I am not a sports fan, but I have always been a Kobe fan. My family has always wondered about my fascination with him when I hardly care for sports. What they don't understand is that the stories of his work ethic astound me. Hard work always gets my attention! They don't understand that work ethic is everything to me. My dad was a construction worker and ALWAYS did what he had to do for us. When my daughter was small and my ex was not working, my dad tried to come out of retirement and go back into construction at the age of 69. He worked three hard days and fell asleep on the side of the bed bending down taking off his work boots at the end of his third and final day. He handed me the entire paycheck on Friday and apologized for not being able to continue working. I will never forget how hard he gladly worked for us! He never complained about having to work! He was so disappointed that he could not keep working. In his mind if he had breath in his body and his baby girl needed or even wanted anything, he would take up the slack--no matter how old or how married I was. 

This is why I would rather wear out than rust out. I am learning to play, rest, and all of that; but I can't just sit somewhere doing nothing when my family or even critical areas of my life require more work from me. The hardest times I face with God are situations that I can't WORK myself out of, but I am learning.

Ideas are great, knowledge is cool, but hard work is my sweet spot! My daddy would be so proud of the worker that I have become! Kobe Bryant is a wonderful reminder that hard work pays off! Reflections on his career and last performance inspired me to pen these lessons from a champion:

People may have very strong opinions of you, you may even have endured very public failures, you may also have injuries and setbacks that could potentially stop you but one thing is for sure, if you have give your all to your sport on and off the court, your entire journey will not only speak for itself, but no one can take that away from you.

Show up like a beast.

Make your last performance as legendary as your career.

Live like you believe in what you do!

Kudos Kobe Bryant!

Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports

1. 

   26 Apr, 2016

   My Guest Spot on the Women in Funeral Services Blog

   http://womeninfuneralservice.com/2016/04/26/thriving-in-a-male-dominated-industry
2. 

   19 Mar, 2016

   The Cost of Fear

   For those of you who do not know me, that is me circled in the picture above. I know the picture is a little grainy, but I absolutely love it because it captured everything that I was feeling at our book release party. When I look at it, I see how beautiful I look. I see how happy I look. I remember how overjoyed I felt. I wrote a chapter in an anthology with 19 other authors and when we came together for the launch party on this weekend, it was nothing short of divine; I see that when I look at
3. 

   26 Jan, 2016

   Dab!

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4. 

   03 Jan, 2016

   Happy New Year

   Check out my New Year's Video Message: https://youtu.be/cWTRk87jcRE