Say No To The Good

Please do not misunderstand the title of this entry. The complete title should read: "Learn to say `no` to the good so you can say `yes` to the best." It is a quote that I read in a small book about leadership. I would like to expand on it. When I refer to "good," I am not talking about goodness, kindness or giving. I believe those are fine concepts but they represent a different meaning of the word. When I speak of "good," I refer to levels of opportunity, pleasure, experience, and the pursuit of objectives, goals, accomplishments. In the first place: Why settle for good when you are capable of the best? Regarding tests, projects, and assignments in school: Is a "C" a good grade? Maybe. Maybe not. Is a "B" a good grade? Maybe. Maybe not. The bottom line here is to sacrifice something that is satisfactory for something that is a great deal better. In matters not necessarily related to school or training, but in relationships, careers, personal growth, the pursuit of success, or achieving purpose in life: there are times when one must reject something good in the hope of acquiring something better or the best. This is certainly not a new idea. You say you passed up an opportunity? An opportunity for what? When you passed up that opportunity; you probably took a step in a positive direction. You need to lose to win sometimes. Postpone or reject a gratification for an achievement of a greater gratification. This is a "law of life." Unfortunately some people never learned it. They never learned it until they were too old, too sick, too poor, or too miserable. Some can bounce back. If they want to. Some cannot bounce back. Even if they want to. You reap what you sow.

My Prayer For The Chargers

Almighty God: you are King of kings and Lord of lords. I praise your name forever. I thank you first of all for all of your kindness and mercy. I thank you for your abundant blessings. You are omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and eternal. For you; nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible. I come before you this day realizing that I represent many. You know all things. You know that I have been a San Diego Charger fan since 1961. On Sunday January 11, 2009, the Chargers will be playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh, a Divisional round of the AFC Playoffs. I ask that you help the Chargers play their best. Bless the coaching staff. Bless all support staff. Bless the organization. Bless every player, whether he is a starter or not. Bless the offense, defense, and special teams. Help every player to do/play his very best. Bless every player's heart, mind, and body. Bless every Charger on every second of every down. Help the Chargers do their very best. Help them to play at their highest level. Help each to execute with skill, preparation, aggressiveness (within the rules to avoid penalties) and with a focused sense of urgency. Protect all Chargers from injury. I have already said that with you, all things are possible. I ask therefore, that the Chargers not fumble the ball. I ask that the Charger quarterback throw no interceptions. I ask that the Charger offense block, run, pass, catch and do everything necessary to gain yards and score points. I ask that you help them execute at their highest level. I ask that the Charger defense defend against the run and pass at a superior level. I ask that they sack, cause fumbles, recover fumbles, intercept passes, or any ball in play. I pray that the Charger defense play so superior that the Steelers will score no points. God almighty, help the special teams execute with precision, focus, skill, watchfulness, and again with an explosive aggressiveness that produces only positive results and no penalties. Again, I ask, bless all of the coaches, in particular the head coach. Give them courage, wisdom, and an attitude that produces positive results. Remove dissention and any animosity among any players and/or staff. This is a team effort. The team, the team, the team. The team with bolts on their sleeves. The San Diego Chargers. Thank you for them. Bless every part of the team. Help them to play their very best. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Little Gangster (Part 4)

His name was Carlos but his homies called him "Cuate." He loved the gang. He believed in the gang. There were 20 of them between the ages of 14 and 19. They were known. They were tough. One day Cuate and three of his homies were walking to a 7-11 store near Cuate's house. Five dudes from another part of the county were cruising the area to see what they could see. Cuate and his friends were not quite prepared for what was to happen next. The dudes in the car started yelling and flipping off Cuate's group. Cuate flashed his gang sign and yelled for them to stop. Unfortunately for Cuate, they did stop and they got out of their car. The driver of the car stayed in the car. The other four ran toward Cuate and Cuate felt brave because he had the "backup" of his homies. At least that is what he thought. Cuate's homies ran and hid behind a long hedge at a house nearby. Cuate did not look behind him. He faced his attackers and just started throwing blows. There were no weapons involved. The invaders knocked him to the ground. They beat him. They kicked him. Cuate lost two teeth. He suffered a broken eardrum, two swollen eyes, a bloodied mouth and nose. He had a head injury. He had been kicked repeatedly. All of this lasted about 80 seconds. The attackers quickly left. Cuate's "friends" watched the whole thing from behind the safety of the hedge. Cuate was lying on the sidewalk groaning. He couldn't get up. When the attackers were out of sight, Cuate's "friends" ran up to him and exclaimed: "Man, who did this? We're gonna get em."

