It is the sad but true order of things in life. Sometimes through no fault of your own bad things end up happening to good people. Call it lessons in character, call it karma or just call it bad luck. We have all experienced this in varying degrees. For some people it can be a minor setback. For others it can be crushing.

 It is going to sound like a cliche and rightly so because it is; but it's not necessarily what happens to you which will end up defining you. What matters is how you react to it. What, if anything, you can learn from. It matters how you dust yourself off and get back on your feet. If you're going through a tough time in life right now, you may be reading these words and dismissing them. Please don't. Life works in mysterious ways that are sometimes just plain bad.

 I am reminded of something that happened to me while I covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the late Summer of 2005. Most of the people I met had their homes destroyed. Not damaged but outright destroyed. Yet they were more worried about showing hospitality to first responders and members of the media than their own dire situation. I spent a lot of time with a Las Vegas Metro Police officer named Todd Raybuck. He was a good guy and he and some other officers had volunteered to work disaster relief in the areas hardest hit by Katrina. On my last day with Todd, my photojournalist Mark Mutchler and myself interviewed Todd amidst dead trees and pieces of homes ripped to shreds by Katrina. I asked him what lesson he had learned from all of this. He paused for what seemed like a long time before answering me with one line that was packed with more wisdom than Todd realized;

 "Don't let Katrina steal your soul."

 What is your Katrina? What has happened to you that has given your a minor (or major) setback in your life? How do you get around it? It's important to ask the questions. Do not lie down and let the bad things in life defeat you. Stand up! Refuse to be defeated! The only way you truly lose in the game of life is if you allow others to define you. Don't let Katrina steal your soul.

 Quote Of The Day: "Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything." George Lois.

 This Day In History: Disney's 'Bambi' opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on this date, August 13th, 1942.

 Something You Should Check Out: Ever wonder what it sounds like when a power blackout is happening? On November 9th, 1965, New York City experienced a major power outage. It started about 5:30PM with brown outs hitting the city. Dan Ingram was on WABC Radio when the blackout started. Listen as the falling power levels affect the record player, slowing down the song on the air and listen to Ingram's classic reaction.