It was one of those Centennial State early November weekend days that, at least for me proclaims, “Dang, I love living here.” A good bit of vegetation grooming in the alley was complete, along with quick chats with three alley-sharing neighbors in Denver’s delightful Congress Park neighborhood. One of the families loves the fact I’ve left up, despite little use, a basketball goal in the alley. As I think about their words: “Our kids like to shoot baskets on it” my heart warms with thanks.
It also makes me think of Bill McCartney, for a few reasons. First, he and I have a bet to settle. You see, each of us fancies ourselves as pretty good basketball players, especially at shooting. Sooner or later my buddy and I are gonna have a shooting contest. Not many folks know McCartney, known as an outstanding football coach, was a standout athlete in three sports growing up in Michigan. He was the first Michigan prep coach to ever win a state football and basketball time in same school year. The guy knows how to play, coach and win. During our frequent visits over water and mud he likes to make a “swish” sound while warning, with an ear-to-ear grin, not to mess with him on the basketball court. I’m not smart enough to heed his advice. I”m just a simple dude from Missouri. He’s gotta show me! I also ponder, it might be wise to join the neighbors’ kids and use the adjustable hoop.
And then another thought, centering around brainstorming with the only coach to lead the CU Buffs, in football, to a national championship, crashes into my cranium. Our time together has taken me to a new level of effective prayer and inspires me to share and hope you find value in it.
McCartney likes to suggest, “there is no discussion without dissension!” To that, I say, “amen brother.” Our brainstorming sessions about the Buffs to the Bone project and other topics get animated. At that time, something very cool usually happens: we will stop and say a quick prayer - clarity and courage - to truly speak what is on our heart. Honesty in the best policy, right?
I learned it - stopping for a quick prayer in times of adversity or joy - from Coach Mac. Thanks. This quick, painless and empowering act seems, at least for me, to calm the spirit and allow articulation of what’s burrowed in the heart. Then it does get tricky because we also want to make sure what’s on our hearts is good natured!
I dunno, thought you might like to try it this week. When you’re in one of those tough moments where you know honesty in the best policy, but that’s gonna take a lot of courage, stop. Say a quick prayer like, “Dear God, give me the strength to speak what is truly on my heart” and then, share your idea, thought or suggestion.
The question becomes, “What is truly on your heart?” The answer to that question is vast, wide and deep. Let’s try like heck this week to make sure answering that question lies within the playing field of honoring, nurturing and adding value to communities served wherever roaming - home, work and elsewhere.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
This week's Pep Talk: "A Steady Diet"
There are moments in life that really define us. The circumstances of the experience may vary, but the strategies to successfully navigate the unexpected twists and turns, my opinion, rarely, if ever, stray. Stuff happens leaving us wondering, “What the heck is going on?”
But despite the bone-rattling experience, we persevere and march forward. We, as buddy Bill McCartney would say, “Lie on the battlefield, bleed a little, rise and march forward” with, despite the crap, hope and confidence. Coach Mac likes to talk about, “The greatest source of motivation is encouragement” and to that, I shout, a huge “Amen brother.”
I have always been in love with the definition of encourage. According to the torn and tattered Oxford American dictionary referenced often in writing Pep Talks, the word encourage suggests: “give hope and confidence to.”
Dang, can I have two? You? Imagine what our world might look like if everybody was walking around with hope and confidence? As I’m writing this on the first night of the 2012 World Series, St. Louis hosting Texas, almost 50 exotic animals, released from an Ohio refuge, are running wild. The community around Zanesville, Ohio was on high alert after a felon somehow ended up owning the sanctuary and, before taking his life, set the lions, tigers and bears loose. The media shouted, “Stay inside.” The communty, wondered, “What the heck is going on?”
Life throws us curveballs - mental, physical and financial - leaving us in that “WTH” frame of mind. We’ve all been there, right? Amen. The next step is critical. We must decide. Student, or victim, of the experience? Our choice, choose wisely, right?
I’m a simple dude from Missouri; been called many things in life, smart rarely one of them; but this much I do know: choose the former.
