Today is my wife's 31st birthday. :)

Here are a few of the most important lessons she has taught and shown me over the years.

1. Wake up and work hard everyday.
2. Being alone doesn't mean you have to be lonely.
3. Love can be shown and received in an infinite amount of ways.
4. The purpose of life is to create our purpose.
5. Sign up to do the hard thing.

Let me elaborate.

I have never seen anyone who wakes up day in and day out and crushes days like Erin does. And I have been around a lot of type A, super competitive people..she is the top of the list. She inspires and motivates me everyday to dig deep within myself to do more, be more, and achieve more while I have a beating heart to do so.

Erin is able to spend days on end with just herself. She can keep herself entertained with her high level of creativity, her own personal excursions (many of them involve running), and her ability to just enjoy her own presence. More people in today's world need to learn this skill!

Love is found in the daily habits of people. Sometimes it is the hug. Sometimes it is saying the hard thing that someone needs to hear. Sometimes it is picking up dinner on the way home so that your person doesn't have to cook after a long day. I am blessed to have a wife who understands that love can be shown and received in a multitude of ways.

Life will beat you up if you allow it. Or you can choose to beat life right back. Erin has had her fair share of trials and tribulations, yet through it all she has continued to choose to define her purpose everyday. THRIVE ON LIFE exists because of Erin challenging myself, and us, to define our purpose.

Engineering degree from an Ivy League school. Check.

Move far away to a new city and state. Check.

Enter a career dominated by males. Check.

Deal with personal life tragedies. Check.

Do it all and continue to run hard, work out, and put up with me.... CHECK.

^^^ Erin has always purposely signed up to do hard things. She actively lives a life that challenges her to grow every single day. This is one of the things I love about her most because just by being around her, it challenges me to be a better human. And I cannot wait to have our future kids follow her lead.

Life is meant to be LIVED.

And I am beyond blessed to live mine with Erin.

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I tell you all of the above because if you find yourself searching for a quality partner, first look in the mirror and make sure you are striving for quality from yourself first.

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Happy Birthday to the love of my life. I look forward to all the days/months/years to come.

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. I am grateful for all the memories I have with Erin. I met her at age 10... so thinking about how we have been friends for 21 years brings a huge smile to my face thinking about the memories.