Awesome topic, Ashton! Posts like this one demonstrate why you are so deserving of The Versatile Blogger Award. I love how your mind works. 99.9% of people would automatically choose to remember a warm and fuzzy Kodak moment. You are very wise to point out that we should also remember life's toughest challenges because they taught us valuable lessons and made us stronger.

If I could pick a moment to be immortalized in a snapshot it would be a picture of me on an airplane flight from Houston back home to Tampa. I was on a natural high because in a single day I had conquered three fears: fear of fire, fear of extemporaneous public speaking and fear of flying. In a motivational seminar earlier that day I had walked barefoot on a bed of fire. An hour later, still elated over the accomplishment, I grabbed the microphone, jumped to the stage, and testified to a group of 100 strangers about the impact that the firewalk metaphor had on me. A couple of hours later, still basking in the afterglow of those events, I found myself on a flight back home to Tampa having forgotten all about my fear of flying. When you're on a winning streak you feel powerful... invincible. Your problems seem small and far away. When you start to perceive yourself as a loser your problems get right in your face like an 800 pound gorilla. The secret is to reframe your circumstances. Recognize things like pain, suffering, loss and adversity an opportunities to learn, grow, and get tougher. Thanks, Ashton!

I'm sorry you lost the pearls of wisdom :) that I shared when this post was originally published, Ashton! I also regret that I lost the lovely comment that you left on my latest post because your visits and comments mean a great deal to me. Hopefully your comments and mine will reappear when Blogger restores all content. If we're lucky it'll happen in our lifetime!

Somehow I don't think our comments will be resurrected....BUT I did still have your first comment in my email :)

Shady said: Awesome topic, Ashton! Posts like this one demonstrate why you are so deserving of The Versatile Blogger Award. I love how your mind works. 99.9% of people would automatically choose to remember a warm and fuzzy Kodak moment. You are very wise to point out that we should also remember life's toughest challenges because they taught us valuable lessons and made us stronger.

If I could pick a moment to be immortalized in a snapshot it would be a picture of me on an airplane flight from Houston back home to Tampa. I was on a natural high because in a single day I had conquered three fears: fear of fire, fear of extemporaneous public speaking and fear of flying. In a motivational seminar earlier that day I had walked barefoot on a bed of fire. An hour later, still elated over the accomplishment, I grabbed the microphone, jumped to the stage, and testified to a group of 100 strangers about the impact that the firewalk metaphor had on me. A couple of hours later, still basking in the afterglow of those events, I found myself on a flight back home to Tampa having forgotten all about my fear of flying. When you're on a winning streak you feel powerful... invincible. Your problems seem small and far away. When you start to perceive yourself as a loser your problems get right in your face like an 800 pound gorilla. The secret is to reframe your circumstances. Recognize things like pain, suffering, loss and adversity an opportunities to learn, grow, and get tougher. Thanks, Ashton!

Well, aren't you just the sweetest friend? Thank you, Ashton!