Chad Writes Stuff

We have become a society that is addicted to success.  Everything we do seems to be judged on a success based principle.  If you don't succeed at something, you are a failure.  I don't like to call things "failing", just like I prefer not to say that a thing is "good" or "bad", but rather it just is. Often times we have expectations about the way something should go and if we agree with it, we call it a success, and if the outcome doesn't agree with our expectation, we call it a failure.  I like to refer to those instances, good or bad as life lessons.  When something doesn't agree with your expectation, it was probably never deemed to turn out the way you wanted it to.  There are certain things you can control and certain things you cannot, my advise is learn the difference and love the ride. Nobody seeks to start a project, venture or business and have it fail.  The truth is it doesn't fail, it just doesn't have the universal bles...

This may or may not be a random blog for you to read but I am about to begin a month long travel spree all over the US.  It will entail San Francisco, Maui, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Miami.  Many of you know that I travel a lot for work and when I can find the time, I stay over a day or two in the locations to get a lay of the land and see what it is all about.  Even though I go to many of the same cities time and time again, it is always an adventure.  You see today I sit in a starbucks in Palo Alto,blogging, and tomorrow I will be doing project management in Maui. I have taken subways, and trains to numerous destinations.  I have studied timetables and directions.  I have learned the difference between BART and Muni and CalTrain and know how to pull the information I need to get to destinations I have to go to.  Can you do the same?  You see some people look at traveling like a headache.  They think that life is all about the journey a...

Do you ever have one of those days where you wake up after not much sleep and feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.  You have one of a million things on your mind, such as bills to pay, going to work at a job that you may not love, getting a not so great, but truthful email from a friend, or maybe its a phone call or text from someone that you have hurt in some way.  You try to shake off the gray, but it wont go.  You try to find the inspiration, but because the fog is so heavy, you feel socked in. Today was one of those days.  I got in late last night from a flight back from Boston and in the midst of sleeping for an hour on the plane, like a dumb-ass, when I got home, I couldn't sleep.  I finally fell asleep at 4am.  I woke up to a gray existence outside.  I also felt the weight of my mom's cancer on me.  Its this inevitable force that pushes down on my chest and makes me realize that she is not going to be around foreve...

If life were always easy, would there be merit?  Sure it would be nice to always have money in the bank, a sunshine personality, and no backstabbing friends, but the truth is, we were never guaranteed any of that. When something goes your way, it is enjoyable and fulfilling and gives you a sense of understanding and appreciation.  The difficult times, judge your character.  Its easy to run away from conflict, heartache and strife, but what benefit do you get? Not every situation in your life is going to "come up roses".  My own struggle with my Mom's cancer has lead me through every emotion known to mankind.  I have experienced joy, anger, sadness, despair, lonliness and depression, to name a few.  In truth, there are times I just want to run away, but in reality, I know exactly why I am where I am.  Whether its to be by moms side for a few moments and tell her I love her while she sleeps, or to hold her hand for an hour while she battles the intense pain in her mouth, it...

Life sucks sometimes, let's face it.  You wake up in the morning and you feel like you haven't slept in weeks, you don't have enough money for your bills, your late for work, forgot to make the kids lunch, spilled coffee all over your favorite shirt.  You know the routine, but the truth of the matter is you can see beyond that if you choose.  Those scenarios don't have to rule your life. Every person has the ability to choose his or her path.  Some people choose easy while others choose to follow the path that is meaningful and right for them, full well knowing that it is going to come with speed bumps and all.  The truth is that you know your purpose.  The question is "Will you follow it?".  You know that little voice in your head (can also be heart or stomach), is there for a reason and when you follow it, you begin to see more clearly.  Doors begin to open and roads that didn't exist begin to pave right before your eyes. But what seems t...