With Regard To Life

Slow Down

I was visiting a wife and mother of four at a meeting today. She was on her way home for a few minutes before heading out to her daughter's volleyball game. She remarked that she did not think her family would have another night at home until November. I don't think she is exaggerating a bit. I can count on one hand the number of nights I have free between now and November. Summer doesn't really end until after Labor Day weekend. But most kids have returned to school and the cycle has started all over again. Life is busy, not just at my friend's house, but in many homes. It is good to be busy but don't let stuff control your life. If you do you will likely risk not having a life. Take some time each day, maybe multiple times a day, to stop, rest and reflect. Take care of yourself and your family. Clear your mind. Reduce your stress. Some stress is good. So is balance. You need to become very good at saying 'NO.' I am doing better, but I have not yet perfected it. There are some very worthwhile things that would be even better if you were involved. But the timing might not be right. Be intentional about saying YES to the things that will strengthen your family. I have heard it said that kids spell love T-I-M-E. Sometime this weekend, grab your family's calendar. Make time with them a priority. Write it down. Make it happen before life gets in the way. Today's Winning Thought: Invest in yourself and your family now. You will not get these minutes back.

Things I Read Today

Here are some different things I read today. The first one is probably useless. You will think, 'who cares.' The others are dead serious. Ponder them this week. Today's useless thought: An estimated 11 billion paper clips are sold in the United States each year. I read it in an article about a company that is trying to reinvent the paper clip. Lots of luck. The traditional clip is about a penny a piece. This new one would probably be about 16 times that. Think on these thoughts. "When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." "If you make yourself valuable and memorable, others will want to make you part of their network." "No matter how rough things get this week, stay in it." "When something about you bothers me, I need to take a long look at me before bothering you." Today's Winning Thought: "Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on what he is made of."

One Of Those Nights

I was watching the 10 o'clock news tonight. The newscaster is a solid veteran, a gifted professional who could work anywhere he wanted to. The sportscasters are not as skilled. They are hard for me to watch. In fact, I don't very often. On this night, there was a glitch with every story in their segment. It was bad enough that I might have scrapped all of the video and just read the script. If he needs an audition tape this is not the night he will choose. On a night like that, you just have to keep working through whatever is going on. Just get through it and start over tomorrow. A couple of nights ago, the New York Yankees hit three grand slam home runs in one game against the Oakland Athletics. Baseball teams play a 162-game schedule, so there will be days like the Oakland Athletics had. Like the television reporters, the A's response should be to put the bad day out of their minds, regroup and go back to work tomorrow. Today's Winning Thought: Problems are opportunities for growth and learning.

Prepared

If you have been watching the national news lately, just about the only thing you have heard is about Hurrican Irene. Prior to Saturday, all the talk was about preparing for this storm, which was forecast to be the worst in 25 years. The coverage changed Saturday as Irene hit the North Carolina coast. People were warned. Local and state officials and the media have left no stone unturned in helping people prepare to weather this hurricane. To prepare is to make ready or suitable for a specific purpose. Are you prepared for the specific things in life? Are you prepared to meet the challenges of parenting, or your career? Are you prepared to stop and listen to, and walk beside a friend who is facing adversity? Are you prepared to share the hope you have and live out your faith? Are you - were you -prepared for the downturn in the economy? Are you prepared as the economy slowly improves? Are you prepared to make the necessary changes to improve your health? Are you prepared for whatever life brings you? Because life has no guarantees, we must be prepared. Today's Winning Thought: "Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land." Ecclesiastic 11:1-2.

Be The Ball

I heard something pretty profound today. I would like to share it with you. If you know anyone dealing with adversity or going through a tough time in their life, please share this with them. Darren Hardy, author of THE COMPOUND EFFECT, and publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, calls it "be the ball." It was actually a quote from the movie Caddyshack. Hardy said when you fall - WHEN, not IF - don't collpase or lose hope. You have not failed. Bounce back up. The bounce converts a fall into victory and tha harder you fall, the higher you can bounce, Hardy said. Hardy said the impact when we hit the bottom will be painful, but that pain is what creates the force and energy to send you in the right direction again. Hardy said restoration begins once you bounce. The ball begins to regain its shape after the impact of the fall. Your identity is not defined in the fall, but rather by your ability to rebound decisively, Hardy continued. He said, you will rise up again, quite possibly higher than you were before your fall. If you are struggling, be the ball, as Darren Hardy suggests. You will fall, the impact will be felt, you will experience restoration and you will be elevated. Today's Winning Thought: "You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth might be the best thing in the world for you." -- Walt Disney. It was for me.

