Maybe you've seen the clip on YouTube, but did you know the story behind it? In the 1970s, there was a show called "ABC Wide World of Sports" that opened with Jim McKay delivering a monologue over scenes of various sports being played. At one point, the monologue mentioned "the thrill of victory," showing several people winning events, and then "...the agony of defeat..." as it cut to a skier who missed their jump, crashing in a very painful way on the ramp. That skier's name

Checkmate by Moritz Retzch There is an old painting by Moritz Retzch called "Checkmate". In the image, a young man plays chess with the devil for his soul while an angel looks on silently. For centuries, people viewed this painting as the very essence of hopelessness. The young man has fewer pieces than the devil, and he has obviously given up because there are no moves left. One day, an actual chess player named Paul Morphy saw the painting and caught the hidden message.

I don't remember all my mistakes, but I've had more than one conversation in my life where I didn't think of the perfect thing to say until days later, when it was too late. Last year, I had a confrontation with someone in a volunteer organization I worked with. This person lost his temper and said something incredibly cruel, and I was so shocked and overwhelmed with possible responses that I ended up saying nothing and walking away. For months afterward, I replayed the con

In Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery, there is a beautiful gravestone that reads "Jane My Wife". It immortalizes in marble the last moment...

When you forgive and forget them, they lose any hold on your life

Each day is a journey, and each step is a step forward--no matter how small.

You've had a bad day. Maybe you've had a bad week. It's been one moment after another, and it seems like the people you trust to run...

I recently read an article about a famous actor/singer from the 70's whose career was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The thing...

What are you doing to move ahead in life? For years, I had a desire to play the guitar. I had watched so many amazing guitarists make...

On Friday, January 12, 2007, violin virtuoso Joshua Bell conducted a little experiment inside L’Enfant Plaza Metro entrance in the busy...

I recently performed at a show where I really wanted to get flashy with the finale. I had a good trick to close out the show, but I...

Bear with me, as this is not like anything I've written before. I woke up needing to write this. Hopefully it'll help someone. One of the...