“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” ― Confucius … I heard this quote several eons ago and believed it meant that – when given a choice – be around the most educated, professional, well-read and “successful” people that opportunities afforded. I re-heard this once familiar phrase just days ago and now it has such a different meaning … Now it could be someone I see regularly at the gym but never actually talked to … someone at work who shares a task with me but I know really nothing else about … a neighbor who I wave to every morning, but…

“We can’t change what life is, but we can change how we react to and interpret it.” Jacob Held … I used to think I had to change EVERYTHING when things weren’t going right. Move across the country, get a new job, a new house, completely new people around me … and there were plenty of times I did those things searching for the perspective I didn’t just want, but needed. Now … thankfully .. before I start packing and writing my resignation letter … I know I just need to change HOW I look at things … and from where I am looking. It doesn’t have to be drastic.…

Today I was looking at the gray, cloudy skies and remembering when I flew a plane (on my birthday) up and above the clouds … and the peace and serenity that I felt up there. On sunny, blue-sky days, it’s so easy to remember that peace and serenity … but on days like today, I can not see it and I don’t automatically feel it. But I do remember that it’s there. “It is your attitude, more than your aptitude, that will determine your altitude.” – Zig Ziglar