SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

One of the many Christmas carols, is the 12 Days of Christmas. Each day sends a message. As the year-end winds down and the New Year approaches, we’ll be talking about 12 ways in 12 days to bring results and not regrets in our lives. I often use phrases to make a point. One of the most important ones is, “I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SHIP, I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE”. Which means I’m in control of my destiny. Several college football coaches have been or will be fired soon. But there’s good news for you, because no one can fire you except you. Your won/loss record doesn’t count— it’s just what you do today. It’s not what you know, but what you do.

I’ve been writing this article for a year now — (time flies.) I began writing he article because someone said to me “I’M GETTING OUT OF HERE, YOU CAN’T MAKE IT BIG IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS.” In the past year we’ve pointed out countless examples of people who’ve made is BIG in SEK. This week sadly, was another great example of making it BIG in SEK, with the passing of AL ORTOLANI. I’m one of a few, who knew Al for 60 years. We walked out to football practice together in 1948. Can you imagine the number of lives he touched in 60 years? Al made it ”BIG” in SEK. How many cities can claim an “OLYMPIC COACH & TRAINER”? How many have a National “COACH OF THE YEAR.” Well Al had both, proving it’s not where you are, but who you  are, and what you do when you’re there. He’s gone, but the “LIGHT HOUSE” is still here.

So the 12 ways in 12 days, is a chance for us to see a different picture, have a vision of possibilities and not LIMITATIONS. Zig Ziglar has an expression he calls “STINKIN’ THINKIN”. “THINKIN” you’re life is wasting away, I’m stuck in low gear, there’s not much hope for me, saying “LET’S FACE IT, I’M STUCK, and A LEOPARD CAN’T CHANGE HIS SPOTS”. Well that is true except you’re not a leopard. Oh sue we all have “spots”, sometimes we call them fear, doubt, despair, even low self esteem. But one of the spots you can change, is that you weren’t born ineffective and unproductive, it’s just that we’ve acquired some bad (sometimes toxic) habits along the way. But like football coaches, they can be replaced. HOW???

When your car battery is dead you hook up your “jumper cables” — attach one end to the “charged up post” and the other to your “dead post”. We can recharge our batteries by associating with “charged up people”. Reading a book by Norman Vincent Peale, listening to a CD by Zig Ziglar.

We’ll try to help you the next few days of Christmas. Before year - end we’ll be writing about ---INTEGRITY -- RESPECT --- EXPECTATIONS --- IMAGINATIONS--- GOAL SETTING --- ENTHUSIASM ---BELIEF --- RESILIENCE--- RELATIONSHIPS --- GRATITUDE AND PERCEPTIONS---

In the meantime, remember that not everyone can be the best, but everyone can do their best and that will always be good enough.

Things have been good — but the best is yet to come 6:27

Paul Hutsey can be reached at phutsey@hotmail.com