21 PAX posted at the CHOP on 15 Sept. 2022 for a little fun in the gloom.
Warm-up 30SSH, 20 CHERRY PICKERS,15 TOY SOLDIERS and 15 Windmills all IC
The Thang consisted of a mosey out the rear entrance and around to the front meeting back in the center of parking lot for 12 reps of 3 excercises most in cadence
12 merkins, 12 squats, 12 hello dollys
repeat mosey
12 diamond merkins, Bobby Hurleys, 12 dying cockroaches
QIC: Probe with the Warm-up VQ with Assistant QIC Fireplex
Probe worked hard on his Warm-up VQ. I may not have all the exercises identified or have the count exactly right as Probe directed us this morning…but then again…his count may have been a bit different anyway…..:)….Either way, I appreciate Probe and am thankful that he is willing to step up and lead.
Warm up
SSH – 20 IC
Moroccan Night Clubs – 20 IC
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Cherry Pickers – 15 IC
Mosey @ .25 miles to the main entrance to H.O.B. Elementary when we completed Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC (6 Count) before continuing the Mosey @ .25 miles to the hill by the boat docks.
The Thang
Pax went right at a set of Doracides which is identified in the Exicon as follows: Two Pax worked together to reach exercise reps of 100, 200, 300, & 400 of 4 different exercises. One Pax worked on the exercises while the second Pax completed suicides to three designated waypoints by way of a NUR up the hill. Another extra twist is at the waypoint of each suicide run; the Pax completed 1 burpee, then 2 burpees, and finally 3 burpees before returning to the starting point. Once all three suicide sprints were completed, the Pax switched stations until all reps of each exercise were completed. The exercises completed are as follows: 100 American Hammers, 200 Merkins, 300 LBC’s, & 400 squats. Each Pax will make every attempt to complete their half of the total exercises.
Mosey @ .5 miles back to CHOP
F3 Message – QIC shared a confidential personal story with excerpts from the Ron Hutchcraft Word of the Day as documented below.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Well, this is one of the busiest travel days in the year; people packing into airports and airplanes. Maybe not as much this year, but maybe you’re still heading out for whoever they like to be with over Thanksgiving. But you know what? A lot of air travelers are having to make that choice again: Do I want the scanner, or do I want the pat down? Yeah! Hum…
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “A Personal Thanksgiving.”
So, I have sat and listened at times to all the opinions you hear on the news about Thanksgiving travelers’ privacy, and something in the Bible popped into my mind.
It’s our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 4:13. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Wow! God sees what we don’t want anybody else to see. The previous verse tells us that God sees and judges “the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
We’re talking all the dark stuff. The dirty thoughts, the adulterous desires, the seething jealousy, that volcanic anger, the endless lies, the backstabbing words, that hateful prejudice, the hurtful selfishness. He sees the egocentric pride we’ve got, and He knows about that long-harbored bitterness. “Everything is uncovered and laid bare” the Bible says.
Oh, we could try to rationalize it or minimize it or call it by a nice name, but it is what it is. It’s sin against God; sin against another person. Rotting trash is rotting trash, no matter how pretty the paper you wrap it in. And with God, it’s all unwrapped. No secrets. We think, “Hey, well, no one’s caught me.” If God knows, you’re caught. And He knows.
Our secrets are not only exposed to God, but they become the basis for us to be judged by God. Hear what God says again: “God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (Romans 2:16). King David said in one of his psalms, “O Lord, You have searched me and You know me…You are familiar with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1, 3).
My first reaction: “Uh-oh.” Second reaction: “Good. One person I don’t need to hide anything from…I can’t hide anything from.” In fact, the first step to being free from the darkness inside is to say what the Prodigal Son said when he came home to his father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against You” (Luke 15:18). there’s just something liberating about being brutally honest about your sin as you bring it into God’s pure light. Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
And then comes the release that we desperately need but we don’t deserve. In God’s words, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9). God stands ready to give us a spiritual shower called “forgiven” – and there’s no better feeling than knowing that you are finally clean.
That forgiveness is no cheap thing though. Revelation 1:5 says, “He loves us and freed us from our sins by His blood.” It took the shedding of the blood of God’s only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for all my junk. A cross He did not deserve; an excruciating death. God’s Son being cut off from God the Father because Jesus was carrying my sin, going through my hell so I could go to His heaven.
