Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 17 – No. 3715 September 12, 2015
Thought for the week: "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." – Maya Angelou
"A man's doubts and fears are his worst enemies." – William Wrigley Jr.
"Only free people can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end, and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own." – Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States
"You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do." – Henry Ford, Founder of the Ford Motor Company
"Well done is better than well said." – Benjamin Franklin
"You cannot score a goal ... if you do not know where the goal is." – Unknown
"Never be ashamed to admit you are in the wrong--it's just another way to say you are wiser today than yesterday." – Today's Thought from Mickies Funnies
The dazed crew of a Japanese trawler was recovered off the Sea of Japan clinging to the wreckage of their ship. Their rescue, however, was followed by immediate imprisonment once authorities questioned the sailors on their ship's loss. They claimed that a cow, falling out of the clear blue sky, had struck the trawler amid ship shattering its hull and sinking the vessel within minutes.
They remained in prison for several weeks until the Russian Air Force reluctantly informed Japanese authorities that the crew of one of its cargo planes had apparently stolen a cow wandering at the edge of a Siberian airfield. They forced the cow into the plane's hold and hastily departed for home. Unprepared for live cargo, the Russian crew was ill-equipped to manage a rampaging cow within its hold. To save the aircraft and themselves, they shoved the animal out of the cargo hold as they crossed the Sea of Japan at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
The family was getting organized for dinner when someone noticed a glow in the sky. Dad went outside to see what was happening. "Hey, you guys, come and look at this." everyone rushed into the yard. WOW! What a sunset. They watched the changing colors and marveled at the wonder of its beauty.
What? In the middle of getting dinner?
Yes. It's true.
Dad? Dad led the stampede and stayed to watch?
Yes, it's true.
In just ten minutes a lot of good things happened there:
The children learned again that men can and do appreciate beauty.
And that grabbing a rich moment is more fun than being bound by a program.
The family made another deposit in the good-family-memories bank.
Their souls were fed even if dinner did get cold.
Grab your WOW experiences before they get past—they sure add sparkle to life!
The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.
– M. Scott Peck, MD, American Author and Psychiatrist
One day, a child of mine came home in tears. Another child had been mean to him and hurt his feelings. I want to say now, as I said then, "When a person doesn't like you, or is mean to you, it has more to do with them than it does with you. Dry your tears. You cannot be loved by everyone, because everyone cannot love themselves. You can know that I will always love you. And the greatest gift you can give to others is to love yourself. If you do that, you can love others without worrying whether they love you back. You will have enough love for both of you."
Modern managers often utter clichés about wanting employees to "think outside the box," take risks, and be creative. And while I'm sure companies do appreciate break-through innovative ideas that increase profits, productivity, or quality, the fact is that most organizations are inhospitable to those who challenge old ways of doing things, even practices that are inefficient, useless, or counterproductive.
I've talked before about the obligation of employees to pursue excellence. But managers have an equal if not larger duty to establish an atmosphere where employees are truly expected to think and act in the best interests of the company and its customers.
According to Josephson Institute surveys, between one-fourth and one-third of all employees say there is a "kill the messenger" tradition where they work, causing them to distort or conceal negative information or tailor data to give managers what they want to hear.
A sure sign that management hasn't done enough to promote candor is when a manager asks, "Why didn't someone tell me?" Companies must find ways to more effectively send the message that mission-oriented employees who produce and demand quality are to be prized not penalized.
I've come to believe there's never just one incompetent or unaccountable employee. There are at least two: the employee and the manager who keeps him employed.
"For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again."1
Chances are you've read about all of the following failures who ended up making a great impact in their chosen field of endeavor.
For example, as a young man Abraham Lincoln went to war as a captain and returned as a private. Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was 4-years-old and didn't read until he was 7. Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15th out of 22 students in chemistry.
Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded. F. W. Woolworth was not allowed to wait on customers when he worked in a dry goods store. When Bell telephone was struggling to get started, its owners offered all their rights to Western Union for $100,000. The offer was disdainfully rejected with the pronouncement, "What use could this company make of an electrical toy."
An expert said of Vince Lombardi: "He possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation." Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Babe Ruth is famous for his past home-run record, but for decades he also held the record for strikeouts.
Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." Charles Schultz of "Peanuts" fame had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high school yearbook staff—and Walt Disney wouldn't hire him. After his first audition, Sidney Poitier was told by the casting director, "Why don't you stop wasting people's time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?" When Lucille Ball began studying to be actress in 1927, she was told by the head instructor of the John Murray Anderson Drama School, "Try any other profession."2
What we learn from these people is that none of these people gained instant success. They suffered rejection, setbacks and failures—but they had a passion for what they wanted to do and stuck with it until they made it. And for those of us who believe God has a purpose for our life we need to do the same, and in the words of Winston Churchill: "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up."
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to discover my God-given life purpose and with Your help pursue it with great enthusiasm and never, never, never, never give up. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."
1. Proverbs 24:16 (NKJV).
2. Source: Self-Efficacy Site (website URL no longer working).
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