Is there really such a thing as a stupid question? While most of my school years were spent feeling too embarrassed to actually raise my hand in class for fear that I would indeed be the one student in the history of education to ask that “stupid question,” I’d like to ask one now. “Can I ask a question?” Seems simple, right? Well, unless you ask something stupid, then not only shouldn’t you have asked, but you’ll suffer the consequences for asking. Suffer? Consequences? Huh?

You win a sing-along contest. The moment comes and you’re ready. Nervous, but excited, you’re on stage when prompted. You sing one lyric. Everyone turns against you. What the heck? N-Word, A No-No Actually, this has little to do with race or lyrics or even the performer who I have no idea their name. Instead, let’s discuss the value of standing on solid ground. But to give you some context, a woman won a contest in Alabama, and was invited to join her favorite rapper on stage

Building A Better Man Men have been under the gun since…well, the very beginning. So what are our options? The only true option is to move forward toward building a better man. But throughout time, men have amassed personal pain along with their earthly accomplishments. A big part of manhood is silently enduring the hurt as a wayward medal of valor. It’s left us wounded, more fragile than we’d ever acknowledge, in an unwelcome transition of gender roles, and unsure where to s

1 of 31 Days: What Is It To Be Good I’ve been wanting to post daily for a while, but that old rascal life gets in the way. I enjoy doing the weekly FIT@50 posts, but I felt like stretching my legs here each day. Stretching It Out I hope y’all don’t mind, but I’d like to talk about anything on my heart. I’d also love to see you post up here each day with whatever is on yours. Through the years I’ve developed a habit of telling people goodbye and adding, Do Good. Leah usually s

FIT@50 / week 73 Kinda Weird: We came back to Louisiana for a few days while the kids were tucked away at summer camp. There were things left to do right before school resumed. Had it been notebooks and rulers, we would’ve knocked out quick. It was more involved – it’s always more involved. Thanks to an unscrupulous builder (much more on that later) we’ve no base camp with Max heading back to the grind next week. With the helpfulness of our community, finding digs was no prob

Change Responsibly – Stretching the Police: Going through old files, I came across a collection of video topics from my former agency’s annual summit. This, like many agencies host meetings to set the tone and sharpen the vision. There are only messages of community service through most agency missions. Police are not the enemy. Their job is difficult and challenging. It is truly a double-edge sword where you’re the savior who pulls daddy off from molesting his daughter, yet

FIT@50 / week 68 Talk, It’s What’s For Dinner: Liliana Hart & I eat out. A Lot. It’s what we do and what we enjoy. We work at home, so our chance to avoid being creepy homebodies is to go out and socialize with other humans. I love talking to people, so it’s a natural fit for me. I actually chased down the mail carrier to say hello. The kids also eat out. A Lot. It’s what they do, and what they enjoy. Besides it’s easier and much quicker to feed eight than to buy various food

FIT@50 / week 66 True Power: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix This week I received two notices about Chief of Police positions in Louisiana. My immediate thoughts were “No thanks.” It was about this time last year that I’d announced my August 28th retirement date. I would’ve never in a million years thought retirement from the only job I’d known would’ve been a reality. To be honest, I just assumed, and was happy w

FIT@50 / week 65 It’s Because: Guys, this week has been so incredible. It was actually after 11:00pm before Liliana Hart reminded me it was Friday and that I’d forgotten to post my FIT@50. That’s just how amazing this week has been. This was our first family vacation since Disney last Christmas. We swam, BBQ’d, go-carts, arcades, stayed up watching movies, and ate bacon late at night (don’t ask). It was also our anniversary (I remembered) Memories from my childhood were so st

FIT@50 / week 64 3 Seconds: A few years back I wanted to compete in a triathlon. There was only one problem. I was a 260 lbs powerlifter and had no clue how to swim. I walked until I could jog and jogged until I could run. I bought a cheap bike until I could sustain the mileage and then I bought a less cheap bike. I taught myself to swim, but nearly drown in my first race under the white caps. I came out of the water number 2498 out of 2500 athletes, but I came out of the wat

