Meet David.

David is a greatly intelligent man, with quick wit, kindness, and goodness to boot!  He is super funny and fun to be around and just an all around swell guy. I’m really excited for you to meet him. 

What is something you hope to instill in your kid(s) as they grow up?
I want my kids to feel empowered to make choices to direct their lives. They don’t have to do things just because that’s what the people around them are doing. They must be true to themselves, choose for themselves, and have conviction in what they’ve chosen. They don’t have to change the world (though they can), but they shouldn’t let the world define them.

What is a life lesson you remember learning as a child?
My parents were great at resisting my childish desires. I wanted a great many things, but they didn’t cave. I got a few gifts for Birthday’s and Christmas, but anything else I had to work for.

But instead of just telling me “no”, my parents encouraged me to find ways to obtain what I was after. They encouraged me to be creative and indulged my siblings and me in our attempts to accomplish our goals. I learned that I may not be able to do a thing now, but if I can do it if I want it bad enough.

Do you believe it’s important to “see the bigger picture” ?
You can probably get along fine in life without seeing “the bigger picture”, but when you start looking for the “bigger picture” you start to see life a little different. You start to see how interconnected everything is.

It’s like when you realize you have two friends, from different parts of your life, that somehow know each other. You hear the stories they have about each other and the times they’ve spent together and you get a glimpse of your friends which you never had before. It’s like all these gaps in your understanding get filled in, when you didn’t even know the gaps existed.

Do you believe people are innately good?
As a general rule, yes. I know I’m trying to make good decisions based on what I have and what I know, and I have to believe that other people are doing the same thing. What they have and what they know are different than me, so of course we make different decisions.

Most of the time things go smoothly anyway (think about all the people you encounter each day that don’t harm you), but sometimes we don’t see eye to eye. At those times I try to imagine what could have possibly caused them to make the choice they did, and I can usually come up with a pretty reasonable explanation. If I can come up with something (even though I’m probably way off), I am reminded that the other person is just like me – just doing the best they can.

What do you think it takes to truly love one another?
You have to be willing to accept other people for who they are. You have to accept them, despite their flaws, just like you would like to be accepted despite yours. I have found that getting to know a person’s struggles allows me to gain a better understanding of who they are, and allows a deeper feeling of love to exist.

How has being a father changed your perspective on the purpose of life?
I’ve always wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Now that my son is in my life, my focus has shifted to the lives of my little family. I still want to help out others that I meet, but now I have the opportunity to affect one little person more deeply than I could feasibly do with just about anyone else.

But more than just meeting his needs and enriching his life, I can teach him to look outside himself and have a positive affect on others too. Then, with me doing my part, my wife doing hers, and my son doing his, we can do much more good than we could have by ourselves.