On my way into work yesterday, I happened to look up as I swiped my key card. I saw an ordinary bird perched atop the building’s roof, without a care in the world. Thinking back, I don’t know why this less than impressive scene caught my attention. Like you, I have seen thousands of birds in my lifetime, perching in places of varying heights. After all, that’s what birds do. Nothing to see here, or so I thought.

This week, as I begin my journey to actionalyze (i.e. turn my dreams into reality), one goal I have set for myself is to seek daily to find meaning in the ordinary, light in the midst of uncertainty and edification in the seemingly mundane. But, what profound lesson could a bird perched atop the roof of an ordinary commercial building mean for my life? What could it mean for your life?

How one solitary follicle of grey hair changed my life

My name is Alma Ohene-Opare. On Saturday, February 16, I will turn 35. So, technically, I am a millennial, albeit on the fringes of that classification. In a world where 26-year olds expect to remain on their parent’s insurance, 35 is still quite young, with the whole world still ahead of me, apparently. So, it is not surprising to me that millennials have earned, in many cases deservedly, the derision of society, and appear to have either embraced or succumbed to the increasingly popular pejorative, “snowflakes”. But for starters, I am not a snowflake. I went to boarding school at 13, graduated high school at 16 and have worked my butt off ever since. At 35, I have been married for 13 years and currently in the process of raising 4 beautiful kids. I have a loving wife, a great job, a beautiful home, wonderful career prospects and all the necessities of life. In fact, you could say, I am living the American dream. As an immigrant who came here in 2003 with barely anything, that nomenclature has a wonderful ring to it.