ENCOURAGEMENTS Blog

During my boyhood we had 3 different dogs. Our first dog was a poodle cross named Spooky.  Spooky had some nasty habits: he would relieve himself in the shoes of visitors and on the grocery bags when my mom brought in the groceries.  He would also wipe his rear end on the hallway carpet after he had emptied his bowels …

Every Saturday morning it was the same thing.  ‘That sound’ would wake us up.  Yes, that unmistakable sound now indelibly etched into the auditory memory banks of my mind.  Sadly, we no longer hear the sound, but over 10 years ago it was a very important element of our family dynamic. You may know the sound too.  Perhaps you haven’t …

“Coach, I need to quit the team.”, Murray sadly confessed. “What?  Why do you want to quit now?  We only have one tournament left?!”, I replied quite taken aback. “My self-image can’t handle losing anymore.”, he reluctantly expressed. Ok, how do I handle this? I had been coaching a high school wrestling team for 2 years and Murray was one …

Before I knew what was going on I was standing on the tarmac at the foot of the airplane stairway. What?  Are we the only ones?  What do we do? Then it happened… I looked up to see the Prime Minister of Canada and his wife waving to the media and descending the stairs toward me and my son. “Welcome …

It took far longer than I had anticipated.  The yard needed lots of leveling.  Lots! My standards were exacting so I had my crew doing what we needed to do in order to create exceptional results.  I wanted to make sure this landscape job was the best we could do. Two days into the job the owner of the landscape …

I could hear him before I could see him.  The siren pierced the air with a shrill tone that served to wake me up in the midst of an early morning drive. Glancing in my rear view mirror I now saw the flashing lights of the police car as it raced towards me at a high velocity.  I don’t know …

Have you ever done any archery?  Have you shot a bow and arrow? As an 11 year old kid at summer camp I had the opportunity to learn about archery.  Wow – high adventure for a boy to be given a deadly weapon to shoot projectiles into targets pinned to bales of hay. I can still remember the first time …

I recently met with a very capable leader. By all measures she has been very successful. She’s incredibly educated, she’s had a good career of meaningful work, she’s traveled extensively, she has passionately pursued leisure and recreational activities to create good work/life balance, she is great with people, and has volunteered her time for meaningful causes. I’ve had the privilege …

We could not believe what we were seeing. You have got to be kidding me! Was this a reality TV show of some kind? Where was the hidden camera? Somewhere there is a TV audience watching our reactions – right? How could someone actually think that is appropriate? Common sense would tell you… Ahh, and therein lies the quandary: common …

Cancer had overtaken her mother’s body. Like a slow moving lava flow it had destroyed everything in its path. The end was near. She didn’t know what to do. She and her mother had journeyed through every stage of this insidious disease and now they were facing the final stage – the last chapter. She was once again sitting with …