Greetings Review readers! Let me first start with an introduction, my name is Christopher Barlow and I am the writer of this new column “Heart to Head.” I have been a writer for some time now. None of my works have been published as yet, though I hope to rectify that in the near future. I am an employee of a large company, a father of two lovely children, and a man with a vision.
“Heart to Head” is a big part of that vision. Through this column, I hope to achieve many things. I hope to provide understanding, a new type of empathy for others, and I mostly hope to offer some hope to a society that seems like it has forgotten what hope is.
For so many, it has become difficult at best, to dare to dream of a better tomorrow. I truly believe that this is because we have forgotten ourselves. We fail to remind ourselves that the bad things we see in life cannot exist without the good. Death cannot happen without life. Yet we forget this sometimes in our race to progress.
It is my hope that this column will become a constant reminder of all the good that exists out there, in these times where it seems the bad has overshadowed the good. I think we all need a reminder of this from time to time.
Finally, I want to express to all of you that I am as average as any of you. That, I feel,  is what makes this column far more personal to you the reader. The words come from someone just like you. They come from someone who struggles, strives, and endures just as surely as you do in your daily lives.  I hope knowing this; will make the difference in how you choose to view my words.
I hope you will enjoy my thoughts, as much as I enjoy writing them.
So to start it all off, I have a question for all of you. When good things happen in your life, how many of you feel like you should be waiting for the punch line after it happens? How many feel like these good things that happen are some kind of prank, and you sit back waiting for someone to step out from behind a big curtain and tell you it was all a big joke?
If you answered, “Yes that's me! That is my life!” then I have some advice for you. Stop putting so much pressure on, not only yourself, but the situation in question.
So many times in my life, I have walked around feeling like this. Then one day I realized that it was not some cosmic joke, I was sabotaging my own future by taking a negative or neutral attitude towards each situation.
So are you, it would seem, if you answered yes to my question.
It is not some unseen force that pushes us to succeed or fail; it is our own abilities to see things through to the end that make the difference. We all have the choice to say “I've got this!”, or to sit idly by and wait for imminent failure. This is what separates those who do great things, from those wish to do great things; a positive attitude.
Some confuse positive thinking with conceit. When people confuse my positive thinking with conceit I simply tell myself, “I'm not conceited, just convinced.” It has worked for me so far. Maybe a new positive attitude is just what you need to get over life's little bumps!