This week's Pep Talk Blog: "Same for You"

First, I just want to say thanks to each of you. Your constant encouragement – give hope and confidence to – inspires me, usually on Saturday afternoons, to express some thoughts about the wonderment we call life. They end up becoming Pep Talks.

Many topics to cover but one, in particular, deserves continued publicity. It’s the absolutely incredible 3,000-mile journey across America with my kids. This is the third straight weekly Pep Talk from the trip. We enjoyed many great stops along the way visiting loved ones, seeing our country and just hanging together: a middle-aged dude in a transitory time of life having quality time with two beautiful souls he played a very willing role in creating. We had a blast in the now-infamous “Tenacious Tahoe” cruising, sliding and skidding through 13 states, four time zones and only one unexpected stop. The trip, suggested by my darling and smart girlfriend, was to transfer son Kyle from studies in New York to a career, and continued studies, in Los Angeles. Kyle Martirez McIntosh, now two decades young, is chasing dreams big time. Good for him.

Whenever experiencing the joy of standing before a group and giving a Pep Talk about adopting a “come as you are, just don’t leave as you were” attitude we always discuss the importance of “putting fear and self-doubt aside and allowing wonderment to win.” It’s one of five fulfilling fundamentals I believe are cornerstones to success in life.

My son is a great example, for me, to the truth of that statement. I hope, he never loses that talent. Even at the tender age of 20, he’s had some setbacks in life. One of them certainly his parents inability, when he was just four, to keep a marriage together. Somehow he perseveres and thrives. Lately, after 18 months in New York City as a film student at NYU, he’s heading to Beverly Hills to work for an entertainment business titan and continue his studies at night.

He sets healthy and productive goals and then goes and makes it happen. We know that’s not easy. We know from our own challenges, there are rough spots along the way that have us wondering, “What the heck is going on here?” We get discouraged, listen to others even more discouraging and are tempted to throw in the towel, to quit. Don’t. Instead, adjust the game plan, put fear and self-doubt aside and allow wonderment to win. It works in all areas of life. The venue may change but the strategy’s the same.

Kyle does that – put fear aside and allow wonderment to win - very well. He also is a good big brother to his just-turned teenage sister, Rachel. Another thing he does well is co-pilot across America. The old man drove and Kyle, sitting in the passenger seat, entertained utilizing high-tech gadgetry. He was a deejay channeling music from laptop computer into the vehicle’s sound system and documentary filmmaker recording history via the laptop’s recording talents. The videos highlight the trip and involve the three of us. Dad the driver, son the first officer and daughter - crammed in the back among all Kyle’s stuff – the trooper who never complained.

Kyle is a good young man who’s fun to be around. He’s got guts too. I hope, when future storms howl, churning the seas and threatening his voyage called life, he will tap into this fulfilling fundamental he currently possesses. I pray he will put fear and self doubt aside and allow wonderment to win in ways that honor him, nurture those dependent upon him add value to the communities he serves.

I wish the same for you. Have a great week.