But our bill was paid. All we have to do is take for ourselves what He died for, turning from the sin-darkness that has poisoned our life. So, as I see recurring pictures this season of body scanners and hand searches, I’m thinking God doesn’t need any of that. He sees it all. He knew that what was hidden in the dark places would blow up my life and my eternity. So He acted to defuse it with the most extreme act of sacrificial love in history. He absorbed the “blast” Himself so I could board the flight to His heaven and be with Him forever.
Do you want to get started with Him? You want to experience this? Tell Him that today. Go to our website and find out there how to be sure you belong to Him. That’s ANewStory.com.
It is wonderful to live without fear of discovery, with a clean heart, and with nothing to hide.
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Jiminy Crickets – 10 OYO
Windmills – 20 IC
The Thang
Pax completed the Hindenburg BLIMPS routine from the Exicon at the CHOP. We modified the sprint portion to a straight line across the CHOP Parking lot approx. .02 miles apart. Sprint from the Church to the field behind CHOP and perform 1st exercise, sprint back to Church and perform 1st exercise, sprint back to the field and perform 1st exercise. Sprint back to the Church and perform 1st exercise. Plank it up until all PAX are in. That completes one round. Rinse and repeat for the remaining exercises as identified. Round #1 – 10 Burpees. Round #2 – 20 Lunges (10 each leg). Round #3 – 30 Imperial Walkers. Round #4 – 40 Merkins. Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks. Round #6 – 60 Squats.
F3 message –The 3rd F was shared after completing round #4. See Below….
PAX finished the beat down strong with more burpees OYO & AMRAP.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Jim cracked me up with the story he told in his recent family newsletter.
He and his honey were enjoying some personal time at the Atlantic Ocean. Which is really big. Jim decided to take a picture of himself and the ocean. Which is really big.
Later, he made a disturbing discovery – which he reported this way. “I think I missed the ocean!”
Which is really big.
Oh, he’s in the picture, all right. But the Atlantic is nowhere to be seen.
Now how can a smart guy miss something as big and beautiful as the ocean?
By totally focusing on himself.
I’ve made that mistake. Missing the big thing because I was so focused on myself. I suspect I’m not alone.
When we’re hurting…when we’re grieving…when we’re grappling with a big problem – we tend to go inward and become all about ourselves.
We miss the person we married because we’re so focused on our frustrations with them. Before we married them, we magnified what we loved and minimized what bothered us. Now we’re all about our frustrations with them, forgetting all we loved about them.
So it’s selfie time. All about me. Losing sight of the one we once could not live without. So we stop loving like we did, and they start responding to the change.
We can miss our kids the same way. By dwelling on how they’re disappointing us, defying us, distancing themselves from us. So we’re sucked into a cycle of seeing – and talking about – only what they need to change. Not seeing – and talking about – the big picture of their strengths and their potential. We focus the lens on our hurt and fear and frustration – and miss the big stuff. The masterpiece God made and entrusted to us.
I know how much my picture can become a selfie when I’m going through a hurting time. Pain tends to make us selfish. Self-centered. Self-pitying. All those nasty self words.
But my Bible tells me that there’s always something bigger going on than the immediate situation. “All things work together for good to those who love God,” it says (Romans 8:28). And it quotes God as saying, “I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
There’s a Big Plan. For my good. But I’ll miss the big and beautiful part if all I focus on is my pain.
When my precious Karen was suddenly gone last May, my natural tendency was to be all about me – my grief, my life without her, my future.
But, thankfully, God quickly rescued me from my selfie. And began to show me what I could become through this greatest heartbreak of my life. I can honestly say my heart is more open than it’s ever been – open to God’s voice, open to letting my journey help others on their journey, open to the broken and breaking hearts all around me.
What’s scary is that our “selfie” focus can actually cause us to miss the biggest and most beautiful sight of all.
The God who made us.
We so want to have life our way that we live as if we’ve dethroned Him from the throne of our life. In the Bible’s words, “Each of us has turned to His own way” (Isaiah 53:6). And those “God, You run the universe, but I’ll run me” choices have “separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2).
All about me. Missing the God who’s the reason we’re here. Whose love we’re made for. Who thought we were worth sending His Son to die for.
The Ocean is right there, within my sight. Unless I’m blocking the view.
YHC took liberties to request being today’s Q for two reasons: 1) He wanted to jump start August’s Burp to School Challenge, and 2) He wanted to bring in his double-nickel birthday by serving up a stout offering of Burpees. However, not to be out-done Wildwing chimed in for his first “Triple Respect.” The guy is amazing! He’s been posting with a busted up ankle and a newly fused back that resulted from a head on collision in which he lost the love of his life (5/29/22). Tclaps and prayers, brother.
