After using earbuds for my iPhone that had wires fraying and padded ends that had fallen off on my last flight home, I decided it was time for a new pair. I had an iPhone upgrade in November which still hasn't happened, so I wait. Some silly things delayed are so small and simple.....

We often think of the many changes we want or need to make in life and become overwhelmed as to where to start. I have finally come to realize that taking a small step towards where I want to be is okay...... It is, after all, the many steps in the right direction that take me where I want to go....

Being on the west coast, in the midst of the "sunny California lifestyle" and all that it encompasses, has made many things much clearer to each of us. This was a journey of countless small steps that have led to life changing experiences we would not trade, in spite of the hardship and hurdles.

Prior to my recent flight back to LA, I had purchased the same style earbuds I had before. The sound quality was much better than my old pair and I realized what I was missing for so long..... I had learned to deal with it. I allowed myself to make adjustments to live with less than the best........

They worked fine for the last few days until I found myself frustrated with the same situation where the earbuds fell out. The sound was not clear in my ears; they did not fit me. Again, I struggled to "hear" like I wanted to. I wondered why I was dealing with this same issue again.

While out gift shopping today I found the pair I wanted; the kind that I could receive from without struggling to hear and not lose the "sound." The price was right and more importantly, they fit ME. I didn't have to feel bad for needing or wanting to what works for me.........

On another 4th of the month, I am finding myself even more..... through loss. As I find more of myself, more of my God, I have more to give to others. I needed to hear for myself, to understand why things happened the way they did. I have to come to grips in my understanding to guide my kids through........ and I am here to help you.......

While I certainly don't have all the answers, I continue to listen intently....

The first time you do something requires a lot of investment. Time, sweat, tears, sacrifice. Taking that leap is so difficult and, at times, painful. This is the learning process.

I have always had a passion for learning, but I never loved school. School restricted my creativity; it tried to fit me into a box and make me conform to specific, predetermined ways of thinking. I turned to art and design because it gave me an outlet for expression that no other subject could provide. It let me creatively solve problems and answer questions with more than just a pencil and paper.

I've always asked questions, in no small part because of my dad. He asked questions that he didn't know the answers to all the time. If there was no answer, most people would just accept it and move on. Not my dad. He always asked questions as a carpenter, and the next thing I knew he was solving the problem with his own creative solution. He also wrestled with big questions about the universe and Heaven that he didn't have answers for, inciting a flame in me to ask the same.

I recall being laughed at in classrooms when I would accidentally ask an obvious question. It was embarrassing, but my desire to understand was greater than my desire to appear a fool. Eventually I learned how to ask better, smarter questions to get the results I wanted.

I was amazed in college when my peers would not ask questions. Even when everyone in the classroom was thinking the same thing, wrought with confusion, few would speak up. The indifference and cowardice bored and sometimes angered me. I would ask not for them, but for myself because I wanted and even needed to know.

Since then, I've gotten better at asking the right questions to get the answers I want. Then again, sometimes I ask too many questions, as a friend recently informed me when we were planning on meeting up. "You ask too many questions," she said, so I asked more just to annoy her.

Admittedly, questions can be annoying, but, it might be the only way to grow and learn. The process is never easy, requiring investment and hard work. The initial breakthrough demands intense focus, often resulting in stressful days and sleepless nights. When you want to give up is exactly when you have to push through. You have to learn to manage the stress, as the influx of knowledge and processing of information changes your mind.

It has been scientifically proven that learning is addictive, and I can attest to that. I love enveloping myself in learning a new technology and putting it into practice. The more I've pursued learning, the more I want to learn. There is no feeling like the sense of accomplishment you feel after you've labored relentlessly to create something brand new.

While I am curious about most things, my interest is peaked at the intersection of design and technology. That is where I do most of my learning. Being targeted in my approach helps me learn more efficiently. I know that I cannot comprehend the entire world, or even the entire worlds of design and technology, but if I can learn bit by bit, it will add up.

My own experience has taught me that learning accumulates. You may not remember specifics, but the influence of what you learned is still there. It has shaped, even in a small way, who you are and what you know. The knowledge snowballs until it is a powerful mass that can be used to build things, including snowmen.

Therein lies the value of experience; it is the accumulation of knowledge over time. It cannot be taught because it has to be earned through experience over time. Experience does not happen overnight, but is a process that starts with a question.

Don't be afraid to ask.