If you haven’t noticed yet by meeting me or seeing the image on the front page of my web site I’m a proud Bostonian true and through. Patriots Day is Boston’s day. We take time to celebrate the pride and determination that made (and makes) this country and this city so great. The Boston Marathon is a symbol of that pride and determination and we invite everyone from around the world to experience it with us. It is arguably the most difficult marathon to compete in and yet every year thousands of people challenge their bodies and minds to cross that finish line while raising millions of dollars for various charities and other good causes. There are no politics, no religion, no “us” versus “them,” no malice towards others, or any of the other negativity that usually surrounds us in our day to day lives. It’s competition at its purest form and represents everything this is good and right about who we are as a people and a nation.

I was on my way home after going to the Red Sox game with friends that ended with a walk off hit off the wall in the bottom of the ninth. The weather was perfect and I was tempted to walk by the finish line of the marathon to experience the scene since I hadn’t been in a few years. Thankfully I decided to go home instead and spend some time with my daughter. I packed myself onto the subway train along with everyone else and headed home. We came to a stop right under the Copley T stop and didn’t move for over 15 minutes. We had no idea what had just happened right above us.

I’m not going to say the events of yesterday took away our innocence or that things will never be the same since I feel that type of mentality gives whoever did this the real victory they were looking for and I refuse to allow that. I truly believe we will come out of this stronger and more unified as a city and a nation. However, what happened yesterday does put a lot of things in perspective for me, especially from a work perspective. No matter how busy I am, how stressed I feel, how many challenges I face, or even how big of a sale I may lose, they all pale in comparison to what those people above me at the finish line went through and will now have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Our problems are all relative and none of mine are that bad when it comes right down to it.

What ultimately matters in my opinion is being a good person and making a difference in the lives of others. Giving our time and money to various charities is one way of doing this and is something I highly recommend. I believe we can also accomplish this in some small way in our daily lives and our careers. We can choose to not let the small stuff get to us. We can choose not to spread negativity. We can choose not to get stressed out about every little thing. We can also choose to be positive, give our best possible effort in everything we do and look to make a difference with every interaction we have with others. Let’s choose to make a difference today and every day moving forward while remembering there are those who don’t have that option any more.