Sunday Scripture Choice

Acts 17:11

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

SUCCESS: S*U*C*C- Committing

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."

Dwight D. Eisenhower- speech to the Republican National Committee, January 31, 1958

Sunday Scripture Choice

Psalms 25:7

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD

SUCCESS: S*U*C- Challenging

Although I think I could be happy to be rich by hitting the lottery, I don't think I or anyone else could claim any challenge to it. The closest one could get is the claim that they diligently "paid their dues", played every draw and got lucky and won.

Getting lucky, at least in this sense, is not challenging. It's just getting lucky. It's not anything from which you can claim personal victory. You can spend a lot of money and have a lot of fun and may never work again for the rest of your life, but no one, including yourself, is going to be impressed with your mastery of life.

In fact, most lottery winners do get jobs again. Most spend everything they won and end up broke again. Why? The process wasn't anything from which to learn. The win was cheap and the money- although spendable and able to buy anything one wants- wasn't worth anything. You picked some numbers and they came up. It's hard to call that successful.

"Most people rust out due to lack of challenge. Few people rust out due to overuse." Unknown

Set your sights high. Make it hard. Make it worth something. Your success is now dependent on you, not a cheesy host and his assistant reading balls with numbers on them. Your success is dependent on you breaking your balls to succeed! It has to be your sweat. It has to be your toil. It has to be your tears in order for it to be your victory. It'll mean something. It'll be satisfying. It'll have value.

If you want , you can still play the lottery. Just imagine aiming for personal goals way up in the stratosphere, working towards them, struggling and fighting for them and then, Pow! You're infused with mucho dinero to go for it 100%!

It could happen.

The Pay Off

When the call comes in to visit my wife's grandmother, the trade-off for me is the opportunity to watch some baseball. More precisely, a lot of baseball. Over the last four days, I have been able to watch four Oakland A's games with many other games in between. At home this is not possible. One might say it's my pay-off for visiting the In-Laws. In a related way, there have been two other "pay-offs".

During Monday night's game, the camera switched several times to one of the Oakland Players working on his swing in the dug out. The player was Milton Bradley. Bradley is a switch hitter and he was, while in the dug out, practicing his swing both right handed and left. The other players gave him the space, but he is the only one I saw doing it. There seemed to be something that he was specifically working on and he was intent on mastering it.

Late in the game, the game was a tight 6-4 in favor of the A's. Milton Bradley got up to the plate and on the first pitch offered, the game became a three run game. He hit the ball left handed up and over the left field wall. In baseball, late in the game as it was, the difference between a two-run game and a three-run game is enormous. The A's held on to win it 7-4.

Nothing was really said about the dugout practice session, maybe it happens all the time. The thing I noticed was the determination to "get it right" and to be ready for the moment. It paid off. That was Pay-off #2.

Pay off #3- After watching four consecutive baseball games of my favorite team and for all my time and effort, I have a blog entry!

Now if can figure out how to write that off my taxes...

Finding The "Human" In Human Resources

The other day I needed to get a hold of someone in the Human Resources Department. It had to do with documentation and I really needed some assistance to complete it properly. I learned that the person with whom I needed to speak was on Maternity Leave, which seems to me to be a good reason to be on leave.

I called the person filling in for her. She was on vacation, which may or may not be as good a reason to be on leave but seemed understandable. It is August. Her message , however, said to contact another person, which I did...or let's say tried.

His message said that he was in and if the caller had left a message the day before, he would be getting back to that person later in the day and to be patient. Being busy, may also be a good reason, but it wasn't as good as the other two reasons- at least not to me. All was not lost because his message also gave another number to call- he called it the HR Hotline- and that I could call if I needed immediate assistance, which I felt I did.

I called the hotline. No answer.

I called again. No answer.

I called again. Someone answered, then hung up.

I called once more. No answer.

If the purpose of the hotline is to give people immediate assistance no matter the status of the people needed, it failed. If the purpose is one of education, it worked. I stopped calling and just figured it out myself.

Sunday Scripture Choice

Numbers 6:23-27

Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

SUCCESS: S*U- Understanding

I know that there are people who teach that to achieve, all you need to do is envision it. "Fake it until you make it" is another opinion. It's a nice thought.

I don't know how anyone can imagine anything unless you know about it; have some understanding on what it is that you wish to accomplish. You have to have some "learning" about it. And "fake it"? You better know what you are supposed to be faking or you can end up looking pretty stupid.

Learn what it is that you want to accomplish. Read about others who have gone before you. Explore what it will do to your life style. Explore what others have done to accomplish what (or as close to what) you want to accomplish.

A couple of things will happen:
1) You might find that your dream is not as dreamy as you thought and you may want to alter you goal or it might be even more than you imagined and help you push harder, and
2) You will now what to emulate as success and not just "fake it".

Learning about your goals is a valuable element of success because it not only helps you understand your goals it may even help you accomplish them, relish them, and truly appreciate them.

Spice of Nevada

We are, as a family, spending some days in Nevada to visit my wife's family. This trip take us out to Carson City, the state's capital. And although Carson City is a city, it also has a feel of being very rural and also very Nevada. And I mean that in the best possible way.

We had some rain last night and we experienced rain as we came across I-80 from Salt Lake. Some do not like the rain, especially when driving, but there is one great benefit: the smell of sage in the air. It is enhanced when the rain and wind mix it up. As we re-fueled in Elko and again this evening as it rained, the air is full of the smell of sage.

Maybe it's because I lived in Nevada and spent a lot of time playing in her playgrounds- the desert, maybe it's because when I am exposed to it now, our family is on some kind of vacation, or maybe it just simply smells good. In any case the scent of the sage on the wind is always invited by me and is always a pleasant occasion. It seems to always say, "welcome back friend" and makes me feel at home.

Mel Brooks Said...

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."