Tom Burns

True story! More than twenty years ago, I was sitting down on a Sunday evening reading the paper. (For you millennials, a newspaper is like a website you can hold in your hands.) In the real estate section, there was a student condo listed for sale near the University of Texas. I turned to my […]

I live in Austin, Texas. It’s a great town and I’ve been here for 50 years. People are moving here by the thousands. I understand why. It’s a hip town, with plenty of options. There are seven lakes within an hour’s drive. New restaurants pop up every month. The music scene is electric. And the

Today was “Student Day” at church. It was a big departure from the regular service, and it was fun! The biggest thing I noticed was the enthusiasm of the middle school and high school-aged students. They were excited to be on stage and excited to sing and share their joy. It was infectious. I went

Last night I asked my Inner Circle members what success looked like to them. The answers were thoughtful and honest. Most valued the ability to be with family, enjoy life, and serve others. Each person mentioned, in one way or another, the potential to have freedom of choice and the desire to live life to

(Greetings from the beaches of Belize. Thankfully, technology allows me to get you something useful and not have to be in front of my computer!) My mother always taught me to speak properly and avoid foul language. I tried, but didn’t always live up to her faith in me. As I’ve matured, my speech patterns

In 2004, the movie, Friday Night Light Lights was released. This was a dramatized account that followed the 1988 season of the Odessa, Texas Permian Panthers high school football team. There’s a scene at a hamburger joint where a thirty-something guy sits down, uninvited, with the current high school football stars. He appears to have

There is a lot of talk recently about President Biden and congress changing the tax laws. If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve likely seen this before when there was a party change in the White House. Will these changes be good or bad? As always, it depends on your point of view. Some of

April 30, 2021. It’s 2:00 on a Friday afternoon and I find myself in a place I’ve never been. Today I saw my last patient and did my last surgery as an active orthopedic surgeon. I am now “in transition.” It ended with little fanfare, though I did choke up a bit when I walked

I was driving from Dallas to Austin, Texas yesterday and it struck me that it is important to pay attention to your environment. You must be aware of the cars around you, especially as you change lanes. There is constant monitoring of the speed limit, the gauges in the car and the signs on the

There is a saying that to be successful and protect your valuable time, you need to learn to say “No.” I couldn’t agree more. There is so much demand on our time these days that we could allow Twitter, Facebook, Zoom and lunch meetings to easily dominate our lives without thinking about it. The time