(This is Part One in a series on people I know who inspire. People who've taken the lemons life handed them and with them, made lemonade.)

One of the qualities I admire most in a person is an ability to take a bad situation or circumstance, learn from it, and turn it into something positive. For those currently experiencing a crisis, this may seem like an annoyingly Pollyanna viewpoint. However, I'm a believer in the old saying "everything happens for a reason", and that somehow, someway, something good can come out of even the worst circumstance if we are open.

A lot of people think that once an artist gets a record deal, they immediately become stars. In fact, the percentage of artists that record a song on a national label that becomes a hit is actually quite low. As listeners, we turn on the radio and hear a song we like, not realizing the blood, sweat, tears, time, and money that went into getting that song on the radio.

Although New Year's Day is the first holiday of the year, because it follows Christmas and is in the dead of winter, to me it never really felt like the new beginning it was suppose to. I was never much of a new year's resolution person anyway, so to me it was the day to clean up after the old year!

We all have a "how I survived the snowstorm of '08 story". Yours may involve a stranger lending a hand; or a shovel. Or, maybe you were one of the many stranded at an airport, or on the road.

My story began as a business trip last Tuesday.

Ok. fair is fair.

I posted the 10 Things A Guy Should Never Say To A Woman, so it's only right to post a follow-up. Freelance writer Craig Playstead put this list together, pointing out that although guys are guilty of saying things they shouldn't, it's time we ladies knew there are a few things that won't score us any points with the man in our life. For the most part, they're an open book, but we need to know there are things women say that make guys cringe.

So, as a follow-up...

I didn't write this. But I am doing a public service to all men by sharing it! My good friend and boss Nick Anthony always asks: "Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?" 

By following author Jessica Murphy's advice, you may not be right, but you're bound to be happier!