Leadership — Page 48

Going For IT

October 16, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

This past Monday night, Le’Veon Bell scored a Touchdown against the San Diego Chargers with time running out to win the football game. Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steeler coach decided with five seconds left not to be a prisoner of his fears and

THEY WENT FOR IT

Can you imagine how much he. . .they. . .would have been ridiculed if they wouldn’t have made the touchdown when they could have easily have tied the score and gone to overtime and taken their chances. . . ?

W A I T . . .

You’re not thinking this is about some football story, do you?

It’s about Me. . .it’s about You. . . .

When’s the last time

YOU WENT FOR IT ?

I remember when I was playing T-ball. . .

I was about 6 or 7 and I overheard my grandfather talking to maybe my parents or some other family members after one of my games and he said something about T-ball isn’t really baseball and all that I had to do is keep running after I hit the ball because no one could make a good enough throw to get me out. . . .

He was right. . .the only way that anyone could ever get me out, whether I hit the baseball out of the infield or not, was just keep running and only a perfect throw. . .a flawless play could ever get me off the bases.

I can’t remember many times when I just kept running. . .

WHEN I WENT FOR IT

that I got thrown out. . . .

THE LESSON :

When you go for it,

the pressure is more on somebody else more than yourself. . .

unless

. . .you’re the real

S O M E B O D Y E L S E

It’s how I ran 8 marathons,

It’s how I self-published RE-MEMBER–A MEMORY BOOK and THE CANDLE MAKER,

It’s how I’ve become a Professional Speaker in the National Speakers Association,

It’s how when I full-steam-ahead-never-look-back-never-say-quit-don’t-take-no-for-an-option-went-for-it

I N E V E R F A I L E D. . .

E V E R . . . .

So. . .seriously. . .

when was the last time you

all-out-chips-in-the-middle-of-the-table-went for it?

When was the last time

you didn’t

FEAR SUCCESS

more than you

FEAR FAILURE ?

If you can’t can’t remember

or even if you can recall. . .

even if

especially if

it’s been since you were 6 or 7

or just a few moments ago. . .

Pssssssssst of the Day:

IT’S TOO LONG

Hmmmmm of the Day:

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE !

Round the Bases. . .don’t stop. . .

GO FOR HOME

(YOU’RE SAFE)

DISCLAIMER: EVEN THOUGH I KNOW THIS. . .KNOW THAT I KNOW THIS. . .BET MY LIFE THAT I KNOW THIS. . .FOR THE LIFE OF ME. . .I ACT LIKE I DON’T KNOW THIS !

Your Maitre D

July 24, 2015 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

It seems like the time before Biblical Times ago, but it was only about 30 years. . .

I was the Associate Minister First Christian Church, in Washington, PA, a 1,5oo member church with an average attendance of 350 folks each Sunday. My chief job was being the Youth Minister and Pastor of Visitation.

I had three big youth groups, two of which met every Sunday and a pre-junior high group that met every Wednesday afternoon.

I was a busy man.

At the end of the School year I made sure that we celebrated the graduating Seniors of the group and took them out to dinner. . .

But. . .not just any kind of Dinner

The group was always around 15-20 kids and this is where it would get interesting.

We loaded into cars and drove to one of the fanciest restaurants in town and, mind you, we were dressed in our bests to represent that special evening. The young ladies had on their best dresses and the gentleman, suits and sport coats.

We all peeled out of cars and vans and walked into the Restaurant with everyone talking about what they were going to order.

I had one of the most popular guys go to the Maitre D and tell them that we were there and were ready to be seated.

The look on their faces is still one I’ve never forgotten as they stood there, shocked, when the Maitre D and then the Manager came over to tell them that there were no such reservations that had been made.

Ooops, My Mistake. . .

We all piled back into the car and repeated that same scene at two other very nice restaurants in town and now the natives were not only embarrassed but a little perturbed, to say the least.