Bad For Baseball

I was fortunate enough as a youngster to be able to attend a handful of major league baseball games. I loved watching the game in the big league parks. Say and believe what you want, but those guys are role models. They were then and they are today. I was in awe of the big leaguers. I waited outside the locker rooms hoping to see the players and grab an autograph as they made their way to the parking lot. I wanted to dress like them, walk like them, talk like them and act like them. Don't tell me they did not make an impression on young boys. There were a few who were arrogant and full of themselves. And there were some who did not respect the game, or anyone or anything else. That is a perfect description of Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano. This guy has a problem. Rather, the Cubs and Major League Baseball have a problem. Zambrano is the biggest hothead in the game. Last week, the team suspended him for 30 days without pay for an incident in a game against the Atlanta Braves that led to Zambrano being ejected. He cleared out his locker and left the team, running out on his teammates. A few of them hope he keeps running. He won't be allowed to take part in any team activity during the suspension. It was the strongest penalty the Cubs could enforce without releasing him. Releasing the pitcher would have been the right decision. The Cubs have given Zambrano way too many opportunities to get his act together. This guy has proven he has no class. He has issues, a poor attitude being just one of them. He was on the team's restricted list for six weeks and sent to anger management classes last season after he was involved in a verbal altercation with a teammate. Those classes did a lot of good. In 2009, he was suspended following another tirade. I can understand this happening one time, but Zambrano is over the top. He is bad for baseball. You must expect more out of someone who was given a five-year contract worth $91.5 million. There are many fine young men who are working their butts off hoping for one chance and this jerk is making a mockery of the game. He should be ashamed of himself. Some of his teammates reportedly are. They don't want him around as long as he has this attitude. Then there is Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. Zambrano could learn a thing or two from the Yankees captain. I was listening the the radio broadcast of the Yankees game with Kansas City a few days after the Zambrano incident. Former Royals great George Brett was talking about Jeter. He recalled something from the previous night's game. Jeter had just hit a triple and there was a pitching change. Brett told the story of Jeter standing at third base talking to Royals rookie infielder Mike Moustakas. During the conversation with Moustakas, Jeter told him to just keep working on his game and that he was going to be a good player in the major leagues. That was classy, and something you might expect from a veteran and future Hall of Fame player. Another thing about Jeter: he lives in New York where the media can be tough. You don't hear very much, if anything, negative about him. Today's Winning Thought: Carlos Zambrano could have added value to people. He chose a different path. Like one teammate said, "He has made his bed, let him sleep in it."

An Adolescent Needs You

Somewhere there is a young person who needs you. I read an article today that included this statistic: Adolescents need five adults in their lives to help shape their character and make it through the tough years. Some, but certainly not all kids, have two parents. Let's assume that they also have another family member, and perhaps a coach, teacher or pastor. There is still room for you and me. I would be honored to be one of the five adults young people need, and to serve them and influence them. What do you have to do after you make the list of any given youngster? Just love them. Listen to them. Encourage them. Pray for them. Kids want to be heard. They want to know if you care, and if you are real. I know some kids who are struggling today. I don't know where, when or how their lives got off track. But it did. Some are bleak, but none are hopeless. Today's Winning Thought: Think of the young people in your life. Invest in one or more of them.

This Ain't HGTV

There is a major home improvement project in progress at my house. It is major to me. It will be nice when it is is finished, and will add value to our home. But this ain't HGTV. It is taking a lot longer than 30 minutes to complete. I have good people doing the work and I am staying out of their way. But it is still going to seem like forever until it is finished. This home improvement kick start about the fourth of July. It seems like the fourth of July 2008. Did I mention I sometimes struggle with patience? Thirteen years ago, when our daughter was in third grade, we never imagined that one day she would return to that school and volunteer. Kyle has Down syndrome, but she loves to read and being around people. She was hanging out at summer school earlier this year with a family friend. Another teacher noticed her and asked if she would help in her room this year. She is reading, giving the kids attention and handling some chores for the teacher. And loving it. Today's Winning Thought: Watching Kyle serve in the same building with many of her former teachers makes me feel old. It also makes me very happy that she has the opportunity to give back.

Small Things Make All The Difference

Emily Dickinson said you can gain more control over your life by paying closer attention to the little things. Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval wrote a great book that speaks to that. It is entitled The Power of Small. Here is one of the great stories from their book. It seems that a major restaurant chain - a client of the ladies - was losing a lot of money because crystal was breaking much too frequently. It reached the point that regional and district managers met at one of the company's restaurants to search for solutions. They discussed new training programs and replacing the crystal with a different brand of glassware. A busboy overheard the executives conversation and pulled one of them aside. They walked to the kitchen, which is where the problem was. He showed them how the commercial dishwasher vibrated. Repeated vibration might have ultimately led to the breakage, he thought. He was right. It was just a little thing but switching the dishwashers saved the company millions of dollars. I don't know if the busboy received a promotion, but the story in The Power of Small indicated that the restaurant company gave the busboy a large tip - a $150,000 tip. Today's Winning Thought: Pay attention to the little things. You never know which one might be a big thing.

What Kind of Life Do You Want

One of the first questions I will ask members of the Sunday school class I teach his Sunday is how they would complete a letter to God that begins, "Dear God: The life I want for myself is . . ." That was their assignment for this week. It will be interesting to hear their thoughts and some of their letters. I have thought about that question, in part because I will probably be expected to share my thoughts with the class. What I will share, and part of what I wrote, is this. The life I want most for myself is a life that inspires, encourages and challenges people to do more, serve more, live more and be more. I also want to be more patient with people, be more tolerant when it is right, and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. I read a quote today that said life can be understood backwards but it has to be lived forward. Are you living life forward? What do YOU want most for YOUR life? What is preventing you from living that life? What are you doing about it? If you you to change something, when will you make that change? Today's Winning Thought: "Choose to be hopeful. Rather than focusing on the obstacle in your path, focus on the bridge over your obstacle. When you start seeing bridges rather than obstacles, everyone around you will start to see the bridges too." -- Mary Lou Retton