Little Gangster (Part 3)

"What they did to me really got to me. How can I forget it. We had been cruising around, smoking weed and drinking a few beers. We stopped at the park. There were four of us. I was leaning against a tree, just listening to some tunes. All of a sudden somebody started shooting at us. One bullet hit the tree I was leaning against. We ran toward a dumpster. All four of us had our guns. We all shot back........I thought. I got shot in the eye. I started yelling for my homies. All of them had left me. I was all alone. The other gang had left. When the police came, I didn't answer any of their questions. The paramedics came. I went to the hospital. I didn't tell them who was with me. I was arrested. I went from the hospital to jail, to court, back to jail, back to court and then to prison. I have one eye and no friends. I'm in prison right now. So far nobody has visited me. Nobody has put any money into my account. What they did to me really got to me. Not the other dudes..........my homies.........what they did to me."

Little Gangster (Part 2)

He was 13 years old. He was 4 ft. 10 in. tall and weighed 95 pounds. He was in the 7th. grade. He thought he was bad. He showed contempt. He had a sneer. He was an angry young man who did not know his dad. In school; he enjoyed cussing at teachers. He liked to kick classroom doors and run. He got suspended several times for fighting and for defying teachers. One day he was in the street being defiant. He forgot he was not talking to a teacher; he used the "f " word freely. He was disrespecting a cop. He quickly found himself lying flat on the sidewalk with a police officer's shoe stepping hard on the back of his head. He realized that a cop and a teacher do not share the same functions.

Little Gangster (Pt.1)

He was a handsome 14 year old boy. He called himself "Piloto." He thought he was a man. He was not a man. He was a teen-ager looking for recognition. He was a teen-ager looking for something he thought he deserved. He was a teenager looking for glory. He was a teen-ager looking for girls. Although he had never been in a fight, he thought he was tough. He joined a gang; he got "jumped in." He almost backed out after that experience. He was not a fighter. He wanted the recognition for being tough. He was confronted with his first "test." One friday he was at a neighborhood store with some of his "homies." A rival gang showed up. They wasted no time. Piloto got his nose punched and bloodied. Piloto ran so fast, he nearly knocked one of his homies down. He ran all the way home. He stopped for nothing. When he got home, he locked all of the doors and called the school he attended. He told the secretary in a scared but demanding tone: "Hey, I just got jumped, and I don't want to go to this school anymore." By the following monday he was enrolled in another school. He moved in with a relative in a neighboring community. He got interested in surfing. He changed the way he talked. He refused to be called "Piloto." He enjoyed wearing shorts and flip flops. He forgot about being a gangster.

Diverse, Noisy, and Opinionated

Rick Warren is a Christian pastor. He has been selected to give the invocation at Barak Obama's Presidential Inauguration. This is good news. It is politically wise, and it is good news for the country. Rick Warren is not a perfect human being. Nevertheless, he is not a drunk, drug addict, embezzler, thief, womanizer, nor does he conduct himself in a way reflecting a host of perverted and/or immoral acts. If he ever did; the media would not be denied a field day and celebration. Speaking of celebration; I celebrate the fact that Warren was the man selected. He truly believes it is wrong to hate another human being. He believes in a value system taught by the inspired Word of God. I know some disagree with him. Recently, he told a crowd of 500 that it is unrealistic to expect everyone to agree on everything all the time. I'm sure most of us agree with that statement. "You don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand." Obama defended his choice last week, by saying: "During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America is about. That's part of the magic of this country........We are diverse and noisy and opinionated." I agree.