As were piling into our cars after the 4th incident, one of the kids said something about this whole evening being

b o g u s

and we’d be better off just going to McDonald’s. . . .

And wouldn’t you know. . .

that is exactly where our cars went. . .right into the parking lot of our local McDonald’s

Reluctantly, these hungry kids got out of the cars and walked into the McDonald’s and saw what they had never. . .ever seen in any McDonald’s before. . . and never. . .

WILL EVER, NEVER SEE AGAIN !

There was a string quartet from the local W & J College playing classical music

There was four tuxedo’ed Maitre D’s

There was linen table clothes

There was Candlelight

There was Sparkling Grape Juice in really nice Sparkling Wine Glasses

There was a McDonald’s Buffet of everything they made in plenty

There was Memories that were being made that none of their minds would ever forget

. . .or. . .or mine.

I’ve always had a personal, fervent belief that it wasn’t ever so much to tell, hear, show, taste, smell a message so much as to actually E X P E R I E N C E O N E !

So. . .when was the last time?

When was the last time that you actually Experienced a Message?

Uhhhhh. . .when was the last time you actually gave such an Experience?

I’ve found that the absolute best thing, without a doubt, about such Experiences:

Is Giving. . .Having

The very next one

unexpectedly. . .

o f t e n.

Your Rung

November 5, 2014 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

In a Concentration Camp there was a Prisoner who, even though he was under the sentence of execution, was fearless and free.

On a day where he was making his own Sunshine for others to squint, he was seen in the middle of the prison yard playing his makeshift guitar. A large crowd gathered to listen, for under that magical spell of his music, they all became as fearless as he. When the prison guards saw this, they forbade him to play.

But the very next day, there he was again, strumming tunes on his guitar and singing with a larger crowd around him. The guards angrily dragged him away and had his fingers chopped off.

The next day. . .yes, there’s always A NEXT DAY. . .

There he was–BACK–singing and making what music he could with his bleeding stubs.

The crowds not only gathered, they cheered loudly and D A N C E D.

The guards grabbed him and dragged him away as they beat him with his guitar until it was splintered stringless.

The next day. . .yes, the very next twenty-four hours. . .

He was standing in the prison yard singing a song that would make Pavarotti jealous.

What a song.

Pure.

Uplifting.

The crowd joined in, and while the singing lasted, their hearts became just as PURE as his and they felt

I N V I N C I B L E

in an UN-invincible place.

So very angry were the guards this time that they had his tongue torn out.

A sickening silence hovered over the camp like a heavy dark fog.

If DEATHLESS had a sound. . .

they all heard just THAT!

No. . .NO. . .N O

No one could believe it when he was back in the Prison yard the next morning.

He was swaying. . .

He was dancing. . .

To a Music that was so Silent it screamed loud enough. . .

EVERYONE seemed to hear.

And soon, without any hesitation or invitation,

there they were, the other prisoners holding hands and dancing around this bleeding, UN

broken figure in the center

while the guards just stood there, rooted to the ground in utter wonder. . .disbelief.

What?

How?

Why?

are some of the questions that come to Soul when we hear. . .become such stories.

It didn’t take me some twenty years of Hospice work, and thousands of patients later, to figure out that
not ONE OF THEM have ever showed me how to die. . .

EVERYONE ONE OF THEM HAVE VIVIDLY DEMONSTRATED HOW TO LIVE.

Some call it Spiritual.

Some call it Religion.

Some call it Common Sense.

Some call it Sixth Sense.

I’m still not so sure what to label it and have come to accept that maybe it needs

No Name.

But when I see it exhibited, hear it spoken, taste it’s sweetness, touch it’s sacredness, or smell it’s aroma. . .

I take another step up the Ladder.

Haven’t I seen you on those Rungs?

I’m sure I have. . . .

Without naming it or putting it into shape or form, you too, know.

Like me, you too have

C O M P A N I O N E D

What a perch to look out from, huh?

