Drifting Along

     A fishing float bobs up and down with the ebb and flow of the water it sits waiting patiently for a fish to gulp down the bait forcing the little red and white floater underwater signaling a fish is on the line. If you sit long enough and watch careful enough that bobber doesn't just sit there it floats and drifts as the wind and waves carry it. A boat out on the ocean moves speedily along with the assistance of the motor propelling it in the direction of it's destination, yet in most bodies of water if the boat is just sitting idly in the water it will drift away slowly from it's current location. In the case of a river that change in location is obviously going to be downstream. Drifting along may appear to be a comfortable position, yet in today's FTM we'll see why drifting along isn't what we were designed to do in life.
     When I visualize a fish float sitting out on the lake I see it just bobbing up and down no sense of direction, no energy to go backward, forward, right or left, just sitting there bobbing. If we aren't careful in our own lives we may find ourselves bobbing along in life much like that little fish float does on the water. "But I'm comfortable where I am and I don't want to move out of that comfort zone in which I live" you might be saying, well bobbing in the water drifting along isn't what we were designed to do in life. We are more like the boat, we have a motor that can carry us where we need to go in life. We have the means to reach our destination instead of sitting idly around waiting on the tide or current to pull us in the direction we may or may not need to be going.
     We are all called to action in our own walk of life. We were not designed to sit around waiting on someone else to do what we should be doing and we definitely do not need to just be pushed around by the tide of popular thought at any given moment. We know right from wrong, we know what we should do, and we have a moral compass that will guide us in life if only we will listen and then put our motors in gear.
There are several warnings about drifting along in the Bible, James 1 5-8 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. And Hebrews 2:1 warns that
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." In each of these scriptures the warning is clear, do not just drift along. 
     Where are you in life? Are you comfortable where you are? Do you just drift along each day doing the same old thing the same old way you've been doing it for years? That may feel comfortable, but I would tell you that you are bobbing on downstream. You are floating and you were not designed to float. You were created with a purpose and you were given a motor to allow you to move along against the current, upstream, and to your destination in life. Whether it is in your family, your career, or in a place where you see the need, but haven't moved to make a difference today is the day to put your motor into gear and start moving. I don't want to be pulled along through my life by the elements that I live, I want to make a move, make a difference, and go where I am destined to go not end up where someone else tells me to be. 
      If you have lost your "motorvation" in life it's time to find it. You may be drifting, but I know where the fuel for my tank comes from and I know it is available to all that seek Him. Jeremiah 29:13 promises that, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." If you are uncertain then ask for guidance, focus, or direction it is available when we actively seek focus. You are not a floater, you were not made to sit around and wait for someone else to do what needs to be done, your life matters and you have a job to do each day that will require you to move forward and reach your life's purpose. 
     Be assured your life matters, you have a purpose each day to fulfill. You don't make a difference once upon a time and then you're off the hook, no when you fulfill one purpose God has more in store and he is waiting for you to put your boat in gear and to stop floating down the stream wherever the current pulls you along. 
Go out this week and throw it into high gear and watch what happens in the world you live!
Coach Carter

Cystal Ball

     One of the movies from my childhood that I distinctly remember is the "Wizard of Oz". It's no wonder I remember it so well it was one of the highlights of the Halloween season because before cable, satellite television, and the internet movies like the Wizard could only be seen at the mercy of the network channels. It is definitely a highlight in my memories of my childhood. One scene that resonates in my mind is the one where the wicked witch has captured Dorothy and is trying to pry away her ruby red slippers. In her evil efforts the witch draws Dorothy to her crystal ball and lets her take a glance of the worry and despair she has created with her disappearance from her family's Kansas farm. As Dorothy peers into the crystal ball she sees her aunt and uncle worrying and the farm hands all sitting around with heads hanging low. Obviously Dorothy is distraught from what she perceives as the harm she has caused with her running away from home and the whole "twisted"(pun intended) adventure.
     What would it be like if you had a crystal ball that would allow you to look forward to see what kind of impact you have made on those you come in contact with on a daily basis or possibly even just an one time encounter? You do understand that regardless of your intent you make an impact on the lives of a countless number of people and situations each and every day? Your words, your decisions, your attitude, your perspective on life has a direct impact on the lives of others that you may or may not ever meet. I don't know if many people grasp the longitude of what they do and how it impacts lives way on down the yellow brick road of life.
     That's important to understand, but couple that with the fact that your impact will occur regardless of whether it is a positive impact or unfortunately even a negative impact on someone you live with, work with, or spend any amount of time with today. I can sit and think of individuals that have had a direct impact on who I am and where I am today. Some made intentional efforts to influence me to be a better person and make a difference in the lives of others. In my educational career I always link three very special people to my life and why I became a teacher. Andy Taylor, Glen Kanipe, and Gail Rice each played a pivotal role in my opportunity to work as a volunteer wrestling coach and to the next step of going back to school and becoming what is right now a 25 year veteran educator still impacting the lives of those I have an opportunity to work with each day. Where would I be right now if not for the positive influence each of them made on my life? Not sure maybe in education maybe not??

