Great thing about Florida. In the winter months, you mow your lawn once a month and that's really just so your lawnmower doesn't completely seize up or rust. In the summer, you mow your lawn every fifteen minutes. So it only makes sense that if any of your lawn equipment is going to that great green field in the sky it's going to happen during the busy season.
Yesterday, it was the blower. You know, that noisy machine that cleans off your driveway after you cut the lawn. Man, I tried everything, but it would not behave. I managed to get most of the work done by playing with the choke levers. At one point, I was ready to throw it in front of the next car that came speeding by, but thought better of it. I am in control. My species created lawn equipment. I am the master in this situation. I kept fiddling with it and finished about half of the work before breaking out the rake and the push broom. My dad and I spent a while trying to fix it until I decided it was too hot and too pointless to continue.
On a more serious note: The world lost one of its giants on Friday. Coach John Wooden, who coached the UCLA men's basketball team to a million victories passed away at age 99. I never watched him coach a game. In all honesty, I am not a big fan of college basketball. I am, however, a fan of greatness, and Coach Wooden was greatness personified.
I have his Pyramid of success on the wall next to my desk and every now and then I peek at it. Coach Wooden married his high-school sweetheart and when she passed away, he visited her every month and wrote her a love letter every month on the anniversary of her passing, and placed them on her pillow. As a widower, he was a better husband than most men are as newlyweds.
He demanded excellence from his players and it is no coincidence that no one has been able to match his accomplishments on the court. I mean, ten championships? That's nothing to sneeze at. But his accomplishments as a human being are what make him a giant among men.
Lessons:
Let it go. Know when something has reached its useful life. Have the emotional maturity to say, "Oh well, this is as far as I can go with this," and move on.
Don't lose your temper. You destroy everything in your immediate perimeter. Tantrums are emotional napalm: indiscriminately destructive.
John Wooden's Seven Point Creed:
1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the bible.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.
John Wooden's Pyramid of success. I recommend printing it and keeping a copy at your desk.
http://www.coachwooden.com/pyramidpdf.pdf
That's all, Folks. Make today your best day yet. Repeat seven times for your best week yet. Multiply by 52 for your best year yet, and do it all over again for a great life.
- Adolfo
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