So here’s how it all went down:
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 10 IC
Crab Flipper – 10 IC
Windmill – 15 IC
Lanco Special – 10 IC
Merkins – 55 OYO
To-Go Order: The rest of Warm-O-Rama was done on the way to H.O.B. Elementary. Since our mouths were full of water, the trick was to watch the Q and do what he was doing since YHC could not talk with his mouth full (that’s what mama said). On the way YHC led with Mosey, Nur, Butt Kickers, Karaoke one way, Karaoke the other, Mosey, High Knees, Toy Soldiers and Mosey. Those who reached the destination with water still in their mouth were awarded with 18 Burpees (freebies for PAX to withdraw from their August Burpee account). Shout out to all the victors, especially to Fireplex for the first-time win! Here’s a glimpse at what August will look like for F3 First State…
And now…
THE THANG:
After winning PAX did their 18 Burpees, YHC shared his 3rdF message (see below). Then PAX paired up and did the infamous “Burp Back Mountain” on the side hill of the storm pond: Partner 1 runs to the bottom then Nurs back to the top, while Partner 2 is doing Burpees. Rinse and Repeat until all PAX pairs reach a cumulative 100 Burpees. Keep moving; as the sign said, “No Stopping, No Standing, No Parking. (To this point PAX potentially completed a total 68 Burpees.)
Wosey to the school entrance. Mosey back to the AO.
Once back the PAX took to the parking lot lines for Line Dance Burpees: Did 5 Burpees, jumping across the line between each rep. 2 Rounds of 5 (5-5) totaling 10 Burpees. Shout out to all the PAX who brought school supplies; keep up the good work men!
Total Burpees on the day = 83. PAX get to withdraw the amount equivalent to the school supplies they brought. The 2nd Annual Burp to School Challenge is on!
The Shirt Says It All
That’s a wrap! PAX circled up…
COT:
Number-Rama : 19 PAX (including FNG Blue Box)
Name-O-Rama
Announcements/Prayers: Prayers for Fireplex’s dad, battling cancer; for Blockbuster, facing a big test today referred to as “the widow maker.”
YHC stood in for Semi today to transfer the CHOP shovel-flag today to new Site-Q Whirlybird. Welcome to the leadership circle, brother! And Tclaps to Semi for doing a great job as Site-Q and planting the shovel-flag for the last 2 years. Thanks brother!
New Site-Q Whirlybird (r)
Always a privilege to Q, especially when celebrating a berfday AND when launching the 2nd annual Burp to School Challenge. Great Coffeeteria followed as YHC’s M threw down with some of the best coffee cake on the planet!!
Chappie, out!
For today’s 3rdF, see the following…
Shared Pain Builds Trust (DREDD, Q Source, 137)
“About my 3rd week of Ranger School the instructors marched us to a pond in the outback of Ft. Benning. There in the water was a narrow ladder that ascended 40′ to a 4×4 Plank that spanned 40′ above and across the pond. The idea was to climb the ladder, walk the Plank and drop from the rope into the water, which was nasty and cold. There was no safety line–if you fell, you fell. It was dirty and dangerous. And, although it would’ve been an easy thing to do were it only 5′ off the ground, walking that forty feet of Plank forty feet above the water was one of the most difficult things I had ever done at that point in my life. It only took about 2 minutes to walk that Plank, but it felt like two hours.
In truth, I didn’t want to do it. I’m certain that very few of my fellow Ranger School students wanted to do it either. And some men, maybe 5%, didn’t do it. They wanted to graduate from Ranger School just as much as the rest of us, but something within them just would not let them climb that ladder, walk that plank and drop into that water. The stress was too much.
But the others, the ones who were able to overcome the dirt, danger, and difficulty, we learned something about ourselves and each other that dramatically strengthened the TRUST between us. It only took 2 minutes, but such is the power of dirty, dangerous, and difficult things to bond men together. Shared pain builds trust.
F3 has an acronym for the dirty, dangerous, and difficult things we do to build Trust. We call them CSAUPS, which stands for…. This satirical on our part because a CSAUP is neither stupid nor pointless, it is a very efficient way to share pain. A CSAUP can be an obstacle race, a GORUCK challenge, or a GROWRUCK weekend or anything else that provides the opportunity for dirt, danger, and difficulty. Completing it together tells the participants something about themselves and each other–that they are men upon whom others may safely rely. The nature of the event is not important. What matters is that the Q uses the CSAUP to apply stress to his Team to build the Trust-relationship between its members.”
