Quotes serve a purpose in our world, don't you think? Bible verses, famous people, marketing companies, sports figures, or the "guy on the mountain" all express their views with quotes.
Many years ago, my son Greg and I would sit down in the evening and discuss his day. He had ADD, was doing poorly in school, needed to focus, and we took this time to talk. Back then, doctors knew about this condition, however, the treatment wasn't something we did not want to pursue.
Our treatment , or diagnosis, was to focus more, and take life for Greg in smaller bits, so we decided to read a chapter a night from the book "One Minute Wisdom" and then discuss what Greg read. Now these chapters were usually one page, a couple of sentences, or bible verses, the reading part was easy....the discussion that followed was the best part.
I never realized how important these "talks" were to Greg (I guess I didn't either....until now). Fast forward 25 years ....Greg asked me yesterday a question regarding motivation and wondered if I still had that book we used to read together.
"Sure, I do why?" "I remember the story about the antelope needing to run fast and the lion starving, do you remember how it went?" We almost in unison said this:
"Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the slowest antelope or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or an antelope-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."
You could say we were focused, and now he will be telling these same stories to my Grandson.
Dick Beals
What awonderful blog. And your time with your son has come full circle for you both!
Mr. Beals,
One never knows the impact of spending QUALITY time with their children until their children grow up and express their appreciation...This totally warmed my heart today...your Grandson will now benefit from his Grandpa reading to his daddy...and the cycle will continue...thank YOU for this post...it reminds me to always appreciate the impact that we could be having on our children at any given moment...
I enjoyed your post and find myself reflecting on old sayings and adages all the time. (They really do relate, even today)
I will have to look for that book. Sounds like you are amazing parents.
Robin, Thank you!
Rebecca, very thoughtful as well....I guess I learned as much as Greg did during those talks
Paul, So right you are, I find myself relating more to quotes, almost like an outline
Ross, It is a great saying, especially for our competitive business
Karen, well thank you, all parents have some challenges
Great Blog. This quote is very true in our current market! Thanks for sharing!!!
Dick,
Spending the time talking with your son surely "made a lot of memories" for both of you. The lessons are just a bonus.
Hey Team Honeycutt, It is true for almost any business, I think.
Cynthia, I remember those days like they were yesterday. We both learned a lot!
Thanks for your comments
Dick Beals
That was a cool story Dick. Whenever I took my kids camping or we were in the wilderness, the subject of wild animals and bears always came up. I always told them for self defense, all I had to do was to be able to outrun them. Thanks for the reminder about the good ol' days with my kids.
Steve,
It sure is ironic how we change isn't ....when they were teenagers, they were told to get packing, get a job, stay out of trouble, stay in school, and stay the course. Now we want them back home. Thanks for your visit Steve.
Dick Beals
Dick: Love the story, in life all is the same but the players have changed eat or be eaten the oldest story in the book (now more than ever) Steve