"No Shortcuts"

I was early for an overdue meeting with a friend as I walked into a south Denver restaurant. “There will be a dapperly dressed gentlemen who looks like a silver fox walk in here shortly,” I informed the friendly waitress. “Tell him I’m in the back, okay?”

The friend is Arthur McDermott. He’s one of those “positron” kinda people you just like to hang around with. He’s a successful developer, doting grandpa, loving husband and cares about community – a good man. After he arrived at the restaurant, we dive right into discussing a Comeback Coach project “Pep Talk Partners” that could really use his involvement. As we discuss the project’s merits, he chimes in, “What you’re talking about sounds like the stuff you used to talk about when running Camp Fire USA.”

That takes my brain to Camp Fire USA’s founder Luther Gulick. What a guy he was. Back in 1910, he observed young men marching off to summer camp opportunities and wondered, “What the heck are we doing for the girls?” So Gulick and his wife started Camp Fire Girls – today coeducational and Camp Fire USA – to help girls develop skills for work outside the home and to promote physical fitness. A century ago, few believed learning professional skills or exercising was important for girls. Gulick thought otherwise.

As the Comeback Coach, when presenting Run to Daylight, I often talk about Gulick. Born in Hawaii in 1865, he was a real visionary who also played a role in the development of the YMCA, Boy Scouts and basketball. Gulick, in founding the country’s oldest non-sectarian youth development organization, constantly stressed three qualities he felt were vital to a healthy and productive life: hard work, healthy choices and respect - for self, others and community.

Can you imagine what our world would look like if each of us - today, tomorrow and all this week - adopted that terrific trio as our motto? What would our world look like? We don’t have any guarantees, but I like the odds it would look pretty good, don’t you?

A man I respect greatly, Arthur McDermott, reminded me of another man I respect greatly, Luther Gulick. It has inspired me to encourage you to work hard, make healthy choices and show a little respect for self, others and community.

Simple, not easy, I realize that. When the temptations hit this week to deviate from the game plan, try and remember this: There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.