YHC’s addition: I’ve never been one of those who teaches that if you just accept Jesus, your life will be perfect. The Scriptures say too much about suffering to think that way.
1 Peter 1:6-7 say, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Though this month’s Burp to School Challenge may seem Completely Stupid And Utterly Pointless it is neither stupid nor pointless: It’s a way for F3 First State to share pain AND to do something good in the midst of it (provide school supplies)…plus, we’ll all get stronger.
Spur:
Trust is an essential element of shared leadership
Warm-up • The Happy Jack – 4 IC 4 rounds • Mountain Man Pooper 20 – IC • Hairy Rocketts 20 – IC • Moroccan Night Club 40 – IC • Low Lateral Skater – 10 IC
The Thang: Mosey around the block stop on grass opposite of the church • The Pump Jack – partner up one partner does 5 merkins the other holds plank switch and complete until failure, then walking lunge around group until the final group fails. • Heels to Heaven – 25IC • Flutter Kicks – 25 IC Mosey to AO • The Sketch – 10 IC • Rockett Dips – 50 OYO • Squat Walk Rocketts parking line to parking line • Toy soldier set 50, 25, 15 3rd F: Aiming for the Top Chairman Lap • Diamond Merkins – 10 IC • Iron Mike – 10 IC • The American Hammer – 30 IC • Number-rama • Name-a-rama • COT
Message: Excerpt from Bob Richards A Heart of a Champion book Aiming for the Top
Why do they keep aiming for the top, taxing their bodies, minds and spirits to the ultimate? Why do men try to accomplish the impossible, risking life and limb itself in order to attain peaks? Man is endowed with an instinctive impulse to get to the top. Many people tell me that the only reason businessmen work is for money. I don’t believe it. I think many of them are trying to accomplish something tremendous with their lives. The scientific mind keeps reaching out, grasping for new ideas in a continuing search for new truths. Deep in the heart of every person are great goals that he wants to accomplish. In some people it is a burning desire, an obsession. Man cannot be content, no matter how high he has gone he wants to go higher, no matter how much distance he has traveled he wants to go longer, no matter how fast he has gone he wants to go faster.
Qualities to reach the top Self-control Most of the great champions in the world learn to hold their emotions in check; they have a certain amount of emotional stability. At least 50% of success depends on the mind; what you think, your goals, your faith, your determination, and the creative imagination of your mind.
Every problem that man has could be solved if only man would think. You’ve got to aim for the top. Many people limit themselves by the failure to comprehend what they could really do. They had a little goal they wanted to accomplish, but it wasn’t really big enough to challenge them, nor great enough to pull out the deepest within them. You never know what potential you’ve got within you until you reach out for the highest.
DEATH BY BURPEE” – This is a test of mental toughness…. You against you and you can only cheat yourself. Do your best as we want to see an improvement when we revisit this again after the burpee challenge in August
Minute 1 – 1 burpee
Minute 2 – 2 burpees
Minute 3 – 3 burpees
Minute 4 – 4 burpees
(To 20 total if you can last)
If you fail to make the amount of burpees in a minute, you are done!
***** Keep your total in your head and I’ll mark you down
3rd F – LT Brian Murphy (podcast to follow)
CHILDISH GAMES
6 corners – you run to a corner and someone rolls the dice. If it lands on your corner number, you stretch….. everyone else must partake in the workout (must run to corners 1-6 and be in there before dice stop)
1 min for the losers who guessed wrong or have no luck.
On Saturday 7/16 (yes, that’s right…if there’s no Backblast, it didn’t happen) 24 PAX won THAT FIRST BATTLE over the fartsack and posted for a new variation of the Bearmuda Triangle (keep reading below).
WARM-O-RAMA
SSH – 10 IC
Bolt 45 (keep moving) – IC
“Lanco Special” – IC (YHC can’t remember what its called but he picked it up at Lanco, so…
ISW – 18 IC
THE THANG
Mosey around the block to County Building parking lot for YHC’s Bearmuda Highs, a variation of its close cousin, the Bearmuda Triangle, only this one keeps moving locations.