     Well it doesn't stop there, I had a  high school wrestling coach that instilled a love of this sport and the discipline it taught me that has served me well over the course of my life. Coach Tony Rigdon taught me to never give up even when things looked too tough to face, Coach Rigdon instilled that mentality into my life through pushing me to what I thought was my limit and then encouraging me to give just a little bit more. Thank you Coach Rigdon, I haven’t gotten the opportunity to tell him in years, but I want to make sure he knows that his influence on my life changed my life!
     But what if it doesn’t even begin there? What if there was a friend of my older brother that I used to nag and tenaciously bother when I was about nine or ten years old? What if that older friend told this little, scrawny kid that really had little to no skills or stature that fit the football team or basketball team that he knew of a sport that would suit him just right. Reese Conway did just that for me. For the four or five years leading up to my high school career Reese told me that I would make a good wrestler and that size didn’t matter in wrestling. Reese taking the time to encourage me and share with me his love for a sport that I had not even seen before, other than Southeastern Championship Professional Wrestling on TV, led me to pursue wrestling when I got in high school. Thank you Reese Conway.
     You see all of those people made a difference in my life, but if Reese hadn’t planted that seed some forty plus years ago I might have never entered the field of education and I sure wouldn’t have ever coached the sport that I feel mirrors life’s struggles in so many ways for over thirty years instilling the message of never quit and never give up! What is important for you to understand as you read this blog today is this. You will make an impact on someone be it one person, ten people, or ten thousand people, you will make a difference in the world you live. The question you have got to ask yourself is “What kind of impact will I make?”
     If you could glare into that crystal ball what would you see up to this point in your life? Would your impact be one that has encouraged others, or maybe could it be because you looked for a “yes” answer when everyone else was saying “no”? Has your life provided an example of persistence and perseverance lined with grit and resiliency? Have you helped someone with no plans or desire of getting anything in return? Or is your life filled with self-satisfaction, negativity, and gloom for the future? Have you had opportunities to make a difference, but you were just too busy to sacrifice the time it would take to be that positive influence in someone else's life? You need to really stop here and reflect on what kind of investment you are making into the lives of others.
     Guess what? If you didn’t like the image you are seeing in that crystal ball it isn’t too late. You may have one life that you are supposed to impact and that opportunity may be getting ready to present itself to you as you are reading this page. You may think you aren’t skilled enough or that you have nothing to offer, but you do. It may be as simple as encouraging that skinny, aggravating kid that he can be something in life. It may be a colleague at work that needs your help or a word of encouragement, or it may be a life that you can save with your friendship or offer to help. The bottom line is that the future you will see in your crystal ball is created by you. Your words and actions will make an impact that you may never know took place, but always remember this, you will make an impact. Will it be a positive one?
If you have never heard of the Butterfly Effect I encourage you to either click on the link provided below or copy and paste it into your browser. What the heck if you have watched it and it has been awhile since you watched it I would encourage you to watch it again. The Butterfly Effect is a principle that expands on the thought behind today’s FTM. Check it out and have a great week!


https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&p=the+butterfly+effect+andy+andrews+video#id=1&vid=bfa0cc9e57f3b7ef283769e846f94d14&action=click

How Far Does Your Reach Extend?

