A Good Morning to You!

I heard it first from my mother, then from my teachers, then from my coaches, and now from TV nutritionists. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” A variation has been “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” Apparently, loading our bodies up with good food each morning gives us an edge toward health, fitness and peak performance all day long. We act better, feel better and think better. We are better.

A CHAMP’s “breakfast” includes a generous portion of positive thoughts. We are thankful for each day’s opportunities-opportunities to live, earn, love, help, influence, learn and so much more. We are hopeful-always looking for answers, solutions, improving relationships, the good in others and a better way of doing things. We are faithful-seeing new ways to fully engage our task, our friends and families, ourselves, and our world.

A thankful, hopeful and faithful focus can provide the “food for thought” that begins our days.

Difficult Journeys

The day had been a long one, and I relaxed gratefully in a comfortable chair as I watched the six o’clock news. Suddenly, rubble-filled scenes panned across the screen. I stared riveted at leveled buildings, uprooted trees and crumpled vehicles thrown far from their driveways. A tornado had struck a small town, and life would never be the same for its residents.

A young reporter stood before the ruins of what had been a home earlier that day. Beside her, its owner, an elderly gentleman with slumped shoulders, stared blankly toward the camera. “Sir, will you be moving out of town?” she asked.

His eyes flickered quickly with life. “No,” he replied stoutly. “This is my home.”

“But, what will you do?” she inquired, watching him closely.

The man looked her in the eye. “Well, tomorrow morning, I’ll start cleaning up this mess,” he replied.
How like a champ! The gentleman didn’t complain about how much work he had to do—he simply started the process.

As we look at our projects this week, let’s take the first steps toward completing them.

Leading by Example

I was hot, to say the least! Both the temperature and humidity had risen well over 90 on that late summer Saturday in Kansas City. Our construction crew worked feverishly in the heat to transform the old Kansas City baseball stadium into a football stadium for a Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason game—and time was in short supply. We had until mid-afternoon to finish bolting in added bleachers as the gates would open at 5:00 p.m. to let the fans come in. All of us were exhausted, sweating profusely and unsure that we could finish in time.

Noon found me high in the stands still bolting in bleachers. Suddenly, I heard someone yelling from below. “What’s that about?” I wondered grumpily. “I can’t work any harder or faster!” When I looked down, I saw Jerry Baker, the construction company owner, wearing a tee shirt, blue jeans and an old hard hat. I paused in amazement. He hadn’t come to criticize but to cheer us on, and more importantly, to help. With his encouragement, energy and skill, the crew finished the job by 4:00 p.m., a full hour before the fans would come streaming in. Yes, “CHAMPS lead by example.”

What about you? Can you remember a CHAMP who led by showing you the way?