We only have one life to live and often only one chance to influence others by expressing what we truly think. Each conversation with someone you meet where you shut down and stay quiet is a missed opportunity for your growth and theirs. I cannot pretend that all my thoughts are 100% correct, to think such a thing is flawed and arrogant, but I do know that we never get closer to finding truth by locking our opinions in the closet so as to avoid any scrutiny or challenge. I have learned that good ideas will hold up under pressure, and those that do not should likely be changed or reevaluated. Over the past 10 years or so, my ability to analyze arguments and reason with others has grown exponentially as I have sought out opportunities, both in person and online, to dialogue with others who disagree with me. My YouTube habit of watching debates on popular topics has also built my confidence in speaking my mind as I have gained a greater understanding of logic and found supporting evidence for my various positions on political, religious, and ideological issues. My commitment to speaking my mind came with my personality as a strong-willed individual who doesn't take no for an answer (unless they have a better reason than mine, of course). Speaking up and standing out has become a major part of who I am, and I hope my example inspires others to be bold and say what they believe.

Does music flow from the page or the fingers? Can a song really come from the heart rather than the score? While my mother deserves all the credit for teaching me piano from the notes on the page, my commitment to becoming more than a notes-on-paper pianist has been an important step on my journey to improve my musical talent. When my wife and I were dating, I found out she was a singer and especially loved to sing jazz. She had always loved jazz pianists and the whimsical improvisation that flew off their fingers when they played. She begged me to play, but with little experience in the genre, I'd have much rather preferred to whip out a memorized Beethoven given my classical training. Nevertheless, I stumbled through a short little diddy which didn't sound all that great, but it put a smile on her face, and that was a start. That clunky improv tune was the beginning of something great. Since that day, I have pushed myself to learn new chord progressions and become familiar with the iconic songs of the jazz age. Each time I sit to play, the more confidence I gain that the music in my head and the mood in my heart will trickle down to my fingers and wrists, combining into a textured melody that will bring a tap to anyone's toes. As with anything, the key to improvement is consistency and the path to atrophy is resistance to this principle. With practice, practice, and more practice, I hope to one day be able to be as comfortable playing jazz as Duke or Count Basie.

Stories are the way that we connect and relate as humans. They are by far the easiest method of teaching and learning. Stories can make us laugh or cry, reflect or relax, but in essence, they are somehow able to capture the deepest human emotions and experiences in words. I have loved stories ever since I was a little boy, so much so that I would literally stay up all night, not binging Netflix, reading books! Thankfully, I've gotten control of my binge reading habit, but I still feel a strong pull towards stories so I seek them out in movies, books, TV shows, songs, and even in scripture. This passion for stories even shows up in my choice of associations: my best friend from college is what you would call an entertainer, my favorite coworker was essentially the world's best storyteller, and my wife is very expressive with her face, thus it is always easy to read the story that is going on inside her brain. I often find new truths about the world as I interact with stories in all their various forms, and I plan to utilize story telling as a main form of learning in our home for my children. As a narcoleptic, I often hit what I have come to call a "sleep wave" during the day at the most inconvenient times such as at work, driving on the freeway, or while I am playing with my baby girl. I have found that the instant cure for overcoming these sleep waves is to listen to a story, whether that be in a song, a show, or a book. I don't know where I would be today without my love of stories as I may not have lived to tell the tale.

To me, joy is the feeling we get when we are deeply connected to others and know we can share anything with them. This doesn't come from small-talk and gossip, rather, these connections are often formed at the opposite end of the spectrum during a time of heartache or misery. These moments can lead to the closest friendships and the strongest bonds. I seek joy by finding opportunities to have conversations that give me a window into people's real life and what they're actually dealing with on a day to day basis, rather than just talking about their day job or their hobbies. It has surprised me how many people will open up and be vulnerable with me simply because I ask questions that are more personal and raw than most. Oftentimes, no one has ever been brave enough to ask, and I have found that most people desperately want to share these things, but there is a shortage of patient listeners and bold questions. These moments of opening up truly bring me joy because I know I have made a true friend.

