"You never know what you can do until you have to do it."
Betty Ford
1918-2011, Former First Lady and Founder of the Betty Ford Center
Author: Mentor Ben Drake
Husband and father, mentor and coach, helping families to live better lives, model train expert living a healthy active fit lifestyle.
Here is your Friday story They Are Just Empty Cars
Here is your Friday story,
They Are Just Empty Cars
On this warm pre-spring afternoon, I sit on the balcony, enjoy the weather, the view and a good book. A couple of redwing blackbirds cling to the branches of a nearby tree and sing for the coming of spring. Across the tracks, on the other side of the creek, thirty head of cattle quietly feed on a pile of hay left by the farmer. Soon they'll graze on new grass in the pasture further down the creek.
I lift my head at the sound of a train's horn wailing into the still air. A mile down the tracks that pass between the creek and our apartment complex, I see the headlights on the engine car grow brighter. My peace is interrupted as the train races by and our kitten cringes by the balcony doors, begging to escape the terrifying noise.
I let her in and watch the rail cars roll by, some more noisy than others. The full cars, rumble pass, but the empty ones rattle and bang along, making more noise than the others. They're painful to the ears.
The comparison between the full and empty cars makes me think of the people I've known throughout my fifty years of life.
There was Don. I remember when he hired me. He was a client of mine, but my job was lost to cut backs at my company. Don offered me a job at his company. It was a pleasure to work under his leadership. He didn't order his employees, he guided them. For example: during our first weekly meeting, he didn't tell me what to do. He looked at me and asked, "What did you and your team accomplish last week?"
I stumbled for an answer.
Don then asked, "What are your plans for this week?"
I stumbled for an answer again.
Those two questions guided me to think and plan. He never caught me off guard again. Each meeting I showed up with our accomplishments for the week and our plans for the next.
Another empty rail car rattled by and I remembered the bullies from my childhood.
They strutted around the school yard, bumped into smaller kids and called others names. These bullies usually had two or three others snickering at their side.
The rattle of the car reminded me of a guy I used to work with as a telecommunications technician many years ago. When I worked on a trouble, he would wander by and sneer, "What are you doing that for? Do you know what you're doing?" I ignored him, but his snicker was more than audible, as he made his way down the aisle of racks filled with telecommunication equipment.
I tried to concentrate on my task. I had been sure of myself. His words made me doubt my capabilities.
You meet quiet and noisy ones as you travel through life.
The quiet ones are full of knowledge: great leaders and mentors. They carry us on a great adventure.
The noisy ones: empty of knowledge, think they are leaders, but bluster through life giving nothing in return. They think they fool those around them by making a lot of noise to look important and pretend to know what they are doing. The noisy ones are the bullies, the braggarts and the show offs. They pull us along an empty track to nowhere.
In reality, they are just empty cars.
Michael T. Smith
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Keep on waving,
Mike
Click here for our printable version
Sent to you as a courtesy of:
Josh Hinds
Inspirational Speaker, Author, and Coach
http://www.JoshHinds.com
From Inspire your day – Wow what a powerful email about being a great mentor. Which one are you?
Learn how to be successful
http://bdrake.successin10steps.com/?mad=52669
bend1297a@gmail.com
Ode To Our Inspirations
Ode To Our Inspirations - What do you use to inspire you to great heights as a person????
No Room for Excuses by Ron White
No Room for Excuses by Ron White
“The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” You have heard it a million times. However, my guess is that you have never heard it from the mouth of the “rich.” Instead, this echo has most likely bounced to your ear with its origins being an excuse. That’s right... an excuse. Excuses are what many use to pacify their guilt of not accomplishing what they are capable of.
I am not suggesting that wealth is success. My inference is that success is the progressive realization of predetermined worthwhile goals. It may be something as simple as raising a family.
What do these names have in common?
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton
They were all presidents of the United States, right? They were all the most powerful man in the world at one point. However, I am looking for something else.
Richard Nixon was born in the home his father built. He won an award from Harvard his senior year of high school. However, his family was unable to afford his leaving home for college. He instead attended Whittier College.
Gerald Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King Jr. In 1913 his mother left her abusive husband and took her son to live with her parents. She met Gerald R. Ford, whom she married and gave her child his name, Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. He was the only president to be adopted. Ford worked in his stepfather's paint and varnish store growing up. He coached boxing during college to afford his tuition.
Jimmy Carter was the first member of his family ever to go to college and his father was a peanut farmer.
Ronald Reagan was the son of an alcoholic traveling shoe salesman. He worked his way into show business by broadcasting baseball games. At the age of 40, he was divorced and his career was at a dead end.
Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV. His father, a traveling salesman, died in an automobile accident three months before he was born. His mother married Roger Clinton and Bill took that name. Clinton grew up in a turbulent family. His stepfather was a gambler and alcoholic who regularly abused his wife, and sometimes Clinton's half brother Roger.
None of these men were born into wealth and prosperity, yet they each achieved the rank of most powerful person in the world by working hard and not making excuses. These five presidents were born into normal families who struggled. Yet they refused to use that as an excuse.
Life is too short to make excuses. Set your goals and pursue them. If you have been dealt a “worse” hand than another, it may indeed be a gift that teaches you the value of hard work. Your story will be richer and your success sweeter when you achieve your dreams. Maybe one day I will cast a vote for you for president of the United States!
From Ron Whites newsletter, wow what a view on hard work and determination to achieve ones own goals in life.
Learn how to be successful
http://bdrake.successin10steps.com/?mad=52669
bend1297a@gmail.com
