Wednesday; June 24

When I was a youngster in the 1960s and 1970s, there were a few things you could count on.  First of all, Walter Cronkite was going to be reporting the news every weeknight on CBS and second, there was going to be one major league baseball game on NBC every Saturday afternoon. It was not like it is today when you can pick and choose what games you want to watch, you just watched whatever was on because – well, because that was what was on.  I spent many a Saturday afternoon with Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubeck and my personal favorite Joe Garagiola.  I liked Garagiola because he was almost as funny as he was knowledgeable.  I leaned such gems as, “There is no defense against a base on balls.” and “The wind always seems to blow against catchers when they are running.”  Yet, maybe my favorite baseball quote from him was, “Not only was I not the best catcher in the Major Leagues, I wasn’t even the best catcher on my street!” – this really makes sense when you realize that Joe grew up in the same neighborhood as Yogi Berra. 
          I really enjoyed Joe’s weekly commentary, but the other day I came across a quote that made me smile.  In describing someone he said, “He is one of those Christmas Eve guys.  There are people like that ... every day in their lives is Christmas Eve.”.  Do you know someone who is like that – they are full of excitement about what the future holds?  They can’t wait to see tomorrow because it may hold something exciting!  They are constantly looking forward to what lay ahead because it could be something wonderful!  Too often, it is tempting to be “other guy”, the one who is certain that tomorrow will hold pain and sorrow; but what would happen if we became Christmas Eve guys?  How much would our personality change if we were excited about the future?  How much better would our families, offices, neighborhoods be if we believed that each day was a great gift from God just waiting to be unwrapped and enjoyed!
Let’s be Christmas Eve people.  Not just in December, by every day of the year.
          Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday; November 29

The biblical story of the Good Samaritan has changed our world. Notice I didn’t say that it had change religion or even Christianity, it has influenced the world. There are very few people who don’t know the moral of Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. In fact, the phrase has become a common description of everyday people doing good to their neighbors. While Jesus’ parable from Luke 10 shares several spiritual lessons, one of the most practical is that good can be done by anyone. You don’t have to be a church official to do good, it is not only possible for each one of us to help, it is required of all of us. If a Samaritan can be good, so can we! After presenting the parable, Jesus asked the man who had originally asked the question about being a good neighbor which character in the story was a good neighbor, “… he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’” at which point, the discussion from theoretical to personal, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’” (Luke
Read more

Thursday; January 12

The other day I was watching a television show that used a rather common term applied to overcoming challenges. When organizations experience unexpected setbacks – especially when they lose key people – they rely upon the concept of “Next Man Up”. In essence, when our starters (or stars) go down, effective organizations rely upon their next levels to step into the vacancy. While this is an effective response, have we given much thought as to how we prepare to be the “next people up”? First, we must know our job. Even when we aren’t the primary players, we need to be preparing ourselves to be ready when we get the opportunity to shine. Second, we must do our best when we get the chance. Knowledge is important but what turns potential into talent is effort. Yet, maybe the most underappreciated aspect of this concept is a willingness avoid excuse-making and whining about the unfairness of our situation. When we complain about the circumstances that caused the need for replacements
Read more

Monday; September 25

When I was a youngster, I remember hearing about this thing called the Generation Gap. I was a little bit too young to be active in the social movements of the 1960s, but I do remember listening to the challenges the generations were experiencing way back then. Interestingly, now that I have been on both sides of the aging process, I have to admit that the Gap of the 1960s was nothing new. With the development of each generation comes conflict. The young people don’t feel like the older people understand them and the older folks tend to believe their input is being underappreciated. Too often trust is the casualty when two generations collide. The sad thing is that it doesn’t have to be this way. When we can capture the innovation and energy of the younger folks and harness the wisdom of those who have been around for a while we can develop a winning combination. No, we won’t always see things eye-to-eye nor will we necessarily speak the same emotional language, but when we app
Read more