Elizabeth Diley – Ann Arbor, MI
Every day. Someone. Smiles. Somewhere.

Every year, the Black Volunteer Network at the University of Michigan hosts a scholarship weekend in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They invite high school juniors and seniors from Detroit to participate in activities on campus and experience college life first hand. I was so blessed and honored to have the opportunity to share my story and experience with these young people this past Sunday as a Keynote Speaker. I wanted to stress to the high school students the importance of education and making a conscious decision/choice to be remarkable. You can take a listen to my speech directly below. There are also pictures after the jump!

Watching two extensive documentaries about Tim Tebow this past weekend changed my life. Please watch this full program. (Parts 2-7 are after the jump) I don’t think I’ve ever been this inspired.

Mike Tirico – Ann Arbor, MI
Every day. Someone. Smiles. Somewhere.

I had the wonderful privilege of honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. yesterday by being the Keynote Speaker at the Romulus Community Celebration at Romulus High School. It truly brought joy to my heart to share a few words. For my speech, I expanded upon my piece “Wisdomisms – Breaking News: Someone is Waiting on Your Story.” I will hopefully get the video feed soon, however, I wanted to share my speech with you today:

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to stand before you as we honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is with great appreciation that I am here, and I do not take it lightly. So I truly thank you. This is a stupendous day. God is so good and I give him all honor and praise for allowing me to be here with you today.

I always like to ask myself interesting questions. And as I was going over my notes for today’s speech last night, I stopped and thought to myself, “wow.” Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in 1929 and was assassinated in 1968, at the age of 39. And we are 43-44 years later and we still to this day, make sure to stop…pause…and celebrate his life. So I asked myself, “Why?” “What was so different?” “What was so unique about this individual that every year we make sure to stop…pause…and celebrate his life?” I continued to roll this over in my head.

Courtney Funchess – Ann Arbor, MI
Every day. Someone. Smiles. Somewhere.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Preacher, Activist, Civil Rights Leader
This is where you’ll find wisdom. Click “Read More.”

Mark Jackson & David Merritt – Auburn Hills, MI
Every day. Someone. Smiles. Somewhere.

“The Pursuit” will be a bi-weekly feature on Goodness Determined, written by my brother, Hayes Grooms IV. He’s extremely intelligent and talented, so make sure to check back often for more. You can also follow Hayes on Twitter – @H_Grooms

Failure. No one likes to fail, yet everyone has. Of course, it’s not something that we shout or boast about because it doesn’t feel good—in fact, it feels terrible. Yet, as much as we prefer not to own up to it, everybody has failed. Whether it’s an executive telling you that you are not qualified enough, and that you should go back to school. Perhaps the business banking team thinking your business plan is not efficient and not achievable, or, the head coach sitting you down in his office, and mentioning that you cannot be on his team because you lack the talent. The experience is universal. We’ve all heard: You’re too young. You don’t have a clue. You don’t know what you’re doing. Do you have any idea of what you’re getting yourself into? Yes, everyday folks, fail every day. Seldom do we ever embrace the failures. It is the lessons learned in these failures that are the crown jewels. Look at how these people bounced back from failure:

Tom Wyrot – Iowa City, Iowa
Every day. Someone. Smiles. Somewhere.