Background

Although I’m always happy to engage in dialogue with any audience that I’m given the opportunity to share my experience with, the “Casino Night” was more of a brief overview of my and the RAWZ Fund’s connection with KBIC rather than a Q&A. In sharp contrast was a presentation to a group of 6th graders I was fortunate to make this week with ThinkFirst: National Injury Prevention Foundation.

With July 4th marking the 18th anniversary of my TBI, the latest MTSB blog post pulls double duty: Sharing gratitude for my own recovery and the amazing opportunity RAWZ has given me to be a part of a dedicated team of people who've contributed over $3.2 million to helping people and pets since 2015 with pet parents and independent pet specialty retailers!

After all, with comfort resulting from the predictability of future events, joy and success being difficult to guarantee; the risk of opting for a predictable outcome of difficulty and misery can be appealing and achieved through self-sabotage.

That said, I will be taking a bit of Spring Break myself! I can almost hear my grandfather, Jim Scott Sr., commenting, “Listen to this one, in his 40’s and he still thinks he has Spring Break!”

Witnessing his journey to build a life where he positively impacts so many lives as a teacher and coach, and who with my favorite Sister-in law Katie, has given us two little angels (Nora and Ruby!) has been a privilege and inspiring. Of course, perhaps my favorite moment with Andy wasn’t exactly one for a Hallmark Movie…

In case you may be thinking that I have a slanted view of a more egalitarian view on recognition or only want to give accolades to high performers due to a history of collecting trophies, I’ll point out a couple of things: First, I’m only 5’3” and obviously have therefore known my fair share of loss and disappointment. Secondly, and perhaps more important, my seasons of competitive sports have certainly included a few times on winless or nearly winless teams.