come out of college knowing more about how to persevere, how to get along with people, how to say no to a party in order to make it to graduation, and how to negotiate (or plead) with professors than understanding the ins and outs of business law, or calculating odds in statistics.