Author Archives: site author

I’ve mentioned my good friend Ed in some of my other posts. We often see things differently and he helps broaden my horizons. Several years ago he sent a picture from the website Astronomy Picture of the Day. I was so impressed I made it part of my routine to view the page before startingContinue reading “A Starry Night”

The GoodBye Yellow Brick Road album by Elton John has been my favorite since I started listening to it in the 1970s. I always liked the title song, GoodBye Yellow Brick Road. I just assumed it was about a relationship gone wrong and a guy leaving a girl. A few years ago I saw anContinue reading “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

Every good Texan knows the saying, Remember the Alamo. When I think about  it of course I remember the famous stand the Texas revolutionaries made and the battle that happened there. I also think about the coaching secret I used on my players. I always told my players what I wanted them to do. NeverContinue reading “Remember”

One of my favorite movies is The Electric Horseman. The stars are Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Redford plays a retired rodeo cowboy who finds himself facing trouble. Fonda tells him she doesn’t want to see him get hurt. He responds, “I’ve been hurt. I still get up.” This statement sums up my twelfth andContinue reading “Still Standing”

Of course everyone knows how to finish the sentence partially stated in the title, try try again. In my first post on the subject of resilience, Rebound, I mentioned that the best rebounders aren’t always the tallest players. They are the ones who want the ball the most. Their desire leads to persistence. Tenacity, determinationContinue reading “If First You Don’t Succeed…”

Recently central Texas experienced an unusual ice storm. We get one every few years, but this was different. A thunderstorm moved through very early one morning when the temperature was just below freezing. That caused ice accumulations on elevated surfaces, which included tree limbs. The ice was three quarters of an inch thick. The resultContinue reading “Bowing”

Sometimes just when I think I have something 100% figured out I end up being completely wrong. That’s what happened on February 11, 1990. Undefeated heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson fought Buster Douglas. Tyson had completely dominated everyone he had ever fought and Buster Douglas was having only a mediocre career. I told my friendContinue reading “Jelly Donut”

What do my wife, Marcus Aurelius and Alexis Carrel have in common? They have all understood the value of starting. My wife is a flute player. She has often said, “The hardest part about practicing is opening the flute case. Marcus Aurelius put it this way “To begin is half the work…” I like howContinue reading “On Your Mark”

In my last post, Just the Facts, I talked about rebounding by getting the facts, analyzing them, coming to a decision and acting upon that decision. I’ve found that sometimes the decision I’ve reached is something I don’t want any part of. Following through with it is going to stink. That could be for aContinue reading “Hard Things”

Back in the late 1960s there was a TV show called Dragnet. It was about two detectives who solved crimes. They would interview people who might give them important information. Often the person being interviewed would start giving their opinion. One of the officers, Joe Friday, would interrupt them and say, “Just the facts ma’am.”Continue reading “Just the Facts”