Monday; October 7

I got to experience my first in-person NHL game over the weekend.  Thanks to my daughter and son-in-law, I got to watch the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins.  Even though it was a preseason game, it was pretty cool – literally!  

As I sat and watched these professional athletes it was easy to spot the mistakes they made.  I saw missed shots, people go sprawling along the ice and even a few rules violations.  Even as a neophyte, I could see the mistakes they were making; then it dawned on me that they were doing this at full speed on skates on ice.  Honestly, I couldn’t do what they were doing in tennis shoes on dry ground, so I quickly gained an even greater respect for these guys. 

Have you noticed how easy it is to criticize people when they make mistakes?  Whether it is a misstep, using the wrong word or just making a bad decision, it is pretty easy to spot another person’s errors.  Yet, when we do that do we reflect on ourselves and think about how many times we have goofed up?  Do we take the time to consider their environment and the personal struggles they are having?  Maybe if we did we would be impressed at how well they could work under their conditions. 

Let’s be less judgmental and more impressed about what people are able to do.  When we do that, we’ll probably spend less time criticizing them and more time assisting them. 

Think About It!

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