"The Last of the Human Freedoms"

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." 

                            -Victor Frankl

This message was ingrained in me from birth and has remained a core value of mine. 

My grandfather was the sole survivor of the holocaust among his large family. He managed to lift himself back up from a literal hell on earth and to rebuild - the Nazis had taken his home, his wealth, and everyone he had ever loved, but they could not take his freedom to choose his attitude - his freedom to choose to persevere and to rebuild.

My grandmother was born with a weak heart. Her doctors did not anticipate that she would live long... But she defied science and outlived her doctor, living well into old age. 

As a young woman she married my grandfather - the doctors told her she could not survive childbirth... but she defied science again and had four beautiful children.

As a young entrepreneur I employed a group of amazing teenagers and young adults from the inner city of Baltimore. Many of them faced trauma at home and on the street, attended schools that didn't believe in them and grew up in a society that had given up on them. And yet, those young people chose to overcome, they chose to be more than anyone ever expected of them, and so they did.

It breaks my heart when I see people become victimized by their surroundings; when I see people lose faith in themselves; when I see people give up. 

Life is going to tell you a lot of BS stories about who you are. It's your choice as to whether you believe them. You are ALWAYS free to choose your attitude - to choose your way!