You know the very best RUNG to see it all from?

THE NEXT ONE. . .

U P

Perfectly Imperfect

August 20, 2014 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

Are you Perfect?

I am.

Pristine. Unadulterated. Pure. Faultless–ME!

Perfectly IMPERFECT!

You?

The Teacher Knows.

The story goes, not so Once-Upon-A-Time, but currently, when a Rabbi, The Teacher, prayed daily that God would make a perfect world in which there would never be any hatred, jealously, pain or problems.

Well, wouldn’t you know, one night, God appeared to the Rabbi, The Teacher in a dream and took him on a wonderful tour of any absolutely, magnificently uncorruptable World.

P E R F E C T

The Rabbi, The Teacher, saw his house, his synagogue, his little town. Lions and lambs were actually laying down together.

P E A C E F U L

Still, this Rabbi, The Teacher was troubled. Something, something was terribly absent…MISSING!

“Where am in in this Perfect World,” the Rabbi, The Teacher asked, wanted…needed to know?

God offered the most apologetic answer, ever: “This is a perfect world you requested. You must understand that you are NOT PERFECT, so you cannot be included.”

We are NEVER just one thing in Life, are we?

We are all so very PLURAL and never so SINGULAR.

But one thing, one thing through all of these Personas, through all these changes, through all our ages, our comings/goings, stayings/leavings, pasts/presents/futures remains the same, doesn’t it?

We–everyone one of us–are undeniably, immaculately, impeccably, PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.

It helps, doesn’t it, with the WHY’S, the HOW-COME’S, the WHAT-FOR’S?

Expecting the world, this world of August 20, 2014 to treat us fairly because we are nice, caring, compassionate, PERFECTLY IMPERFECT People is like expecting a Bull not to gore us just because we are vegetarians.

Are you Perfect?

I am.

So are you.

We, we are PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.

Story-Telling, Story-Listening, Story-Applying

July 23, 2014 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

I love telling stories.

I love listening to stories.

One of my favorite stories either comes from the Talmud or Ben Franklin, but the story’s so great to tell, listen to and now read…WHO CARES?

It’s a story about Abraham and Sarah. They invited an old man to join them for a meal and to stay for a night of rest. After the generosity shown, the man, appropriately thanked them for their warm hospitality. Abraham assured him, “You need not thank me. Whatever I have given you comes from the God of creation. Thank God.”

“Why would I bother to thank your God when I have my own?” the old man said reaching into his pack. He brought out a wooden idol and set it on the floor before them. “This is the god who I intend to thank for taking care of me.”

Abraham was livid. “How dare you worship a god made with hands,” he shouted. He seized the man and threw him out of the tent. “I am sorry I ever wasted my warm hospitality on you,” he yelled out at the man who was now quickly walking away.

Before the old man was even out of sight, though, Abraham heard a voice calling his name.

“Yes, Lord?” Abraham answered.

“For 80 years I have protected and cared for the old man you just threw out of your tent. All this time, though he has given credit to his wooden idol, I have continued to claim him as my own. Although he knows no better, Abraham, YOU DO! Now go, find this old man, and bring him back. You make him feel welcome. You are to serve even those who do not understand that there is but one God.”

And Abraham once again obeyed God.

I love telling stories.

I love hearing stories.

I love applying stories…

…or at least, I want to love applying them more to my day to day living.

“…He knows no better–YOU DO–serve even those who do not understand that there is but One God….”

Hmmmmmmm…maybe Compassionate Telling, Compassionate Listening, Compassionate Applying is what The Story is ever all about…Maybe….

Would THEY Blacken Your Face OUT?

July 18, 2014 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Would they blacken out your face if you left?

Do we matter THAT much?

We all want to be accepted, liked, LOVED!

It’s the innate yearning that’s more a part of us than the very first time we let out a cry.