3 Cones, 50′ apart in a triangle
1st Set of Cones (1st Triangle)
Bearcrawl to Cone #2, 1 Burpee
Bearcrawl to Cone #3, 2 Burpees
Bearcrawl to Cone #1, 3 Burpees
Mosey to Library Parking Lot (Oops! Don’t forget the cones!)
2nd Set of Cones (2nd Triangle)
Crawlbear to Cone #2, 4 Hand-Release Burpees
Crawlbear to Cone #3, 5 Hand-Release Burpees
Crawlbear to Cone #1, 6 Hand-Release Burpees
Mosey to School Parking Lot (Take the cones with you!)
PAX took a quick breather here for 3rdF (See below), before returning to the Bearmuda Triangle
3rd Set of Cones (3rd Triangle)
Bearcrawl/Crawlbear to Cone #2, 7 Burpees/Hand-Release Burpees
Bearcrawl/Crawlbear to Cone #3, 8 Burpees/Hand-Release Burpees
Bearcrawl/Crawlbear to Cone #1, 9 Burpees/Hand-Release Burpees
Final round had to be done half & half: Bearcrawl/Crawlbear & Burpees/Hand-Release Burpees
Total Burpees = 45
PAX formed into 2 groups, lined up for parallel Snake Runs back to the AO.
Meanwhile back at the AO…PAX planked feet up around the circular planter for what turned out to be a “turrible” (think Sir Charles) round of the Wheel of Derkin, YHC Omaha’d this as it was taking forever to get all the way around the circle–we started going both directions. This took us from the Bearmuda Triangle to Bearmuda Highs because after all the Bearcrawls, Burpees and running, the Wheel of Derkin made the PAX a bit delirious (and gave us a cheap buzz).
Finally, a short round of Mary: Held feet at 6″, followed by 18 Gas Pumpers IC.
We talk about leadership, especially in men’s circles and in circles where we speak of “iron sharpening iron” (Prov. 27:17); we often borrow ideas, thoughts, & principles that express values that are prevalent in the military, where leadership is developed around potentially life/death situations.
After having served nearly 12 yrs in the Army National Guard I’ve seen some of the best leaders, but I’ve also seen some of the absolute worst (those familiar with Band of Brothers, think of Sobel). Personally, I’ve been both a good leader and a failed leader in my time in the military. I can say that even those failed experiences sharpened my ability to lead. It’s crucial that we continually learn from those experiences, from those who failed to lead well, and most importantly from those who did lead us well. We should not only borrow from their examples and teaching, but strive to live out the good examples.
Some of greatest military leaders come from the special operations realm. They have the most grueling assessments, evaluations, and training just to be picked to join their ranks–then the real training begins. There’s a lot of leadership training, and it’s the mental toughness that seems to count the most. When my nephew was going through Ranger School I told him a few times to “never give up what you want most (becoming a Ranger) for what you want in the moment (rest, relief, relaxation, food, etc.). We ALL do that too easily, too often! In fact, it’s the easy road!
Here’s four of the most important and valuable lessons one operator shared from his training and experiences in special ops that I think all leaders should adopt/develop:
1) ADAPTABILITY: Readiness for change. That’s why we’re “disrupters” as F3 HIM. We’ve declared in varied ways that we’ll not settle for the status quo. We’re following the lead of others who’ve brought about change, we’re following after an amazing servant-leader Savior who disrupted the status quo and brought about change, and we’re striving to be leaders who do the same. In order to do that, we must first train ourselves to be adaptable. Status quo kills! Jesus spoke of this when He said you can’t put new wine into old wineskins (Mt. 9:14-17)
2) EMOTIONAL STABILITY: This involves being able to make good decisions under pressure. Proverbs is chocked full of wisdom to help us develop the capacity to stay objective and deliver a high level of performance regardless of what we’re feeling. Important to us? Yes! But crucial to gaining, earning, keeping, and honoring the respect of those we lead! Proverbs 16:32 says, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.”
3) PERSPECTIVE: Leaders have to be able to carry on when the world seems to have turned against them. We have to keep our troubles in PROPER perspective so that we do not lose sight of what needs to be accomplished. In a world full of lone rangers, keep in mind that “in an abundance of counselors there is victory” (Prov. 11:14b). And “Without consultation, plans are frustrated” (Prov. 15:22). We must train our perspective, and often other eyes/wisdom/counsel is crucial to helping us see properly.
