CAN

To view the video: under video, google CAN.

What does a farther do when his son, who has never been out of a wheelchair, says he loves to race?  He becomes his boy’s hands and feet.  That was the day the “Team Hoyt” was born.  Dick brought Rick a more sophisticated racing chair. 

Rick was born in 1962 to Dick and Judy Hoyt. As a result of oxygen deprivation to Rick’s brain at the time of his birth, Rick was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. Dick and Judy were advised to institutionalize Rick because there was no chance of him recovering, and little hope for Rick to live a “normal” life. This was just the beginning of Dick and Judy’s quest for Rick’s inclusion in community, sports, education and one day, the workplace.

Dick and Judy soon realized that though Rick couldn’t walk or speak; he was quite astute and his

eyes would follow them around the room. They fought to integrate Rick into the public school system, pushing administrators to see beyond Rick’s physical limitations. Dick and Judy would take Rick sledding and swimming, and even taught him the alphabet and basic words, like any other child. After providing concrete evidence of Rick’s intellect and ability to learn like everyone else, Dick and Judy needed to find a way to help Rick communicate for himself.

With $5,000 in 1972 and a skilled group of engineers at Tufts University, an interactive computer was built for Rick. This computer consisted of a cursor being used to highlight every letter of the alphabet. Once the letter Rick wanted was highlighted, he was able to select it by just a simple tap with his head against a head piece attached to his wheelchair. When the computer was originally first brought home, Rick surprised everyone with his first words. Instead of saying, “Hi, Mom,” or “Hi, Dad,” Rick’s first “spoken” words were: “Go, Bruins!” The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season. It was clear from that moment on, that Rick loved sports and followed the game just like anyone else.

Rick graduated from Boston College in 1993 with a
degree in special education.

In 1975, at the age of 13, Rick was finally admitted into public school. After high school, Rick attended Boston University, and he graduated with a degree in Special Education in 1993. Dick retired in 1995 as a Lt. Colonel from the Air National Guard, after serving his country for 37 years.

In the spring of 1977, Rick told his father that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Far from being a long-distance runner, Dick agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair and they finished all 5 miles, coming in next to last. That night, Rick told his father, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

This realization was just the beginning of what would become over 1,000 races completed, including marathons, duathlons and triathlons (6 of them being Ironman competitions). Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days.

In a triathlon, Dick will pull Rick in a boat with a bungee cord attached to a vest around his waist and to the front of the boat for the swimming stage. For the biking stage, Rick will ride a special two-seater bicycle, and then Dick will push Rick in his custom made running chair (for the running stage).

Rick was once asked, if he could give his father one thing, what would it be? Rick responded, “The thing I’d most like is for my dad to sit in the chair and I would push him for once.”

The 2009 Boston Marathon was officially Team Hoyt’s 1000th race. Rick always says if it comes down to doing one race a year he would like it to be the Boston Marathon: his favorite race.

2013 was going to be Dick and Rick's last Boston Marathon together, but they were not able to finish due to the bombings. They vowed to be back in 2014 to finish "Boston Strong" with all the other runners, which they did; stopping many times along the 26.2 distance to take photos and shake hands of the many well-wishers, and finishing with several of the runners from their Hoyt Foundation Boston Marathon team.

Vision of Victory: Process & Product

There are those who believe that all you have to do is order from the universe and it comes.  Where I come from, you have to pay for all that you order.  Since school began, you and your students have paid the price.  The effort, in spite of distraction and outside noise, has been sustained.   We have engaged the students in the learning process and have taught the standards to mastery.  What an enjoyable and fulfilling process, the process of educating young people.   And I love paying for it, and I know you do, too!  

Actor Bruce Lee

At Planet Hollywood in New York City, there is a letter hanging on the wall that actor and martial artist Bruce Lee wrote to himself. The top of the letter, which Lee wrote in 1970, has stamped on it "secret." It starts out, "By 1980 I will be the best known oriental movie star in the United States and will have secured 10 million dollars." The most interesting part of this letter, however, was the second part–the part often omitted.  Lee goes on to write, "And in return I will give the very best acting I could possibly give every single time I am in front of the camera and I will live in peace and harmony." How fascinating that Lee wrote he would have peace and harmony after he said what he would do to obtain his goal.

