Is this room getting smaller or is my vision getting bigger? I find myself using humor to keep me from sinking like the titanic deep into the sea of professional discontentment. Occasionally, I throw myself a lifeline of idle conversation just to keep breathing between board meetings.

Stopping a bad habit may seem impossible but when the desire to change is stronger than the pattern it is very possible. It is easy to get discouraged but people stop smoking, overeating and other behaviors regularly.

When you take risks you can start big or small according to your threshold of comfort. Some people take giant leaps and others feel more at ease with baby steps as they build their risk taking muscle. It doesn't matter which category you fall into, as long as you are taking risks.

It is a well established fact that success in life goes most frequently not to the most deserving, the best looking or even the most intelligent. Instead, it goes to the person with the greatest amount of drive and motivation. Here are your six step to high levels of motivation.

Arriving on the scene of a terrible car accident I had the opportunity to be an everyday angel to a woman who was injured and alone. The simple act of being present with this person became a spiritual experience for both of us. Everybody can be somebody's angel.

Even though I grew up on one of the Great Lakes, I did not learn to swim as a child. My wife, who is a good swimmer, and I made sure our children learned to swim. My own efforts have been hampered by something I had not counted on--fear of the water.

"The world is full of women blindsided by the unceasing demands of motherhood, still flabbergasted by how a job can be terrific and torturous."

"We think having faith means being convinced God exists in the same way we are convinced a chair exists. People who cannot be completely convinced of God?s existence think faith is impossible for them. Not so. People who doubt can have great faith because faith is something you do, not something you think. In fact, the greater your doubt the more heroic your faith."

"The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel."

"How could you be a Great Man if history brought you no Great Events, or brought you to them at the wrong time, too young, too old?"