Chuck's Lemonade is a recipe for inspired thinking and living, for finding gifts when life gives you lemons, and for turning your lemons into lemonade.

I live on a beautiful little island named Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, and I live here with my wife Renee. I am also the father to three grown and wonderful children, Jonathan, Brett, and Alyssa. I am also a son, a brother, a brother-in-law, and a friend to many wonderful friends who are like family.

My passions are listening to music (I used to write and make music, and I am admittedly an old 80’s hair band rocker, but now I mostly just listen), taking long walks on the beach, writing, teaching, and being an inspiration to others.

My professional career includes over thirty-five years in business management, business ownership, strategic business development, sales and sales management, and marketing. My experiences span many industries, including construction, information technology, accounting, business management software, and business management consulting.

My Chuck’s Lemonade story spans my entire life:

• My youth, my upbringing, and beginning my struggle with guilt

• My awkward teen years (whose wasn’t, right?)

• My 20’s, which included getting married just weeks shy of my 21st birthday, and being a kid raising kids

• My 30’s, which included returning to college and finally finding the gift of my college education

• My 40’s, which included waking up from a life of not wanting to deal with—or be honest with— things that I struggled with and things that weren’t okay for me. I separated from my wife and had many questions, so many in fact that I decided to begin counseling. During one session I asked my counselor, “Why would I do this?” and “Why would I allow these things to happen when I know they are wrong for me?” She smiled, and then calmly told me that it’s because:

“You used to see with yesterday eyes, and now you see with today’s eyes!”

That was an “ah-ha!” moment.

Later in my 40’s, I would experience the pain of divorce. I also would begin the process of improving my relationship with my children. This included realizing how much I loved them, how much I didn’t want them to only know me as the “yesterday’s eyes” me, and also becoming the kind of father I wanted to be. I start living my life seeing with and using today’s eyes!

Today, in my 50’s, I see and live every day through today’s eyes. I realize how positively this affects me and others around me. This includes my new marriage, my children, my mom and others in my family, my friends, people at work, and life in general. This also then leads to positive changes, including where I live, how I work, and doing things that make my days and my life great.

Has life ever given you lemons?

Has life ever let you down?

I get it. I’ve been there, too.

Life doesn’t always go as you planned, or as you wished. That’s life.

It’s what you do next that matters most!

I’ve struggled with my lemons much of my life. I had a guilty upbringing, one that led me to live a mostly guilt- ridden adulthood (into my early 50’s). I was unwilling early in my adulthood to get comfortable being uncomfortable, and to realize that less is more, so much so that it led me into a financial disaster that took me ten years—and a lot of pain (for me, and for others)—to overcome.

I had people close to me who couldn’t seem to break the cycle of chaos, drama, and guilt.

I had an ego that didn’t want others to know me—really know me—flaws and all.

I often kept so busy I had little time to breathe, just breathe.

My life hit a turning point one day when I just couldn’t do it anymore. I recognized that something had to change, so I decided to change myself. Unfortunately, this change caused more pain, both for me and for others.

It was during this transition that I learned and began to practice better habits. These habits included making life- changing affirmations and answering questions like, “What am I grateful for today?”, “What would make today great?”, and “What will make my life great?” Then I got busy acknowledging and appreciating all that I had, and consciously and intentionally making my days and my life great.

Things changed even more when I developed, and began to practice, H A B I T S, the ingredients in Chuck’s Lemonade, and I no longer allowed negative emotions and feelings like anger, anxiety, blaming, boredom, chaos, complaining, drama, fear, frustration, guilt, pity, regret, resentment, stress, and worry to control my mind, and my life.

This doesn’t mean that negative things never happen to me or happen around me, that I never feel any of those feelings, or that I am never uncomfortable, because that’s not life. The truth is:

Life doesn’t always go as you planned, or as you wished. That’s life.

It’s what you do next that matters most!

After years of hard work (on me), and years that included counseling and making some very difficult and life- changing decisions, I now think better, live better, and react better when things don’t go as planned, or as I wish. I practice thinking better, such as spending more time celebrating what I have, versus stressing and worrying about what I don’t have. I practice living better, including consciously and intentionally making my days great, and this includes living how I want to live, where I want to live, and doing what I want to do. Because it’s my life. It’s my great.

You can think better, too.

You can live better, too.

Develop good daily habits, and practice them. 

Learn H A B I T S, the ingredients in Chuck’s Lemonade, and practice them.

Do this and you, and others around you, will be better off for it. Because, as I’ve said,

Life doesn’t always go always go as you planned, or as you wished. That’s life.

It’s what you do next that matters most!

Chuck’s Lemonade ingredients: H A B I T S

H, as in Honesty
Live honestly, with yourself, and with others.

A, as in Acceptance
Accept what you cannot change, and change what you cannot accept.
Expect less, and accept more.

B, as in Beach
Find your “beach”. Your “beach” is any space or place you visit to think better.

I, as in Inspiration
Find inspiration, live inspired, and be inspiring.

T, as in Trust
Trust your gut. Your gut doesn’t lie to you, like your mind does.

S, as in Service
Love and serve, yourself and others.
Do things to make others smile (it just might make you smile, too).