I have learned over the years that being "honorable", as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it, dependable, and living with integrity is one of the best ways to help others. I sang in the BYU Men's Chorus in college and our director was a wonderful yet intense woman from Holland. She had a way of impressing the value of integrity on us boys. At the beginning of the semester, she looked us in the eyes and asked us point blank if we could 100% commit to the concert schedule that was being passed around. She believed that the path from boy to man was paved with firm dedication to keeping one's commitments. I had never thought about the value of dependability and integrity in that way, but it impressed me so much that I decided to take that step in my life. While this may not be the most typical way to serve others, I believe that it contributes greatly to making a better world. I strive to keep my word and stick to my commitments, whether to friends, family, employers or acquaintances. Since I have developed a reputation as the kind of person who follows through, I am asked to give service much more frequently than before. I always want to be the kind of person that people can trust and rely on.

For about half of my life, I have battled with narcolepsy, a neurological sleep disorder characterized by frequent night waking, daytime sleepiness, and other unfortunate symptoms that often interfere with normal daily functioning. To many, this disorder can appear humorous as it can often lead to falling asleep mid-activity such as walking, talking, writing, eating, or driving. Immediately after turning 18, I embarked on a two year church service mission to El Paso, Texas which would test my physical and mental stamina more than ever before. On top of my undiagnosed condition, I was expected to learn and speak Spanish every day, survive the Texas summer heat, and somehow persevere through the sheer exhaustion from a rigorous missionary schedule. I remember a time when my body was so drained that as I was walking down the street, for a brief moment, I fell asleep standing up and suddenly awoke to a large truck headed right for me. Luckily, I was able to dart out of the way, but the experience shook me to the core. Despite this and other frightening experiences, I pushed through and completed the full two year service mission. Upon returning home, I visited a sleep clinic and was officially diagnosed with narcolepsy. I was surprised to learn that in the medical world, the prognosis for narcolepsy is essentially that it can only stay the same or get worse. My dedication to the strict missionary schedule and perseverance in the face of actual danger had given my body a chance to get into a more normal sleep rhythm, and I found myself improving despite the medical knowledge on the subject. Had I decided to quit and return home early, I do not believe I could have seen such drastic improvements in my condition.

The lyrics from a favorite Christian song come to mind when I think about what I want to leave behind: "I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved my soul. I'm living for the world to see nobody but Jesus." In the world today, it is becoming increasingly unpopular to be a Christian. This resistance has put my commitment to the test, and as the song says, I have made a commitment to tell the world about Jesus. Over the past few years, I have worked with teenagers in behavioral programs who have been through trauma, abuse, broken homes, sexual assault, and all kinds of things that children should never have to confront at such a young and impressionable age. The various extrinsic programs that are put in place to motivate these kids to do better have always fallen short, and rarely have I seen lasting change as a result of the reward or punishment systems put in place. Intrinsic motivation is imperative for success and true change, and the best way I know to ignite that fire is through Jesus Christ. I believe in everyone's freedom of religion and agency to choose their own beliefs. Even so, I want my legacy to be one of pointing people to Christ so they can make that decision for themselves. He is the best and only true way to heal the world.

Did you know the conundrum of time dilation portrayed in the movie Interstellar is actually a real scientific phenomenon? In the movie, the planet next to the giant black hole experiences such a large gravitational pull compared to the pull on earth such that time appears to move slower for the astronauts on the planet. Consequently, everyone on earth ages at a rate of 7 earth years per 1 hour on the fictional planet. While we don't experience time dilation very often, we are forced to account for it due to our dependence on Google maps. Compared to the GPS satellites, those of us living on earth are much deeper in a gravitational pull due to our proximity to the mass of the earth, so our clocks appear to run slower. Granted, it is only a few nanoseconds slower, but enough that the clocks in space and the clocks in earth will get out of sync. We adjust the clocks on the satellite to run slightly slower to account for the time dilation. Our universe is so incredible!