Stories - FD Thornton

I few days ago, I caught myself thinking about the many years that have gone by since my high school graduation, my marriage, and the birth of our children. Thinking in the moment all that didn't happen yesterday, it's been 34 years since graduating, 27 years since I wed, and 23 years since the birth of our youngest child. That's a lot of water under the bridge.  Thinking back on all that time, I can't help but think of all the hours I wasted. I know, you maybe thinking, we all waste time every now and again. Still for me it hits particularly hard, in that I look around me and all I see is dust. No wealth or equity build up, no foundations laid for future generations, no tangible objects standing to say, "I was here."  To some what I'm saying rings true to your situation. Will anyone remember me in a generation? Or from the dust I have arose and to the dust I will return . I maybe getting a bit melodramatic, but you get the point.  In our lifetim...

Over the last few weeks I've been discussing some of the things that have gone through my mind, and some of the things I've been doing to help motivate and change my thought process. From a process of harmful patterns to a more helpful mindset that has lead me achieve the success I have today. While I believe in keeping a realist attitude about where I'm, sometimes that mindset can lead to self-criticism; which in turn is the gatekeeper to depression. Now I've never been much on self-affirmation, I was always the one that thought "hang in there baby" posters should be burned. Still, there is a place for believing in yourself even if you have no evidence to prove you can.  I'm slowly learning optimism is not a dirty word. That trusting your own ability to achieve goals is okay. Remember me saying I'm a realist? Realism can be a two-way street. In one lane the traffic is flowing with the understanding of what you're limits are and how much you ca...

I came across a touchy subject for me within a discussion board on  LinkedIn , the board deals with Transformational Leadership and the comment was presented by Dr. Maria Church from her website. The topic deals with having either a thick skin or strong heart to overcome the jabs others may throw at you. And as I said, this subject really hints home for me.  Without rehashing too many sad details of my young life I was tortured and bullied as a very young child. When I say tortured it wasn't so much physical, although I was hit and battered by bullies. What caused the most lasting pain was the verbal torture I endured through nearly my entire public school career. The fact is I don't think I would have made it without the support of a very small group of friends and my own sharp wit.  The posting in fact brought up a number of deeply buried memories which one may think should remained buried. But in reality they need to be brought to the surface and em...

For some of us life is a struggle. It's a struggle in the sense that you're surrounded with so much negativity it makes any success feel like defeat. You're so fearful that you're never going to amount to anything, fearful that at all points you'll fail, and for many of us this is the fear that lives deep underneath our skin. For some the fear is so great it can stop you in our tracks. Not even allowing you to try and win. When this is the fear you exist under, the only thing to do is fight, fight the voices, fight the fear, fight the symptoms that want you to quit.  Now I'm not going to say this is an easy journey or one that can be one quickly. But it is a victory won with small daily victories, small hard steps that will take all you have to make.  So as you look up that mountain and all you see is more mountain, remember. No goal is worth as much as the goals you sweat blood to win. No victory taste as sweet as a victory fought for ...

If you ever looked at my LinkedIn profile you'd know I've held a number sales positions in my work career. Most of these positions were commission based, which becomes a great motivator to " make the sale ". While I believe most salespersons are really good moral individuals. The pressure of the sale can tempt even the best of people to abandon their business ethics.  Over the past number of years I've attended school, a number of the courses I've taken have dealt in one form or another with the ethics of business. The university has wisely taken up the banner of stressing the need for renewed ethics education in the business world. I don't need me to tell you that over the past few decades, the business world has seemingly abandoned ethical behavior. While many businesses out there may dispute my statement, just the hint of immoral actions by many simply leave a " bad taste in the mouths " of consumers.  Going back to " making the sale...

I recently read an interesting opinion piece in The New York Times by Teddy Wayne. The piece called Life is Streaming Past You , discussing our obsession with all things media. In his funny way (at least I thought it was funny) Wayne tells the story of America's seeming obsession with the many forms of media, which include the Internet, 24-hour news cycles, streaming movies and television shows in bulk, and other social media.  From his own obsession to media, Wayne shows how it is taking away from us valuable time from life in general. He also notes how having so many choices in media content (as well as other things) can cripple us to making decisions about those choices.  The thing I took away from the article was how today we allow ourselves to be sucked in by these various programs and broadcast. Now I will admit there are times I get sucked into the game. But much like how Wayne describes himself, after missing a few of the shows and movies I wan...