What are You Building?

I recently heard a cool story and thought you might enjoy it as well.

Two men are sitting in the middle of an open, dry desolate terrain with a small chisel and rocks.  A third man walks up and asks the first one what he is doing.  He says, "I am building a stone?"

Then the third man walks to the second man and says, "What are you doing?"  This man, using the same equipment and the same types of rocks as the first man, stops, looks up for a second, points to a specific spot in front of him and says, "I am building a cathedral."

Wow!  That is pretty powerful stuff.  As a parent, teacher, administrator or counselor, what is it that you are building?  Are you building a stone or are you building a cathedral?  Who saw you as a cathedral when you were young?  I am sure you can point to someone.  So, now return the favor!

Finally Friday

Friday is finally here and the weather threatens to be pretty for the weekend.  We are working furiously to get all of our scholarship applications in to the District office today for review and they all look pretty good.  Wish us luck!!  

Amazing Young People

Right now we are working with eleven young people that are applying for the Texas 4-H Foundation Opportunity Scholarship and all eleven are just amazing young people.  They all have such unique stories to tell, outstanding goals for the future and exceptional work ethics in order to accomplish this tremendous task (a fourteen page application) by this Friday.  My hat goes off to each and everyone of them!!

Applications and Scholarships

We are working fast and furious to help the high school students at Eldorado High School to complete their College Applications, FASFA and Scholarship Forms.  The process can be so confusing for the kids and parents during this busy time in their life and anything we can do to help them, is always greatly appreciated.

What Can We Learn From Wally?

Harvey Mackay tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proves the point that "Ducks Quack and Eagles Soar".  His story goes like this.  He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport.  When a cab pulled up, the first thing that Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine.  Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed me a laminated card and said:  "I'm Wally, your driver.  While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement."  Wally's mission statement:  To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.  This blew Harvey away.  Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside.  Spotlessly clean!  As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you like a cup of coffee?  I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."  I said jokingly, "No, I prefer a soft drink."  Wally smiled and said, "No problem.  I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice."  Almost stuttering, I said, "I'll take a Diet Coke".  Handing him his drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today."  As they were pulling away, Wally handed me another laminated card.  "These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio."  And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.  Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day.  He also told him that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.  "Tell me Wally", Harvey asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?"  Wally smiled into the rear view mirror.  "No, not always.  In fact, it's only been in the last two years.  My first five years of driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the drivers do.  Then I heard a personal growth speaker on the radio one day.  He basically said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself.  He said, 'Stop complaining!  Differentiate yourself from your competition.  Don't be a duck.  Be an eagle.  Ducks quack and complain.  Eagles soar above the crowd.'  That hit me hard, said Wally.  I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle.  The first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year.  This year I'll probably quadruple it.  You are lucky to get me today.  I don't sit at cabstands anymore.  My customers call me for appointments."  Wally the cab driver decided to stop quacking like a duck and began soaring like an eagle.  How about us?