This October will mark the fifth anniversary of losing my best friend and business partner to cancer. For those of you that knew John, know that he was very active in our community and sincerely made a world of difference for many people. His bio is on this site.

When he left this world, he had seven grandchildren and that number will soon be eight. He and his wife Stephanie helped build a family that exemplifies what two people can create with love, devotion and genuine caring.

He was a role model to many and, for me, an extraordinary mentor. The lessons never stopped—whether they were about business, relationships, or simply navigating all of life’s complexities. One page could never do justice to everything I learned from his guidance and, perhaps even more importantly, from watching him lead by example. I was blessed to have someone I could lean on for anything.

There were three mindsets he never stopped reminding me about:

Treat everyone with kindness.

Live in the “now.”

Never worry about what may not happen.

Treating others with kindness may seem easy but living in the present and not worrying about what may or may not happen can be much harder. It goes against human nature to not think ahead, and certainly, we cannot disregard the importance of planning for the future. However, it is about balance.  It took me years to obtain this balance and some of the most important mindsets to have may indeed take years to acquire.

Peter Janowksy