After enough begging I
finally gave in. The fish tank was set up in the girls’ bedroom and they were
so excited. Days passed and the excitement wore off. Weeks passed and there had
to be reminders to feed the fish. Months passed and I was fed up with the fish
smell oozing from the bedroom every time I walked down the hallway.
Cautiously I began dropping
hints after all this was going to be quite an accomplishment I could add to my
dad resume. Two girls ages four and five were sly to my tactics by this time.
Finally after enough discussions about how much work the fish had become. After
what seemed like the 500th tank cleaning. After several reminders to
the girls how much more simple life was (B.F.) Before Fish. It was time.
Gathering the family
together for a special movie night I prepared the popcorn and then unveiled the
featured presentation, Nemo! It couldn’t have been a more perfect setting to
conclude the movie with a discussion about how these poor tropical fish we were
holding captive needed to go find their family in the lake near our house. Of
course I suspected these tropical fish wouldn’t survive the lake. Okay I more
than suspected but I refrained from reading up on anything like that so my
motives could be innocent and pure!
Alas the girls agreed that
the fish should be set free. We made our way the very next day to the boat
dock. The girls were very excited! As we got out of the car I carefully carried
these orphaned fish that were bound to find their long lost families. “Nemo is
coming home!”, I shouted as the girls and I walked toward the water. They were
very pleased at this wonderful deed I was leading them in.
Carefully I dumped these
precious little foster fish back into the water setting them free when suddenly
it happened. Five ducks appeared from behind the dock thinking we were there to
feed them. Quickly they swam right up to us and ate Blacky. Then they
shamelessly and without conscience continued as they ate Bubbles.
With very few options I
shouted very loudly, “Wow! How
awesome is that?!?! We got to let the fish go and feed the ducks all at the
same time! Let’s go tell mom!” To which they responded in stunned silence for a
few seconds searching for perspective and then it happened. They yelled, “Yeah!
Hurry! Let’s go tell mom!”
We’ve all heard that when
life gives you lemons you should make lemonade. The truth is, however, the
lemons life gives us tend to already be in our mouths. The natural thing to do
is pucker up and make a horrible face. Translating unexpected and difficult
situations into hopeful circumstances takes constant practice.
Life is not about what happens to you but
rather what happens in you when things happen to you.
A Harvard University study
revealed that 85% of the reasons for success, accomplishments, promotions, etc.
were because of our attitudes and only 15% because of education, intelligence
or talent. Incredibly talented people are overlooked every day because of their
inability to get along with others.
Circumstances are often out
of your control but your attitude is 100% your responsibility. Don’t let other
people or situations choose your attitude for you. Your attitude determines
your altitude in almost every situation.
Babe Ruth is known as The
Homerun King. Interestingly enough he had almost twice as many strikeouts as he
had homeruns with 1,330 strikeouts to his 714 homeruns. Nobody, however has
called him the strikeout king. The reason is because the homeruns were counted
and the strikeouts were not. Life is about learning to count correctly. Don’t
let your strikeouts get you down. Get back up to that plate and swing for
another homerun! Marriages fail because they focus on strikeouts. People grow
discouraged in their careers because they focus on the strikeouts.
Successful people are not
people who never experienced failure. Successful people are people who learn
from their mistakes. Thomas Edison is known as possibly the greatest inventor
of all time. It might surprise you to know that 8 out of 10 of his inventions
never worked. His attitude was one of constantly moving beyond mistakes to keep
striving for a better future.
Once a reporter asked
Edison how it made him feel to have had 1,000 failed experiments when trying to
invent the light bulb. Edison responded, “They were failed experiments.
Successfully inventing the light bulb was a 1,000 step process.” At age 67
Edison lost all of his work to a fire that completely burned his factory to the
ground. The next morning as he walked through the ashes he is quoted as saying,
“There is great value in disaster. All of our mistakes are burned up. Thank God
we can start anew.” Three weeks later the world’s first phonograph was invented
and thousands more inventions would come before his death.
The Beatles were turned
down by Decca Recording Company because, “We don’t like your sound & guitar
music is on way out.” Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball
team, “because he lacks skill.” Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because
he, “Lacked imagination and has no original ideas.”
Statistically we fail more
than we succeed so how we handle failure is directly linked to our ability to
succeed. Failure becomes fertilizer when we allow it to help us grow. Learning
to manage pain is a critical component to providing leadership in different
situations. One young pastor had introduced a variety of changes to a church
that had asked him to come. Suddenly the church began to grow but not without
opposition. One day the young man stepped to his pulpit to find a card with the
word, “Fool!” waiting for him. As he picked it up before the entire
congregation he made an announcement. Many times I’ve known a man to write a
letter and not sign his name. This is the first time I’ve known a man to sign
his name and not write the letter.
“Speak when you are angry and you will
make the best speech you will ever regret.” - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
American journalist
Choosing to remain positive
in what can often be a negative world is vital to your success in every way.
Attitude truly is everything. I don’t claim to be an expert in this field but I
have learned something about taking personal responsibility for our decisions.
As a child I was abused sexually. My dad is a Christian today who is a
wonderful man. However, I grew up with a different man as my father. He changed
jobs on average five times a year holding more than one hundred jobs over a
twenty-year period. Nobody in my family had ever graduated from high school and
I had reasons to opt out myself.
Your decisions determine
your destiny.
I don’t claim to be an
expert but – High School – Sexual Abuse – Dad 100 jobs 20 yrs – Repeatedly
filing bankruptcy. I’ve had to make a choice! It’s already been stated once in
previous paragraphs but worth repeating, Circumstances are often out of your
control but your attitude is 100% your responsibility.
A little girl went to her
grandmother’s house after a very difficult day of school one day. In tears she
explained how terrible her day was. Ridicule from friends, uncaring responses from
her teacher and a variety of traumatic things all voiced with great emotion. As
the grandmother listened the little girl hardly noticed her putting on three
pots to boil. Finally the grandmother put the carrots on one plate, the eggs on
another and straining the coffee beans she poured coffee into a cup. The wise
grandmother explained that the fires of life get turned up at times and we must
make a choice. If we are like the carrots we get soft. If we are like the eggs
we get hard. If we are like the coffee beans we become a fragrant example for
others to see.
There is something deeper
in every person’s life that holds us together. All of mankind is created in
God’s image with the ability to more than conquer in every set of
circumstances. Scientifically this is proven when we take a look at Laminin,
which is a cohesion protein.
Simply put it keeps our bodies from falling apart on a molecular
level. One glance at the
scientific diagrams and pictures of the only protein God put in our bodies that
keep us from falling apart communicates something profound. This cohesion
protein is in the perfect shape of a cross. Laminin brings great credibility to
Paul’s writings in Coossians.
Colossians 1:17 “Christ is
before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (NIV)
