Luceat lux vestra is latin taken from the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel.  It means “Let your light shine”

Thirty days ago tomorrow Martyn Ballestero encouraged me to write a blog.  I was hesitant.  He had seen great success with his blog, in my opinion. He persisted in encouraging me, and even set up my blog to get me started.

So here I am, on the brink of thirty days later, very surprised at how many wonderful people have taken time to visit my blog.

I would like to take this moment to say thank you.  I know you all lead busy lives.  It is so gratifying to have people visit and leave comments.  I thank you.

Writing this blog has given me a new perspective on life.

We all need a new perspective at least once in our lives!

In the late 1960’s there was a young man who had a dream of becoming a famous musician.  He knew what he wanted so he dropped out of high school and began to play his music. He was one credit short of his diploma.  His thought was, I am not going to Columbia University, I am going to Columbia records!

The opportunities came slowly.

He found himself playing in small dirty clubs.  He was playing his music to drunks night after night.  This was not his dream!

He had dreamed of playing to sellout crowds across America.  He dreamed of his music in the stores.  He even had the courage to dream of playing to a packed baseball stadium.  No one had ever thought of that or dreamed it.

It was not an easy road.  He had come on difficult times.  He was broke.  He was a failure.  His only joy in life was his girlfriend.

He and his girlfriend slept in laundromats to save hotel bills.  Finally one day she got sick of all the travel and failures.  She had dreamed of being married to a famous musician and singer. This was not the life she had dreamed of.  She left him.

This young man felt like there was nothing left in life for him. The night she left him he made an attempt to commit suicide. He drank a bottle of furniture polish and a bottle of vodka.  The next day, very sick, he checked himself into a mental institution.

Less than three weeks later he checked himself out.  He was a new man. He was refreshed and excited about life. He was cured!

He had not been given any medication of any kind. It was not anything the doctors or nurses had said to him.  The mental patients had cured him!

They told him how gifted he was, and they made him believe he could have so much more from life!

He was given a new perspective on life!

He walked out of that mental institution resolved to pursue his dream.  He would do whatever necessary to achieve that dream.

Three years later he wrote a song called “The piano man”.  Today most people in America have heard of Billy Joel.

June 22 and 23, 1990, Billy Joel played to sell out crowds of ninety thousand people at Yankee stadium.

Billy Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States.

Billy Joel had Top 10 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s and has 33 Top 40 hits in the United States, all of which he wrote singlehandedly.

He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time Grammy nominee and has sold over 100 million records worldwide.

Billy Joel

We all need a new perspective at least once in our life.

I have a new perspective because you have read my blog.

Thank You!

Luceat lux vestra!

Thanks for reading today.