Leaving Cloud 9预览

     Rome   wasn’t built in a day. . . . It’s a mantra that allows you to have grace for   yourself and rationality for the monumental task of building your life and making it better.
 

    It took 1,009,491 days to build Rome, according to the best estimates. That   means, in our lifetimes, we could never finish. And Rick knows that -- which is why every day he perseveres and adds another brick to the building of his life.. He truly lives by that phrase, -- and even when he feels nearly   paralyzed by fear or complacency or hardened by a soul-sucking memory, he does not give up. . . .
 

    We get to define success and happiness in our lives on our own terms and it   doesn’t require gold medals, thousands of social media followers or even a high school diploma.
 

    Sometimes success is the simplest of things: Holding a full-time job, owning a home, taking care of a family. Everyday isn’t bursting with joy but it’s settled, simmering in the life juices that sustain you, protect you, give you the fuel you need to make it successfully over the next emotional spin cycle.
 

    If you ask Rick what he always wanted in life, he will tell you he has more today than he ever considered dreaming of. He said recently to me, “You know, we’re going to grow old together. I never thought I’d have that.”
 

    That’s his success. This home, mundane job, a unconditionally loving wife and a beautiful child.
 

    The day he began praying for healing and reaching out to God is the day it   began to get better. The only thing it required was that little bit of faith and a willingness to humble himself.
 

    It doesn’t mean it’s always easy, or fun. In fact, sometimes it’s a daily battle to just get up and do it again but it’s the microscopic steps we take each day without realizing it that eventually make you look up and realize you’ve actually gone a mile. But you have to start taking the steps to eventually have that realization. And once you do, it’s a beautiful journey   to look back, even when you realize you have a lot further to go.
 

    Our Rome is looking spectacular these days – as we will soon welcome another baby into the family. . . .
 

    He’s back on Cloud 9 – and this time, it’s no trailer park.