Olympian Michael Johnson

Similarly, Michael Johnson, the Olympic champion sprinter, had a goal to win the 200 and 400 meters sprint at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The problem, however, was that the 200 and the 400 were traditionally run on the same day. This would have made it almost impossible for him to win because of recovery time. After setting this goal, Johnson remembered something his father asked him every time he set a goal when he was a young person. "What are you going to do about it? and "Now that you have a goal, how are you going to achieve it?" Johnson developed a workout regime with his coach that involved specific weight training, stretching and running intervals five days a week. In addition, he petitioned the Olympic Committee daily to move the 200 and the 400 meters to different days.  The Committee did move the events and Michael took home the gold both in the 200 and 400.

There are two kinds of goals: product and process. A product goal is what you are going to achieve, such as, "I will instruct my students so that all will demonstrate math and reading proficiency," or "I will teach to mastery all of the science standards.” A process goal is what we will do to get it, which means developing a "prescription for success." This is a plan (lesson plan, curriculum guide) that teachers follow very closely in their daily work habits and periodically evaluate themselves on. The teacher must fall in love, not with what they are trying to accomplish, but with the process of accomplishing it.  All the great ones have. Not that they always love the work, but they have regard for the process. 

Soon, we will begin a new educational process.  Know that life is all about processes.  Life has a lot of endings and should have many exciting beginnings.    Learn to love the processes.  When I was a child, we cut timber from our land to build our house.  On an occasion, I would get together with a few cousins and build a tree house of sorts in the tops of downed pines. When we were building and collecting scraps of wood we were so excited. We were running here and there to get what we could. Then we started building and the excitement kept growing while we were constructing, eagerly awaiting to see the end product. And, finally, it was done. It was not anything Donald Trump would claim, but it was as well as we could do. Then there was a letdown. Without knowing it, we were more interested in building something, and the excitement of the process, than we were the product.

The process of test prep has occurred and been sustained.  Goals have been set and plans have been made for success.  The product of our labor is forthcoming.  Today, as the camera begins to roll, according to Bruce Lee, is a day of peace and harmony.

I Said to Myself- Time is My Wealth

How do you talk to yourself? What do you say? Start thinking about what you think about and what you tell yourself.   Rid the mind of clutter, and hear yourself.

Ask yourself of a time in which you faced adversity.  (Know the best predictor of the future is the past).  How did you overcome?  Well, I said to myself, “If my mother-in-law with an open wound in her chest from cobalt treatments of the 1970’s, breast cancer, heart valve replacement and continual staph infection, can do….then I can….”  Lena Pearl Carr was a most virtuous person who never complained. She passed away April 6, 2011.

How should you talk to you if you really wanted to be great; if you really wanted to serve others; if you really want to experience the blessings of life?  Happy people talk to themselves a certain way.  They have learned, as my mother-in-law, how to enjoy life. Learn to be happy.   Miserable people are a burden to other people. Do not be a drain.

A man came home to his wife who was dragging her luggage to the car.  He ask her what was wrong and she said she had just had enough and that she was leaving.  He asked, “Is there someone else.”  She responded, “There just has to be.”

Don't be a drag.

Your time is your wealth.  How would you live your life if you had one year to live?   What would matter to you?  Would you spend a year quacking like a duck?  Would you spend the next year at the duck pond (Happy Hour at the local bar)? At the end of the day today, your bank account has 1 less day. 

A doctor tells patient he has one year to live. The patient asks the doctor, “What should I do?” The doctor says, “Give all your money to charity, move into a shack, and marry the first woman you meet with nine children.” The patient asks, "Will that save me?" The doctor responds, "No, but it will be the longest year of your life."

Given one year to live, would you spend it as you are now? Everything has a shelf life: material and non material objects alike. You have a shelf life. 

A woman is dying to cancer.  Her husband knows it.  She knows it. He gathers his courage and asks her, “I want to ask you a question: What does it feel like knowing that you are dying?”  She thinks and responds, “What does it feel like pretending that you are not?”

You may live to be 81 years of age, just like Pearl, or you may have one year to live or one day--you never know.

A week before Mother’s Day, AT&T asked Coach Bryant to do a commercial.  The script read, “This is Paul Bear Bryant, the head football coach at the University of Alabama, this weekend is Mother’s Day, call your mamma.”  The Bear says, “I got it, I do not need a script.”  Here is what he said, “This Paul Bear Bryant, head football coach at the University of Alabama, Roll Tide, Roll! This weekend is Mothers’ Day, call your mamma. I sure wish I could.”

Your time is your wealth. Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Go laugh, smile, and love. Go serve. Whatever you are designed to do, go do it.  Go preach and use words only when you have to.

