Talking with my friend, I offered that I have teetered many times in my life, as life’s balance was a bit off kilter. Struggles and failure have visited me more often than occasionally. Yet, how I stood rather than where I stood enabled me to right the wrong, turn the corner, and get back on the proper path. Believe me, I’m neither an angel nor a saint, but I do know that faith is my life’s balance and serves as the fulcrum from which equilibrium is achieved. If life is a pathway whose direction is predetermined, we remain able to choose a divergent path. At times, the way chosen will lead us astray. We may receive what we longed for, but not what we initially hoped for. Wealth, riches, fame, and all things we long for, but what we hope for is tranquility, stability, and longevity. The familiar adage goes, “Be careful what you wish for; you might just get it.” But hope is something that we need not wish for; it is innate and ever-present. “Hope springs eternal, as they say. And as for me, I have wished that I could be many things. Many of my boyhood heroes I have wanted to become. I have desired wealth and fame, but the more accurate still is that I am neither wealthy nor famous. As a boy, I did hope and continue to hope for this day to be more like my father, who served his country during World War II: a good man, strong, dedicated to home and family, stubborn, determined, and able to be both critical of self and laugh about himself too. So, you see, as my father served, so too do I. So, it goes with everything in life: I hope to be, and I eventually--with hope--I am.