FIT@50 / week 39 Let’s Walk The water in the background is Bayou Lafourche. Growing up in Cajun Country I swam in that bayou, paddled a pirogue in that bayou, fished in that bayou and played in that bayou. I never once in 50 years ever walked across that bayou. Not until recently. It was a Saturday festival downtown and we looked for the rare space to park. I suggested we walk. And we did. About half way across I stopped and told Liliana Hart it was the first time I ever walk

FIT@50 \ week 9 Signs and wonders: As I’ve matured, leaning on faith has become something on which I focus. Wishing I could say it came easy wouldn’t be the truth. I think it’s a by-product of occupational conditioning. Cops assume everything someone says is naturally not the truth until proven otherwise. Skepticism requires a difficult deprogramming process, but is necessary for learning to trust others. The bible talks about reliance upon signs and wonders versus leaning on

FIT@50 \ week 5 Legacy Building Talking with a newly promoted commander I encouraged him to consider how he wanted to be remembered. “Think about building your legacy today,” I said, “not on your deathbed.” He leapt to his feet and shared a movie scene he felt applied. Warring kings agreed to have their respective champions fight in their place. King A calls a giant, menacing soldier. King B calls a guy—who’d decided to sleep in that morning. An apprentice was dispatched to r

FIT@50 \ week 4: 1 hour – I was feeling a bit omniscient this week as my 25th year in law enforcement roared around. Sharing a few old stories with the guys helped me reflect on how incredibly different my life had turned out. Our historical journey migrated to a generational generalization. You know the one about, “kids now a days…” Seems the moment 8 hours of accrued leave is earned, some employees miraculously become ill for precisely 8 hours. Just then a commander interru

It’s My Anniversary: This has been a banner year for me. Within weeks of celebrating my 50th birthday, I’m now blessed with my 25th Anniversary. This is the date I answered the call, and the lifelong desire to serve became reality. It’s the day I became part of another, much bigger family that didn’t always share with my first one. It was the year I first gained new brothers and sisters, and became part of something mystical called the Blue. My Anniversary also means more tha

FIT@50 \ week 3 Empathy: It’s okay to care. No matter how “fit” I’ve become, minding my own business has always been my business. During the many years in special operations my job was to know other’s secrets. I was good at my job. Knowing the darkest moments in another person’s life is a cross of confidentiality I understood I’d carry to my grave. Over the years it might have even caused me to construct a wall around my empathetic understanding. During a church service I loo

FIT@50 \ week 2 Finding this picture earlier I thought about how much better shape I was then than now. Behind my computer the adrenaline returned to re-experience the rush. I still sensed the empty state of exhaustion after having completed an open water swim and a long bike, to only prepare for a long run. Then I took a deep breath, hit “save” on this document and looked at the picture of me. In that chaotic ocean of nylon, Velcro and carbon fiber—it was just me—alone. It w

Who am I kidding, this Friday series has helped me journal a path from what I thought was important to what I know is important. I’ve enjoyed it and not ready for it to end. Although the name is changing appropriately enough from FITx50 to FIT@50. I’ll share that when I began the Friday posts my goal was to exercise like a teenager leading up to his prom night. On the big birthday I’d rip open my shirt to expose a 6-pack of carb-free abs (kinda). What ripped open instead was

In these last 5 years of working Mardi Gras as the Chief of Police, I’ve experienced many changes. I’ve also seen that the most important things remain constant. 1. The people in the City of Thibodaux are amazing & know how to celebrate safely. 2. The staff at the Thibodaux Police Department are committed to community policing. 3. The members of the various Mardi Gras krewes cherish cultural value & Cajun tradition. 4. Max and I still look forward to our annual parade rout

The Eulogy: 2014 Over the last few days I’ve witnessed so many who’ve cursed or eulogized the last year; yes 2014. Instead of rejoicing in the 365 days of life God allowed them, they dismiss the gifts of grace in hopes of happenstance instantly or magically changing their circumstances. What makes a person believe that the tick of a second-hand tock is going to erase the hardships, the failures, the could-have-beens, the should-have-beens and the never-have-beens? Good things