Things Happen

What was the worst experience of your life?  Do you recall the day?  Do remember the pain?  Will it ever lessen?  Will you ever forget?  Can good come from being hurt?    How did you get through the experience? 

Healing is a process.   Share your experiences with others.  Know the "you-felt-that-way-too" is the beginning of process. To heal your wound you must go heal someone else.

Dr. Kelvin Elko tells this story: 

One day a man fell down in a hole. As a doctor walked by, the man screamed up, "Hey, doctor! I fell in this hole. Can you help me?" The doctor wrote out a prescription and threw it down in the hole. Just then, a priest walked by. The man yelled up, "Hey Father! I fell in this hole. Can you help me?" The priest wrote out a prayer and threw it down into the hole. Then, his friend walked by. The man yelled, "Hey, Joe! I fell in this hole. Can you help me?" His friend jumped down in the hole. The man said, “Nice going, Joe. Now there are two of us here.” Joe said, "Yes, but I’ve been in this hole before. I know the way out."

Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) has had a 12-step plan for years.  AA pairs a recovering alcoholic with a sponsor to help coach demonstrate how they can overcome their addiction. The program has had incredible success. We have to know what it is like to go through something before we can really help another.

 

To be able to help others, we must talk about our experiences or "The Thing." “The Thing” ultimately affects all:  “The Cancer,” “The Divorce,” “The Addiction,” Now is the time to quit fighting up-stream like a salmon and to accept “The Thing” and to flow with it like a fish going with the stream. Ask yourself: "What did The Thing teach me?"

Ryan has lived with his disease from birth and at age 20 has begun to share with others his

Ryan Admires His Wash-Job

experiences. Ryan and a friend have created a Monday night class that is geared towards teaching others how to share their testimony.  Ryan has a story to tell and so do we.

This week, take your experiences and help someone else. Explain how they can be strong at the broken places. Go down in the holes of life for them. Show them the way to climb back out.

Every Day I Fight

Stuart Scott, a longtime anchor at ESPN, died January 4, but his voice is alive and crackling – raw, honest and ever unique – in the new book. In Every Day I Fight, a posthumous memoir, Scott and co-author Larry Platt offer a moving and inspiring account of battling a relentless opponent – a rare appendiceal cancer.

His swag as a reporter will forever be unmatched and he will be sorely missed. One thing is for certain, however, and that’s that his slogans and insightful quotes will always live on.

• When referring to someone playing at a high level with ease, but also, himself- “As cool as the other side of the pillow.”
• When a player was getting more rebounds than anyone else on the court, “They call him the Windex Man cause he’s always cleaning the glass.”
• When someone would begin to dominate a game, “Just call him butter ’cause he’s on a roll.”
• When someone would make a smart play, “Like gravy on a biscuit, it’s all good!”
• When someone would get ejected from a game, “You ain’t got to go home, but you got to get the heck up outta here.”
• On his fight with cancer, “This whole fight, this journey thing is not a solo venture. This is something that requires support.”
• On his biggest inspiration and reason for living, “The best thing I’ve ever done, the best thing I will ever do is be a dad to Taelor and Sydni. I can’t ever give up because I can’t leave my daughters. I love you girls more than I will ever be able to express. You are my heartbeat. I am standing on this stage tonight because of you.”
• On how to live life with cancer, “When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live.”
• On the only solution, “So live. Live. Fight like …. And when you get too tired to fight, lay down and rest and let somebody else fight for you.”

Below is Stuart Scott's acceptance speech at the ESPYs.

I wrote in another blog a few years ago about a young man who discovered lumps on his neck after a football game. At 18, Lance Brooks had developed Lymphoma.

All were surprised when former LHS student Lance Brooks made an unexpected appearance after undergoing surgery just that morning.  Lance has been in the hospital for many days pending a bone marrow transplant on May 3.  Lance's most recent Facebook post reads: "God has truly brought me a long way I have everything to be thankful for.  My journey is not over yet.  Transplant day is tomorrow."   Thank you Lance for a little "perspective." Please keep Lance and his family in your prayers.

Crenshaw County- Relay for Life 2012

Lance passed in September of 2012.

All families, in some way or another, have been affected by cancer. An opportunity to fight for them is fast approaching per Relay for Life.  Do all that  you can to support this fight.

Serve Others

Two weeks ago we spoke on charting our course toward wisdom by reading books and taking the counsel of wise friends.  The third manner of obtaining wisdom is through servings others.  

A wise man will cultivate a servant’s spirit, for that particular attribute attracts people like no other. 