Dust yourself off and keep on trucking. Learn from it and become better because of it. That ain’t easy to do. So, what’s real important is to realize we’re not alone. Given that truth, let’s find other folks in the same boat and focus on one thing: encouraging one another! Give each other hope and confidence to put fear and self-doubt aside and allow wonderment to win in turning sour lemons into sweet and savory margaritas.
It’s real easy to talk about achieving but damn tough to accomplish. Back to McCartney, he’d say, “We’ve got some tough sledding ahead.” Yep, no question. However, the reward is so worth the effort. Challenge one another to move forward in ways honoring self, nurturing those dependent upon us and adding value to the communities we serve. Trust me, that ain’t a bad thing. To handle life’s twists and turns in ways helping us grow as humans seems a viable way to play like a champion in this crazy adventure we call life, right?
All this takes me back to a guy who taught me to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and under control. The fruits of a healthy and productive spirit. In the Bible’s chapter focusing on Galatians, Jesus talked to his social network about the benefits of embracing those noble nine traits.
It what seems a world with few absolutes can you imagine a world where we love one another? We’re joyful for whatever blessings exist; peaceful toward others; patience with same and self; kind; good; faithful; gentle and under control?
Man, I want to play on that team. You? Let’s make sure those nine fruits, available for daily consumption, are a steady part of our diet this week, K?
But despite the bone-rattling experience, we persevere and march forward. We, as buddy Bill McCartney would say, “Lie on the battlefield, bleed a little, rise and march forward” with, despite the crap, hope and confidence. Coach Mac likes to talk about, “The greatest source of motivation is encouragement” and to that, I shout, a huge “Amen brother.”
I have always been in love with the definition of encourage. According to the torn and tattered Oxford American dictionary referenced often in writing Pep Talks, the word encourage suggests: “give hope and confidence to.”
Dang, can I have two? You? Imagine what our world might look like if everybody was walking around with hope and confidence? As I’m writing this on the first night of the 2012 World Series, St. Louis hosting Texas, almost 50 exotic animals, released from an Ohio refuge, are running wild. The community around Zanesville, Ohio was on high alert after a felon somehow ended up owning the sanctuary and, before taking his life, set the lions, tigers and bears loose. The media shouted, “Stay inside.” The communty, wondered, “What the heck is going on?”
Life throws us curveballs - mental, physical and financial - leaving us in that “WTH” frame of mind. We’ve all been there, right? Amen. The next step is critical. We must decide. Student, or victim, of the experience? Our choice, choose wisely, right?
I’m a simple dude from Missouri; been called many things in life, smart rarely one of them; but this much I do know: choose the former.
Dust yourself off and keep on trucking. Learn from it and become better because of it. That ain’t easy to do. So, what’s real important is to realize we’re not alone. Given that truth, let’s find other folks in the same boat and focus on one thing: encouraging one another! Give each other hope and confidence to put fear and self-doubt aside and allow wonderment to win in turning sour lemons into sweet and savory margaritas.
It’s real easy to talk about achieving but damn tough to accomplish. Back to McCartney, he’d say, “We’ve got some tough sledding ahead.” Yep, no question. However, the reward is so worth the effort. Challenge one another to move forward in ways honoring self, nurturing those dependent upon us and adding value to the communities we serve. Trust me, that ain’t a bad thing. To handle life’s twists and turns in ways helping us grow as humans seems a viable way to play like a champion in this crazy adventure we call life, right?
All this takes me back to a guy who taught me to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and under control. The fruits of a healthy and productive spirit. In the Bible’s chapter focusing on Galatians, Jesus talked to his social network about the benefits of embracing those noble nine traits.
It what seems a world with few absolutes can you imagine a world where we love one another? We’re joyful for whatever blessings exist; peaceful toward others; patience with same and self; kind; good; faithful; gentle and under control?
Man, I want to play on that team. You? Let’s make sure those nine fruits, available for daily consumption, are a steady part of our diet this week, K?
Sunday, October 23, 2011
This week's Pep Talk: "Respect"
A recent errand took me into the neighborhood grocery store just a short walk - two blocks - from my Congress Park home on Denver’s near east side. One of the owners and I share a passion for golf and there’s also a U.S. Postal Service office within his store. We chatted for a bit, “business is slow” he admitted - bless small business owners fighting to survive! - before I headed toward the back of the store to grab a spot in line to mail documents to the mortgage company. I had to ensure it repairs were made to my humble abode’s roof following a Colorado summer hail storm. Hail is about the only thing that can screw up Centennial State summers, right?
