Who the hell is Rick Lybarger and why do you want to listen to anything that I have to say?  Great question!!!   Frankly I didn’t know who I was and a few years ago I decided it was time to find out.  My life was about image, ego, and pretending to be someone that fit into a nice box with a great cover.  The last 25 years I’ve spent as a successful financial planner, father, coach and friend. I had a nice house, a fancy car, and a country club membership. It seemed on paper pretty good.  But I wasn’t happy.  I drank and ate too much, got divorced, and deep down was angry with life. I played small and pretended to be happy.   Learning to play small was easy, it’s what I was great at from an early age.  It’s how I managed to survive and hide from my roller coaster ride as a child.  Like many, my parents got divorced when I young.  My father was an alcoholic and his drinking cost him his career, two years in jail and his family.    These events were a lot to deal with so I buried them deep inside and did my best to pretend that none of it was happening.  In the mist of this I was looking for a body guard and someone to protect me from the shit happening in my life.  My body guard was a young adult who helped me feel safe and protected.  Sadly there was a cost to this relationship that ended up in me being sexually abused.    Being a master at hiding my feelings I did the best that I could to hide this as well.  My goal in life was to feel happy, safe, to enjoy life and pretend that everything was just fine.  I held it together for a long time but, you can only pretend for so long before things start to unravel and changes need to happen.  I wanted change as badly as I wanted to breathe.   I share these things not for you to feel sorry for me.  Frankly some of you reading this may have worse stories than me.  I’m not here to compare.  All I know is that this was my hell.  It was my shit sandwich and PTSD from life.  Deep down I knew there was something more and I wanted to have it.  I started looking for answers through therapy and found motivational speakers like Tony Robbins sharing their formulas to success and happiness.   I bought countless books on happiness, meditation, self-healing and became obsessed with finding the keys to unlocking my joy.  Feeling like the next book, class, or romantic relationship would be the one I needed to make the shift.  I still couldn’t find the answers that would give me joy and take away my pain.   Bottom line though all of this I was looking for something outside myself.     The shifts in my life came when I stopped making excuses and blaming others for my unhappiness.  I turned within and discovered all the compassion, trust, self- worth, and love I needed was mine to receive from myself.  This wisdom gave me an empowering new way to live my life and became the foundation for Wisdom Won.