I’ve never seen myself as a perfectionist. I’ve often fancied myself a carefree, gun-slinging decision-maker who pushes the limits and takes risks. This has been true at times. But more often, I’m paralyzed with indecision, afraid to get things wrong. More often, I let tasks hang out in my inbox for weeks, turning them over…
When you become a dad, you become a teacher. You teach your kid about colors and numbers and animals and the alphabet and that you shouldn’t eat dead flies you find lying on the ground. When my kid gets older, I’ll teach him about more difficult concepts, like politics, religion, money, and sex. While imperfect,…
Here’s a quick tip for you: Life is hard. Life will never stop being hard. The type of hardships will change, but they will continue to persist from birth until death. No matter the path you choose, life will continue to be hard. Running is hard; heart disease is hard. Quitting smoking is hard; getting…
Last week my wife and I took a trip to the beach. We went in celebration of our four-year wedding anniversary and stayed at a classic Florida beach motel right on the ocean. A few days before heading to the beach, I read about the opportunity to swim with live dolphins in the wild. Maybe…
When I was eight years old, I lost a $5 bill on a family roadtrip. I can’t prove it, but I am somewhat confident one of my eight siblings purloined it when we stopped at a gas station. Losing a $5 bill as an eight-year-old felt like losing a million dollars. It was crushing. I…
WASHINGTON — In a move intended to rejuvenate an administration that has struggled to advance major policy initiatives, President Trump signaled today that he will be firing himself. “I’ve done a great job and am a great guy, but I’ve decided to move in a new direction. This is going to be Big League” Trump…
When I was growing up, my mother, a saintly woman who managed to raise and homeschool myself and my eight siblings, used to often teach us how to apologize to one another. With nine children, there were often sibling disputes and conflicts to be resolved. These conflicts ranged from the inoccuous (“Daniel won’t share his…
A few days ago, my wife started laughing, and I looked up to see my 15-month-old trying to slip his chubby little feet into my size 13 dress shoes. They didn’t fit. I laughed. He laughed. I picked him up and gave him a kiss. A few minutes go by before he toddles up to…
Daniel Diffenderfer 