The Sanford Berenberg Experience: Message of the Day

Good Morning,

Last week I started wearing contact lenses again. For the folks I had met over the last six and a half years, it caught them off guard, causing a volley of 'where are your glasses' questions. In 2003 when I moved to Louisville, I wore contacts. Having lived on the east coast of the US for all my life up to that point, my eyes were not ready for the Ohio Valley air, and within a few months my eyes got red and bloodshot after a few hours with my contacts in. Folks working with me at Heartland Payment Systems may have noticed my first ID Badge, the one with the red eyes (and it was not due to a cheap camera).

Anyway, after six and a half years of wearing glasses, I decided that my eyes have had enough time to adjust to this environment and I pulled out my old contacts (literally). I know there must be some rules against wearing 7 year old contact lenses, but I decided to do it anyway. I wore them for 2 hours the first day and increased the amount of time I wore them by two hours every day until I went to the eye doctor and got fitted with my first monthly pair with the right prescription. Yay! I can see. Of course, now I need reading glasses to read with the contacts in.....you gotta love the irony.

In all this mayhem, I had a thought about what has happened in my life between the time I stopped wearing contact lenses and started again. Below is a list of what has happened in my life over this period in no particular order.

1. Married a magnificent woman.

2. Became a step-dad and God-Father.

3. Completed my Bachelors Degree in Business.

4. Completed my Masters Degree (MBA).

5. Accepted Christ and was baptized (twice, sprinkled once, and immersed the second time).

6. Wrote and published a book (see below for more details).

7. Started an online blog and email messages (what you are reading now. This one has about 500 fellow messages at this time).

8. Became the president of a non-profit organization and serve(d) as a board member on several non-profits, charitable organizations.

9. Became a life/success coach and speaker.

10. Presented nearly a dozen speeches

11. Read the Bible cover to cover (two times so far, and less than 100 pages away for the third time [3 pages a day]).

12. Appointed as a Kentucky Colonel, Public Notary, etc.

13. Read over 400 books.

14. Met some amazing people who I am proud to call friends, while strengthening friends with those I have loved for years.

In six and a half years, these are some pretty cool accomplishments.

When you look back at your life over the last six years, do you see a list of accomplishments? Are there things that you have done which make you proud, which have helped you grow into a better person? We may miss our accomplishments in our hurried day to day blur of activities. When you think about them, write them down or type them.

I am happy that I took the time to stop and reflect. We should all do this from time to time. It makes moving forward more enjoyable knowing that no matter how hard things are today, we can make a difference in in our lives and the lives of others through our efforts.

Here's looking forward to the next six and a half years!

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg