I’ve been in over 100 sailboat races.

I never won any until one Sunday morning race.

There were 20 boats at the starting line.

I saw that the first mark was just outside the tip of a peninsula.

The wind was coming around the tip of the peninsula which was heavily treed.

The rest of the fleet stayed together as they continued on starboard tack.

I decided to change direction and headed for the tip of the peninsula where the wind was strongest.

The rest of fleet was becalmed because of a lack of wind at their location.

I won my first race that morning because I didn’t follow the crowd.

Does this story apply to your life?

Do you do the right thing even if everyone is not!

Are you on a career path that excites you?

Live your life the way you want to live it!

If not today, when?

Seoul, South KoreaCNN — 

China’s newest, largest and most-advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, took a big step to joining the world’s largest naval fleet on Wednesday as it set out from Shanghai for its first sea trials.

The naval assessment is expected to take place in the East China Sea, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the Jiangnan Shipyard where the carrier has been under construction for more than six years..

All the US carriers, however, will retain two key advantages over the Fujian: power and size.

The US carriers are nuclear powered, giving them the ability to remain at sea for as long as crew provisions last.

The Fujian is powered by conventional fuel, meaning it must either make a port call or be met by a tanker at sea to refuel. (CNN)

I thought you might want to know!

He is 6-feet-7-inches and weighs 303 pounds. He can also run a 40-yard dash in 4.79 seconds.

With the 221st overall pick and the first pick of the seventh round, the Bills selected Travis Clayton, a former rugby player from the United Kingdom.

From Basingstoke in England, Clayton is one of 16 players in this year’s International Player Pathway program – an NFL scheme which allows athletes from across the globe to try to reach the league.

Clayton has never played in a football game but possesses the raw tools that could translate to play offensive tackle in the league. (CNN)

A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.

The happy couple’s employer, LOT Polish Airlines, posted a video on its Facebook page on Monday, showing the moment that Captain Konrad Hanc, clutching a bunch of flowers, popped the question.

“On today’s flight there is a very special person and I hope that she doesn’t expect anything,” he said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, about one and a half years ago in this job I met the most wonderful person that completely changed my life,” Hanc continued.

“You are most precious to me.

You are my greatest dream come true.

This is why I have to ask you a favor, honey.

Will you marry me?” he said.

The soon-to-be Mrs Hanc, Paula, can then be seen running down the aisle of the plane to hug her future husband. (CNN)

Let’s hope they will live happily ever after!

The NFL will allow players to wear guardian caps on helmets during games in the 2024 season.

During a webinar about how the league has improved helmet technology and made other safety provisions with equipment, NFL chief administrative officer Dawn Aponte said the league has decided to allow players to wear a guardian cap during games if they choose.

The equipment is used by players all the way down to the youth level and is even used in other contact sports like ice hockey.

It is meant to “reduce the impact of daily blows.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said it has produced a “50 percent reduction in concussions” for those who wore it in training camp. (CNN)

(Photo of one blade of wind turbine.)

New Delhi CNN — 

Five times the size of Paris.

Visible from space.

The world’s biggest energy plant will generate enough electricity to power Switzerland.

The scale of the project transforming swathes of barren salt desert on the edge of western India into one of the most important sources of clean energy anywhere on the planet is so overwhelming that the man in charge can’t keep up.

“I don’t even do the math any more,” Sagar Adani told CNN in an interview last week.

Its clean energy unit AGEL is building the sprawling solar and wind power plant in the western Indian state of Gujarat at a cost of about $20 billion.

It will be the world’s biggest renewable park when it is finished in about five years, and should generate enough clean electricity to power 16 million Indian homes.

Many of us find it hard to forgive.

Especially if the offense was committed by a family member.

At the time, it hurt so much.

That’s what makes it a painful memory and something hard to forgive.

We are also reluctant to forgive if there is no apology forthcoming.

The overriding emotion that should prompt us to forgive is the desire for love and family unity.

Today’s families are under a lot of pressure.

No family needs an unforgiven grudge to linger between its members.

How to let go is the challenge.

The abiity to forgive is godlike requiring unending kindness and maturity.

It is a goal perhaps never mastered but always sought after.

It may take a lifetime to achieve but always worthwhile.

Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

An effective parent must try to understand the feelings of other family members.

The only way to emotionally reach your spouse or child is to empathize with them.

It is not enough to say, “I don’t understand him or her!”

This statement prevents you from having a loving relationship.

You can’t approach problems from only your point-of-view.

You must try to put yourself in the other person’s situation.

You can’t say, “You shouldn’t feel that way” because they DO feel that way!

Teenagers and preteens have a whole lot on their plate.

The last thing they need is a parent who doesn’t try to understand them.

This also applies to your spouse.

He or she is trying to accommodate the two different worlds of home and work.

So, empathy with your spouse can make for a happier home.

Try to practice empathy.

If not today, when?

Communication in a family is difficult because various members are in different stages of life.

Probably the hardest to open up are teenagers.

Yet, attempts must made to reach them.

One important tool to lift family morale is a compliment.

Everyone wants to be respected and belong.

Compliments can achieve both of those goals.

A parent must look for those times when a compliment is justified.

Another way to get more oppenness is to have a one-on-one activity.

If a son or daughter has a sport they enjoy, the parent could at least be a spectator.

This shows you’re interested in something they’re interested in.

The ride home could allow both parties to discuss the game and it could even becom a broader discussion.

For some reason, teenagers seem more open when they are not face to face which a car ride provides.

Parents must also be open to other points of view.

There are so many issues today including politics, gender, climate to mention just a few.

You don’t have to agree.

You just have to be open to listening to another point of view.

I hope you find these ideas helpful.

If not today, when?

We all know the value of listening.

When you listen, you learn. Some say you cannot learn when you are talking.

Listening to family members can be especially difficult because you’re with them all the time and generally know what is on their minds.

And we always have something on our minds that may distract us.

To be a good listener, you must look at the person speaking. This is called “active listening.”

Your facial expressions let the person know they are important to you and that you value what they have to say.

” Tuning them out” or not paying close attention says, “What you have to say is not important or interesting to me.”

The price we pay for family harmony is often excruciating because parents must be the leaders and must be so patient in listening to children’s complaints they may have heard over and over again.

Everyone must feel that their contributions are valuable and important to the entire group.

Thoughtful and careful listening must be the basis of all discussions to attain the goal of family harmony.

If not today, when?