The human heart is greedy; it will use religion, color, or any other excuse to justify its greed. Blame the human heart. - Bono

"The elephant in the room" is a phrase I enjoy, having at different times been either elephant or room. We can lose ourselves in situations or conversations and miss the obvious. We're looking for someone to save us or a solution to a problem, and they're right in front of us hiding in plain sight.

BOOKS! I DON'T KNOW IF I EVER TOLD YOU THIS, BUT BOOKS ARE THE GREATEST GIFT ONE CAN GIVE ANOTHER

Service, ambition, duty, loyalty, the desire to be the best, the desire to say yes — not such bad character traits to have cherished. I always thought of them as strengths, but lately I wonder if somewhere along the line they became a cover for something more suspicious. The demand to be at the center of the action. To make God in our own image, to help her across the road as if she were a little old lady. This perpetual longing to be filled with the extraordinary so that you begin to lose appreciation for the ordinary.