Showing posts with label Resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resolutions. Show all posts
Friday, May 4, 2012
I resolve...
It has been brought to my attention that I have failed to post a few articles on my blog as I usually do after the articles have been published. Below you will fins the article written for the first of January 2012.
The slate is wiped clean. The resolutions have been made again. We are given the opportunity to resolve to do many of those things we resolved to do last year and failed. But 2011 brought challenges that prohibited our goals from being met. So, if we did not succeed in reaching our expectations, or at least our hopes, what did we learn from those experiences? The philosopher and poet George Santayana is quoted as saying, “Those that cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 2011 was ripe with learning opportunities. I know what I have learned and I hope that you too have learned from mistakes made. Sometimes, if we are wise, we can learn from the mistakes of others so that we don’t have to make them ourselves.
For example, in sports, can we all say we learned never to underestimate an opponent? Watching the Southern Miss versus UAB and Marshall football games proved that point to some respect. I think that Houston may have learned that lesson more than anyone.
The economy may be showing signs of recovery. If we do come out of this recession soon, will we learn from our mistakes? I’m not talking about the government. I’m talking about taking personal responsibility. For instance, when gas prices rose to around $4.00 per gallon, what changes did you make in your driving habits? Did you keep those same changes when the prices dropped to around $3.00?
In my business I have found that making wiser purchasing decisions allows me to remain open when other independent small businesses are closing all around me. Those same decisions hold true for my household expenses. We have learned that, if we don’t have the money for something, we don’t whip out the plastic with the idea of paying for it later. Becoming debt free in my home and my business was not enough for us. Remaining debt free has been equally important.
If your 2011 included the loss of a loved-one, I hope you have learned that long life is not promised to any of us. Take no relationship for granted. Never pass up the opportunity to tell someone how much you love and appreciate them.
I’ve also learned that just watching what I eat is not enough. Exercise is mandatory. Hopefully a combination of the two this next year will help me lose the 20 pounds I need to lose. My 2011 “lose 15 pounds” diet only added 5!
This year brings a class reunion to the table that I am looking forward to attending. I’m no longer the skinny, mop-headed boy of yesteryear nor am I the man I had dreamed I would become. I have, however, found a happy medium. The most important lesson I can pass on this year to the youth of today is that life doesn’t come with a spell-check. If you made mistakes, don’t dwell on them. Learn from your history.
Better yet, learn from mine.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Have you ever had the opportunity to play a video game? If you grew up in the United States anytime after the 1970's I'm almost positive you have.
Have you noticed how addictive they are? I'm sure during the school break for the holidays many a parent heard their child asking for just one more minute so he or she could complete a level.
If you have played a game you know that a minute's frustration leads to a moment of joy as you finally defeat the enemy on the 32nd attempt.
When you finally find yourself on the 5th level you remember back to when level 1 was so hard. And you never thought you would make it past level 3.
Do you ever wonder how you did it? How is it that you can go back now and play the game breezing through steps that you once thought too difficult to master?
No matter how prodigious a gamer you may be, you can never get through the game without failing at least once. Even if you bought one of those guides telling you how to play and win the game, you had to have failed at least once.
And even if you searched the internet and found a "walkthrough" written by someone who has already completed the game, you had to have fallen to the enemy more than once. How did you do it?
I think I have the answer. I think you did it by not giving up the first time you failed. Look at a child beginning to take her first steps. Yes she falls but she gets up and tries again. Why? Because she desperately wants to achieve her goal.
In life I believe we all want to succeed. We set goals we want to achieve. We buy the guides to walk us through the steps necessary to attain those goals. But all of the goal setting, all of the manuals, all of the preparations we make will not keep us from falling occasionally. It is how we respond when we fall that truly makes those goals obtainable.
This year, when you find yourself stumbling, don't GIVE up. GET up. Dust yourself off and don't tell yourself you will never get there.
Find yourself a guidebook, a mentor, a role model (for me it is my Bible, my pastor and my father), and convince yourself to not give up because you've failed 31 times.
If you've set a resolution for the year, remember, the year isn't over just because you slipped. The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, but so does a journey of 999 miles.
Have you noticed how addictive they are? I'm sure during the school break for the holidays many a parent heard their child asking for just one more minute so he or she could complete a level.
If you have played a game you know that a minute's frustration leads to a moment of joy as you finally defeat the enemy on the 32nd attempt.
When you finally find yourself on the 5th level you remember back to when level 1 was so hard. And you never thought you would make it past level 3.
Do you ever wonder how you did it? How is it that you can go back now and play the game breezing through steps that you once thought too difficult to master?
No matter how prodigious a gamer you may be, you can never get through the game without failing at least once. Even if you bought one of those guides telling you how to play and win the game, you had to have failed at least once.
And even if you searched the internet and found a "walkthrough" written by someone who has already completed the game, you had to have fallen to the enemy more than once. How did you do it?
I think I have the answer. I think you did it by not giving up the first time you failed. Look at a child beginning to take her first steps. Yes she falls but she gets up and tries again. Why? Because she desperately wants to achieve her goal.
In life I believe we all want to succeed. We set goals we want to achieve. We buy the guides to walk us through the steps necessary to attain those goals. But all of the goal setting, all of the manuals, all of the preparations we make will not keep us from falling occasionally. It is how we respond when we fall that truly makes those goals obtainable.
This year, when you find yourself stumbling, don't GIVE up. GET up. Dust yourself off and don't tell yourself you will never get there.
Find yourself a guidebook, a mentor, a role model (for me it is my Bible, my pastor and my father), and convince yourself to not give up because you've failed 31 times.
If you've set a resolution for the year, remember, the year isn't over just because you slipped. The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, but so does a journey of 999 miles.
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