     Recently I watched the movie "Lost City of Z", which by the way was a pretty good investment of a couple of hours of entertainment time, and during the movie I was brought to attention by a quote that was shared in the movie's content. The quote went something like this, "The reach of a man should exceed his grasp". The message behind the words of the late poet and English playwright, Robert Browning,  caused me to take note and store that message for a future Flat Tire Ministry Thought of the Week. Guess what? Here we go.
     As the new work / school week begins most of us will have an area that is designated as our "work space". Yours may be a desk, an office, a classroom, building, out door space or any other type of work assignment. Still others devote and invest time into volunteering in extracurricular efforts, coaching, training, or possibly even ministering. Whatever the case may be each of us has an extent to which we reach out to help others. The gist of the quote above is to ask yourself, "In my world how far is my reach? How much effort do I expend to help others and make my world a better place to live?" It's easy to pat ourselves on the back and feel like we do all we can do to help others, yet I believe we all need to "measure" the expanse of our reach and evaluate if we could possibly do a little more to reach out of our comfort zone and make a difference in our realm of influence.
     The mental picture in my mind created by the words "the reach of a man should exceed his grasp" is of a person sitting at their desk, in their cubicle, on the job site, or even in their classroom extending out a hand as far as the constraints of the site will allow, yet never getting up and moving away from the our mental prison that prevents us from reaching out. Creating a barrier to aiding our fellow man is exactly what we must assure does not happen. The fallacy of being restrained from reaching out beyond our grasp occurs when we create barriers to going out further than we can comfortably do from our primary station in life. Just as Jesus directed the disciples to "go out and make disciples of of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", we are also challenged to do all we can to help our families, our students and all those that are need of help in life. 
     Are you reaching beyond your grasp? Or are you glued to the constraints you have created that are keeping you from reaching out? When you evaluate your life are you stretching your mind, thinking outside the box, seeking ways to benefit those you come in contact on a daily basis? Do you believe you can find a new answer or do you accept the accepted as the rule. When I allow myself to really visualize the idea behind reaching beyond my grasp, my core belief of never giving up and never quitting is fortified and nurtured! I can make a difference, you can make a difference, each of us can make a huge impact on our own world in which we live. 
     Do not ever oversimplify your realm of influence and the impact you will make on the lives of the individuals and groups you work with and live each day. When you think you have reached out as far as you can, stretch just a little bit more. When you think you have squeezed all the juice out of the lemon in your hand, squeeze just a little tighter, and when you think you can't make a difference in a life, hold on and reach out just a little bit further than where you thought your grasp extended! You will make a difference, you are the difference! I am inspired and motivated by the work I witness being done for our children by the professional educators I work alongside each day. In whatever field of influence you work and live, never underestimate the difference you can and do make each and every day and reach just a little further!
Coach Carter

The Fork in the Road

     Decisions, we are all faced with a multitude of decisions to make each and every day. Some are simple and carry no real implications such as will I wear the red or the blue tie today or do I want grape or strawberry jelly on my peanut butter sandwich. On the other hand we each have a set of decisions to make each day that will impact our course in life and more importantly the lives of those we lead as well. Some people would tell you that they are not a leader, but I would suggest to you that all of us are leaders in some capacity. You lead your business, your family, a team, a club, and you will always lead yourself through the decisions you make each day. Being a leader means you have to make the tough calls in life. Baseball legend Yogi Berra once quipped, "When you come to a fork in the road take it". That advice may seem a little short on guidance on first read, yet it carries a great deal of wisdom and a call to action that must be met by each of us throughout our lives.
     Understand that you have been placed in your position of leadership to make the tough calls, to not always be the popular one, and that your decisions will impact the lives of others. It may not be what you want to do and it may not be what others would hope you would decide, but when your mind is made up go for it! The outcome may not be what you hoped or planned for it to be, but none of us knows what tomorrow holds so we make our best decisions based on the knowledge we have and then we take action to put things in place. Inaction is not a choice, when we fail to make a decision guess what, you have just made one. Keep in mind, you have been placed in the position of authority for a reason, mothers and fathers lead their families and guide their children until they become adults. Coaches have to decide what will be the type of offense and defense their teams will apply, and business leaders are tasked with leading the people they work with in making their business a success. Sometimes our decisions lead to success, yet it is inevitable that sometimes our decisions will fall short of our envisioned outcomes.
     Decision making is tough. No question about that, yet someone has to make the call and in your life you are just that someone. Think about great men in history like Lincoln, Truman, Churchill, and FDR, each of these men had to make decisions that would cost hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children their lives, yet they also had to think about the cost of not making the decisions in front of them. Popular? Correct? History is the jury on those questions, but the important thing to grasp is that they made the call, they pulled the trigger, and they sealed the deal.
     Where is it in life that you are struggling with making the hard calls? Do you give in with your children when you don't want to be unpopular or "the bad guy"? In your professional life would you rather let someone else make "those" decisions? Or how about in your daily walk who or what influences your choices and decisions in all you do and say? Hopefully you will never have to make a decision with the gravity or magnitude that Harry Truman had to make in World War II, but the decisions you make have to be made by you. Remember, not making a decision is a decision. Flipping a coin isn't a sound method either so how do we grow in our confidence when we struggle to make the call?
     For me I have found that making the tough decisions in life is so much easier when I have sought out wisdom and guidance through principles that have been tried and tested throughout history. Prayer and meditation are sound tools for anyone faced with making a decision that will impact the lives of others, and all of our decisions impact others. Paul encouraged the church in Philippi with this call to prayer, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 
     If I read that correctly there wasn't an 100% guarantee that you will always make the "right" decision, but there is an assurance that you will be at peace with your decisions and that the outcome will be measured down the road for it's merit and durability. We are all going to be faced with a multitude of decisions this week, probably first thing Monday morning. Before you get to work, school, or wherever tomorrow finds you, take a few minutes and ask for wisdom and discernment to guide you as you take that fork in the road! 
GO, GO, GET'EM GO!! Have a fantastic week!
Coach Carter