Alfred Vanderbilt was from one of the wealthiest most prominent families in the world.  His father, Cornelius Vanderbilt, amassed a fortune in the shipping and railroad industries in the early nineteenth century.  Alfred insisted on beginning his business experience at the bottom as a clerk in one of his father’s offices.  All of Alfred’s siblings insisted on jobs in management.  The public respected and never forgot Alfred.   His father never forgot him either; each of Cornelius’s sons and daughters were willed $7 million, but Alfred received $76 million.  In his father’s mind, Alfred would steward the money with a servant’s spirit. 

Alfred’s last act in this world, was to tie life jackets to baskets for babies as the Lusitania sank.  Vanderbilt had promised the young mother of a small baby that he would locate an extra life vest for her.  Failing to do so, he offered her his own life vest, which he proceeded to even tie on to her himself since she was holding her infant child in her arms at the time. Though he owned many estates with swimming pools, he never learned to swim.  He was among the 1,198 passengers who did not survive the incident. His body was never recovered. Alfred maintained his servant’s spirit to the very end.

At age 32, Buckminister Fuller stood on the shores of Lake Michigan contemplating suicide.  His first child had died in 1922 from complications from polio and spinal meningitis just prior to her fourth birthday. He was penniless. He was discredited.  He was jobless.  He felt hopeless.  In an epiphany, he realized that his life did not belong to himself, but rather others.  He thought, if my life belongs not to myself but to others, then what can I do for others?  Through living a life of service, over the next 54 years, he was awarded 25 U.S patents, authored 28 books, and received 47 honorary doctorates.  

What can you do to begin or continue cultivating a servant’s spirit.  Can you volunteer at your local church or community center?  Can you visit the elderly at your local hospital?  Can you spend more time with your family? Can you schedule a call to a family member just to make him or her smile? Can you commit random acts of kindness such as paying for someone’s meal?

Today, carry someone’s bags, pour their coffee, open the door, and hold their chair.  Be an example and serve others. 

(Oh, and one last thought from Fuller that I found interesting).

Whoomp, There It Is!

Contrary to what I said last week in that today we would talk about serving others, we are going to be a little self-serving and discuss something that I personally need to hear….something we have discussed before….Lay off Offenses.  (Ouch!)

Career have fizzled. Marriages have ended. Friendships dissolved. Weekends ruined (ouch, again!)  All of this at the hands of one thing: offense. Secretly if not openly, in the hearts of most people resides a feeling that they have been cheated—by their spouse, friend, government, employer—you name it; people have been offended. Consider the energy it takes for the offended people to voice their outrage at being offended by others!  Consider the time spent by those that have to sit and listen.

Today, many people are offended first and find the reason second, and their anger publicly litters our lives (litter, litter, everywhere).  In the end there is no pay off except walking around bitter and eventually alone. This being offended has caused a huge decrease in the number of people who practice loyalty. Somehow these offended people feel they then have the right to be disloyal because they have been offended.

At the beginning of this new year, many set new goals.  No matter what your new goals are/were, if you are walking around offended and touchy, you will not achieve them (ouch, again). You will end up losing all your energy to pouting and self-pity, and you will deserve to lose your goals because you were offended. But being offended is arrogant because the offended make up in their heads—and in their speech—that they would never ever do that offense to another. Keep in mind while you are offended that you have done things, too, to offend, we all have, and we are to be forgiven by the way we forgive.

If you are offended today, you will initially find company. Scores of people would love to commiserate with you; you don’t have to leave your living room, but rather just turn on the television to the news programs that will convince you that your offended position is justified. We want to be offended so badly that we inadvertently pay these people millions to tell us creatively that being offended is not a waste but is justified and acceptable.

Don’t mix this being offended up with having boundaries. Remember that anger is something you have and use to establish limits. Specifically, if someone is walking all over you, then, when you speak up to stop them, speaking up is not being offended; that’s establishing limits. We all teach people how to treat us and need to establish limits. Establishing boundaries is not what we are talking about here, but rather immobilizing emotions that run amok, such as, "I’m offended, but I’m not sure why yet; give me a minute to justify my rage.”

 

How do we address such behavior? Talk to yourself and script your words. (I did this all the way into work this morning J).  My new script is, "Whoomp, there it is" (as we used to say back in the day). I don’t have to play the blame game, the ain’t-it-awful game, or the why-am-I-being-picked-on game. I just say, "There it is. I was told to expect offenses, I was told they come like the sun rising, and there it is." 

Today, be careful not to be offended and when you are say out loud, "Whoomp, there it is" and move one.