4) TENACITY: This goes well with the acronym we hear a lot – DFQ! What defines tenacity is never giving up! ILLUST.: In the 1912 Olympics, Jim Thorpe, an American Indian from OK represented the U.S. in track & field. On the morning of his competitions, his shoes were stolen. Jim ended up finding two shoes in the garbage. Those are the shoes he wore — one was too big, so he had to wear an extra pair of socks (different shoes and different socks!). Wearing those shoes, Jim won 2 Gold Medals that day. A perfect reminder of tenacity and that you don’t have to resign to the excuses that have held you back.
So, these are 4 valuable tools every HIM should develop consistently: ADAPTABILITY. EMOTIONAL STABILITY. PERSPECTIVE. TENACITY.
Warm-a-Rama 15 seal jacks i/c 15 seal wave i/c Side shuffle across parking lot, Side shuffle back Toy Soldier halfway across parking lot, Nur back Karaoke across parking lot, Karaoke back
The Thang Ultimate frisbee with a twist Have to be in the soccer goal to score (goals are facing away from each other) Score a goal = 5 burpees, Other team does 15 e2ks per side
3rd F 9 lessons from F3 1. You can go a lot farther with others by your side. 2. Men need challenges to stay sharp mentally, physically, and emotionally. 3. Confidence is built by setting and accomplishing goals. 4. Competition makes us better. 5. Sweat and shared suffering build strong bonds. 6. If you’re not accelerating, you’re decelerating. 7. You’re stronger than you think you are. 8. The COT is great therapy. 9. Friends make life worth living and loving.
Number-Rama NAME-A-RAMA COT 16 HIM showed today: Semi, Chappie, Ruxpin, Fireplex, Toy Soldier, T-rex, Spreader, Focker, Mowdaboat, Rooster, Mr. Mom, Looney Toons, Flat Bottom, Dunkin, Quattro, Chauffer
Message: Excerpt from Bob Richards A Heart of a Champion book
A Philosophy for Winning
We all want to win, but what are the characteristics of winning. Number one: you’ve got to have the will to win. It’s a will to win, and not just a wish to win. I know a lot of people who have what I would call a wish to win. They’d like to go to the top. They daydream about the position they’d like to hold in life. They tell you their potential, about the heights they could soar to, or the distances they could run, the times they could perform if they would only get out and train. I think the greatest thing in life is to be able to dream, to have great aspirations, but I think it equally important that you have a will that can turn that dream into a reality.
Second you need to have inspiration. I’ve been amazed to see mediocre athletes, fellows drifting along with great potential but never really realizing their full abilities, suddenly inspired by a great coach, or some great ideal something that will lift them up and they would do the impossible. Inspired people: It’s when the see themselves not as they are but as they can become. It’s when they see themselves, not in terms of their weaknesses and shortcomings; their failures and inadequacies, but in terms of what they can be, when they begin to believe they can be what their vision tells them—-that’s when they’re inspired.
Lastly, take God with you. It’s the greatest ingredient in what I call a winning philosophy. These athletes believe that they have a power greater than their own. Nothing can thwart them, with God they do great and tremendous things.
The Heart of a Champion
Every man or woman needs the heart of a champion. It’s a quality of mind, a mental resolve, an attitude that turns a man or woman beyond the normal and the mediocre to accomplishing great things in all walks of life. The difference between a champion and a mediocre athlete is the difference between one who gives up and one who doesn’t. This is the basic philosophy that has made America great. It’s a philosophy of freedom, of liberty, of the great ideals we cherish. The spirt of America is the spirit of greatness; it’s the heart of a champion.
The champions I’ve seen have had another great quality. They dared to believe the impossible. What is the story behind athletics? It’s the story of young men and women who come along and say, “no matter what others say, I believe the record can be broken.” These young men and women, with faith and courage and vision in their hearts, daring to believe the impossible and training themselves to a peak perfection, have broken every record in the books.
The America system and way of life is perhaps more beautifully expressed in athletics than in any other field of endeavor? All the competitive element, all the drive, all the pressure, all the fire that makes America great is found in our athletic programs. The Bible says: “All things are possible to him who believes”
Life has its hurts, its setbacks, its defeats, its heartaches. No man can meet life in all of its fullness, but he must at one time or another meet hurt and pain and suffering—not only physical but mental pain, spiritual pain, financial pain. The champion is the one who can meet it with a stiff upper lip, with faith in God, and somehow, even with that hurt and pain in his heart, he keeps on going to achieve greatness.