For the second time in four years, LaBron James made a DECISION that literally has effected thousand of lives, not to mention his own and his family’s. Not just Cleveland, not just Miami, but the Country, the World was waiting for where LaBron was going to play basketball next. He made his decision last Friday and reactions were fierce everywhere. Anger in Miami. Pure Party-in-the-streets hysteria in Cleveland.

Why would LaBron be cause for such craziness? For such opposing reactions? LaBron stirs up the pot of emotions so much because he’s the best basketball player in the world. People love him and others just love to hate him. Psssst…that means he matters. He’s doing relevant, amazing things.

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The Alibi(S)

July 14, 2014 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Well?

Too Busy?

Too Bored?

Too Dumb?

Too Late?

Too Early?

Too Weak?

Too Poor?

Too Short?

Too Slow?

Too Preoccupied?

Too Tired?

Too Distracted?

Too Extended?

Too Infamous?

Too Misinformed?

Too Conceited?

Too Proud?

T O O. . .______________________

What’s your BLANK?

What’s your Alibi(S)?

What’s your Excuse (S)?

The greatest, most horrific problem with an Alibi–They’re highly contagious and severely TERMINAL!

There’s only one Cure for Alibi(S)

…Never Succumbing to a single one. . .

E V E R!

The Never Failing Experiment

May 21, 2014 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

It is absolutely Flawless.

The Experiment never fails–Ever.

Dare to not only change your life, but your work, your leisure, your lifestyle, your relationships, your all encompassing E V E R Y T H I N G!

But, don’t let me tell you about The Experiment. Let me Show you…better still, YOU TRY IT!

Here’s how it works:

EVERYTHING YOU DO, DO AS AN EXPERIMENT!

Really, IT is THAT simple. There’s no special formula’s; no 1-2-3 steps to take, no special maps to follow, no A-B-C special procedural directions, no embarrassment, no, “I-told-you-so’s,” no hassle and no worry. . .Really!

This will work just as brilliantly at work as it will personally or at home.

Pick a problem to be solved. Go ahead, if you want, do what you use to do. Pro and Con it, list all the reasons For and Against, think In and Out and Around the Box; do what you do to come up with a most likely, probable, consensus decision and then apply it this way: AS AN EXPERIMENT.

By the very nature of any Experiment, it naturally calls for Trial and Error. It Expects to Fail as a means to Succeeding. Ask Mr. Edison how many successful ways he determined NOT to Invent a Light Bulb!

When you Experiment things, there’s no pressure, no winning or losing–just a faster track to Success or WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU OR THE SITUATION!

Under this guise, you can Experiment with an Exercise Program, a new Diet, a Short cut to work or another destination, a way to resolve a conflict at work, in a relationship, or between business partners or neighbors.

It’s NEVER FAILED.

Don’t believe me, though. Try it yourself. Mix a little of THIS will a little of THAT, shake gently and pour a drop at a time or as quickly as you dare in full measure…it won’t matter because IT IS AN EXPERIMENT.

The best part?

If IT doesn’t work, you can triumphantly shout, “N E X T”
and begin yet another Experiment again and again and again. . . .

One of my favorite Experiments is to have an Experiment inside of an Experiment–Try IT–There’s nothing more FREEING and NON-THREATENING and best of all:

E F F E C T I V E.

When 60 Minutes Takes Less than 30 Seconds

May 2, 2014 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Did you see it?

I don’t normally watch 60 Minutes on Sunday’s…mostly because I rarely am able to put 60 minutes together consecutively…I didn’t last Sunday either; but you know what “THEY” say: “Timing is everything.”

I was REMOTELY switching through some channels when I chanced upon a 60 Minutes expose as it started…pure chance or….

It featured 104 year old Nicholas Winton. He was a young stockbroker in 1938 and he was severely distressed as he watched Hitler’s Germany march its way across Eastern Europe. When he was in Prague for a vacation he thought, “Someone should do something?” and he thought even more decisively, “Hey, I AM SOMEONE!”

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