Is it possible to be better than better?  Yes, at least I think so.  To me better than better means a person not only has healed to the best extent possible from whatever hinders them, but they have done something positive with that experience. It is not as simple as to 'move on'  or to 'get over it' but to use life's challenges to improve oneself.  Since 2000 I have dealt with and overcome a one in a million tumor as well as a school shooting; I have also been onstage with Grammy award winning performers and in front of crowds upwards of 30,000 people as a result of my choices after the tumor, and I can say it wasn't all easy but it is all good! 

Sure, there are things that still will catch me off guard, mainly sounds: car backfires, fire alarms, fireworks, and of course gunshots. The other day while having lunch with some old friends I heard a song that brought me back to a moment during the memorial service for the student killed in the shooting. Folks that were not there that day or did not watch the service on any of the Denver channels would have no clue as to why it struck me the way that it did. It was a tough moment in which a not so old wound was temporarily ripped open, thankfully I was surrounded by a few people who acted with grace and allowed me, without question or judgment, to shed a few tears.

I have discovered that in addition to professional support to work my way through the trauma there is a way to deal with those people and situations that seem impossible hurdles to lifetime success.  You see I am not one to make New Years resolutions, instead I chose a word to guide my thoughts and actions; in recent years those words included, integrity and grace.  Those two little words have helped me to think through situations and to remind myself to act with grace and integrity even when I really want to act otherwise.

This year I was not sure what word to chose until I read a blog post on Street Leverage  and knew almost immediately that my word this year would be 'civility.' Now don't get me wrong....I am not choosing a word that represents a quality I necessarily possess, in fact I chose words that represent qualities I would like to develop which means I am choosing to challenge myself to be better than better.

So in order for me to be better than better I not only challenge myself to develop qualities within myself , I also work on doing more or different things...things that are outside of my comfort zone.  Better than better surely does not mean that I am the same as 'before' because there are scars and grey hairs that are in place of the old me; better than better does not mean new and improved either...well improved perhaps but not new because after all we are all getting older and not younger!

So as we jump into 2016 I will continue to exercise grace to those that have laughed behind my back or gossiped (or accused me of gossiping) because I have integrity.  I will work on exercising civility because I have already been practicing integrity and grace.  I will continue to work on becoming better than better by working on professional development (interpreting), improving and stretching myself as a photographer, and put the finishing touches on my first book AND actually submit it to publishers.

My challenge to you, is not necessarily to choose the words I have chosen (although you certainly can) but to find a word or two that speaks to your heart and will help you to become better than better!

This is not a photo of me, it is a photo I recent took of someone else,

but it represents what it takes to be 

 better than better!