Who are you? To express yourself is to show, through speech, writing, some form of art, or behavior, what we feel and what we can do. It first starts, however, with accepting yourself for who you are. Accepting yourself often requires a mental attitude adjustment. Stop letting little things bother you. Stop re-hashing and re-hashing things; thinking about what should have, could have, and would have... And stop thinking everyone has it better than you. It next requires t

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” --Benjamin Franklin Here’s a question I recently asked myself: What’s keeping you from moving forward..., forward with your life goals, business objectives, and personal ambitions? Here we are in March. The year is moving forward. Why aren’t we further along to our destination? Setting goals is the easy part. Achieving goals is a whole different ball game. Ugh! But it doesn’t have to be that way. Ke

I've been so overwhelmed by what's going on these days. I feel like there's nothing I can do to keep the world from spinning out of control. I’m sure so many of you feel the same way each time you turn on the news. Right now, it's easy to lose hope. However, loss of hope doesn't have to be the path we walk down. Hope is actually something we can cause to appear and spread. It's not something that magically appears from an outside source. We each have within us the capacity

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The phrase “get ready, get set…go” conjures up images of a foot race, with “get ready” prominently reflected as a critical step in the process. It also invokes visions of a marked starting point and runners racing against time. In the spirit of Martin Luther King’s legacy, however, "get ready, get set, do something” is intended to inspire you to take action to help

The Corporation for National and Community Service reported that “The United States is benefiting from the generosity driven by millions of people who freely volunteer their time and efforts to improve conditions in their communities.” Volunteers are the heart of America, essential to our nation's social and economic well-being. They do hard but important work: rebuilding communities after disasters, teaching kids to read and helping them to stay in school, bringing life back

This age-old adage can mislead the kindhearted into believing good deeds backfire. The reality is good deeds often go unnoticed. ACCOLADE Celebrations was founded to celebrate those who take it upon themselves to help another, purely out of kindness. With so many everyday people doing such wonderful things, it would be a shame not to roll out the red carpet and acknowledge them. The Acts of Kindness Awards Gala honors members of the community for selfless acts that have brigh