I was second in line behind a gentleman who was, I was within earshot of his conversation with the clerk, mailing a rather large box to a adult daughter living in North Dakota. While the clerk worked diligently wrapping the parcel, the elderly man and I began to chat. I asked him how many children he had, “I have three grown daughters.” He asked me the same and I offered, “Two wonderful kids; a 22-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter.” Then, I couldn’t resist considering I’m a resident of that crazy hotel fathers dwell in while raising teenage daughters - I’ve never been a girl and know what boys are like at that age, asked, “Any advice on raising daughters?”
A sly smile broke quickly across his content and weathered face. “I had it easier in my day,” he offered. “Kids today with the Internet - he now has teenage granddaughters - have so many temptations far beyond our control.” Amen brother.
Our conversation shifted to marriage and this easy-going man, with another grin on his face, informed me of 54 years of matrimony. As a twice-divorced veteran of the marriage game I have always admired others who make marriage work and queried, “What’s the key to being married that long and be happy?” He must get asked that question often because there was no hesitation, “We respect each other and don’t get on each other’s nerves.”
Amen again brother. The delightful conversation included a few good chuckles and some sports talk but was over in a few minutes. A short while later, after completing my transaction, while walking back toward home thoughts about respect crashed into cranium. I have always been fascinated with that word, defined as “a feeling of deep admiration for someone, or something, elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements.”
I think we all have folks we respect, right? Family, friends, co-workers and others we deeply admire? Suddenly I remembered an acronym for “respect” that a few years ago bounced from my brain. Here it is: Reasonable Expectations Spark Productive Encounters Creating Tranquility.
Where this week could we exercise, toward others and self, “reasonable expectations sparking productive encounters creating tranquility?” Could it be what the doctored ordered as a prescription for solving challenging situations before us - home, work and elsewhere?
Operating from a foundation of respect apparently has worked well for an engaging man at the post office happily married for more than half a century, right? I’m just a simple dude from Missouri, but it seems respect based upon reasonable expectations can work for us too, wherever we roam. Good luck!
I was second in line behind a gentleman who was, I was within earshot of his conversation with the clerk, mailing a rather large box to a adult daughter living in North Dakota. While the clerk worked diligently wrapping the parcel, the elderly man and I began to chat. I asked him how many children he had, “I have three grown daughters.” He asked me the same and I offered, “Two wonderful kids; a 22-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter.” Then, I couldn’t resist considering I’m a resident of that crazy hotel fathers dwell in while raising teenage daughters - I’ve never been a girl and know what boys are like at that age, asked, “Any advice on raising daughters?”
A sly smile broke quickly across his content and weathered face. “I had it easier in my day,” he offered. “Kids today with the Internet - he now has teenage granddaughters - have so many temptations far beyond our control.” Amen brother.
Our conversation shifted to marriage and this easy-going man, with another grin on his face, informed me of 54 years of matrimony. As a twice-divorced veteran of the marriage game I have always admired others who make marriage work and queried, “What’s the key to being married that long and be happy?” He must get asked that question often because there was no hesitation, “We respect each other and don’t get on each other’s nerves.”
Amen again brother. The delightful conversation included a few good chuckles and some sports talk but was over in a few minutes. A short while later, after completing my transaction, while walking back toward home thoughts about respect crashed into cranium. I have always been fascinated with that word, defined as “a feeling of deep admiration for someone, or something, elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements.”
I think we all have folks we respect, right? Family, friends, co-workers and others we deeply admire? Suddenly I remembered an acronym for “respect” that a few years ago bounced from my brain. Here it is: Reasonable Expectations Spark Productive Encounters Creating Tranquility.
Where this week could we exercise, toward others and self, “reasonable expectations sparking productive encounters creating tranquility?” Could it be what the doctored ordered as a prescription for solving challenging situations before us - home, work and elsewhere?
Operating from a foundation of respect apparently has worked well for an engaging man at the post office happily married for more than half a century, right? I’m just a simple dude from Missouri, but it seems respect based upon reasonable expectations can work for us too, wherever we roam. Good luck!
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