Internal versus External

If I were honest, 3 a.m. and nobody else around to hear me honest, I would admit that most of my struggles in life originate from internal pressure versus external environments. 

My peace disappears when I take my eyes off of God's goodness and promises and start to focus on what I don't have and what I can't do. This starts a destructive spiral until I ask God for forgiveness and repent of my disobedience. Then He is faithful to forgive and restore me based on His goodness and mercies. 

Yet, I don't think I'm the only one who struggles in this area . . . 

A Magical Night at Red Rocks

It was a rainy, chilly evening in the Rocky Mountains. We settled into our seats, perched high above the stage below. We were at the world famous Red Rock Amphitheater which is located near Denver, CO. If there is a venue anywhere in the world that combines acoustics, nature and design better than this place, I would very much like to see it. Even in our seats the music was powerful, and natural. In fact, I remember closing my eyes and it seemed like the band was right in front of my face. 

Letterboxd

I recently joined a social media site where you can list and review movies that you have watched. I think its pretty interesting to catalog the films you have enjoyed throughout your life and then observe the tapestry of your interests throughout the years. 

If you want to check out my profile click HERE.

Regrets, I Have a Few

I was watching a TV show recently and the discussion shifted to "regrets". One of the characters mentioned that he didn't believe in regrets because each decision he made, good or bad, resulted in him being the person he is today. I think he's delusional.

In this blog post I'm going to focus on just some financial regrets that I have experienced over the years, mostly in regard to the stock market.

One of my regrets was my lack of belief in the success of eBay. In July of 1998, eBay had less than 500,000 users and had yet to take the company public. I joined eBay that same month and remember reading in the Wall Street Journal about the company preparing to launch its IPO in September of 1998. The projected stock price was predicted to open at $18.00 but by the end of the first day the price was $53.50. If I had invested $1,000.00 in eBay today that investment would be worth over $18,000.

Top 10 Bands of All Time

Top 10 Bands of All Time

1) Beatles

2) Pink Floyd

3) Steely Dan

4) Genesis

5) Doobie Brothers

6) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

7) Kansas

8) Three Dog Night

9) Chicago

10) Earth, Wind and Fire

No, this list is not up for debate . . .

Memories Of The Braves

My favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, just clinched the National League East for the first time since 2013! This got me to thinking about some of my favorite Atlanta Braves baseball players throughout my lifetime and some of the great memories that I have about this team.

1) Hank Aaron hitting his 715 home run to break Babe Ruth's all-time home run record in Atlanta Fulton County stadium on April 8th, 1974. I remember a couple of things about this historic game, the first was hoping that he would break the record in Atlanta. This was the fourth game of the 1974 baseball season but the first home game of the new season. In the fourth inning he hit a home run which drove in Darrell Evans and tied the game with the Dodgers (who would go on to win the National League pennant that year). Another interesting fact is that the manager of the Braves was Eddie Matthews who is the only Braves player to play in all three of the Braves cities (Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta) as well as teaming up with Hank Aaron to hit the most home runs (863)  of any two teammates in baseball history (they surpassed the record held by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig).