PAPA’S ADVICE –MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY

‘I’ll be so happy when I finally win the lottery and have all the money I will ever need.  I know I’d be happy if I really had a fairy God mother.’

O.K. guys this one could really be important.  In 67 years I have learned a pretty important lesson I don’t remember being taught in simple plain words.  The Bible addresses it in many places but I need it laid out a little more simply.  NO ONE OR ANY ONE THING IS GOING TO MAKE YOU HAPPY.  If you are waiting for that fairy god mother or magic wand to appear and make you happy every day of your live you are out of luck.  It ain’t gonna happen, book it, take my word and carry it to the bank. 

But I have found you can be happy where ever you are and what ever situation you find yourself in if you follow a few simple principles.  It all depends on you and how much you want it.  I know so many people today and throughout my life that are waiting and will always be waiting for someone to make them happy.  Someone with a lot of money, that has access to something they want or just someone who will furnish all those people believe necessary to be happy.  IT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN. 

Other people and outside influences can show you a good time for a short period of time.  All of you have what amounts to the fairy god mother image I mentioned earlier.  A special person it might be a relative or friend of your mom and dad’s, or just someone you know in some way.  Every time you are around them you have a blast.  They may have a place at the lake or on the beach; they may just make sure you never run out to donuts or funnel cake, they just seem to love you and treat you so great you always have a blast when they are around.  This is fantastic for you.  You really are having a great time and it is probably because they love you very much.  Enjoy it and always be appreciative for all they do.  But this is not to be confused with true happiness.  It would not be happiness if you lived with them and received the same treatment every day.   Happiness is still there when the donuts and funnel cakes run out.  Your ability to be happy is what sees you through those days that don’t go so good.

You happiness comes from you.  From inside you, a lesson your parents teach you when they demand you start task and most importantly finish task.  My parents were the greatest ever.  From an early age, because of the business they owned, I learned to work, to be accountable and to finish.  Later I had coaches who demanded I do things I literally hated doing, and I had to do them over and over until I got it right.  I know I learned something there I have carried for the balance of my life that has help me to remain happy in any circumstance.

 

First remember true happiness comes from you relationship with God.  Without a strong belief that God has your back I can’t imagine being happy.  Next I believe happiness is the result of the feeling you get when you accomplish something good.  I don’t care what it is.  If your mom tells you to clean your room and you do it, not half way by filling your closet and hiding stuff under the bed, but really clean it the way she wants it, then you experience happiness.  As you grow in your education process, nothing brings any more happiness that when you complete a test or course where you have really studied and learned.  You have gone beyond the homework assignment and really thought through the course matter and have mastered it evidenced by a good grade.  In your work life the same is true, you are happy when you complete your task after totally applying yourself and successfully doing your work. 

This happiness is not dependent on the large most obvious things I have discussed.  There are literally dozens of opportunities you build your happiness from the time you wake up until you finally go to sleep at night.  A winning day fills your happiness battery for days to come.  Your first win comes when you first wake up.  Thank God for a new day and ask him to direct your steps and actions for the rest of the day. (Mean it)  Next without anyone telling you get up clean yourself and your room and whatever mess you made the night before and get to breakfast.  You will be shocked at how happy you are.  Next help your family get ready to get about whatever the day brings.  Right here in less than an hour you have personal victories that will put deposits in you happiness bank.  Continue through the day to do the things you are supposed to and need to without being told or if directed with a willing attitude.  Completing the jobs creates happiness.  No matter how big or how small, no matter how rich you are or how poor, you are a winner and winners are happy people. 

Now let me explain why this works.  Whenever you fail to complete any task you undertake or are assigned what happens?  You don’t want to face the person you were doing the task for.  You immediately start worrying about the excuse you are about to make and the explanation of why the job did not get done.  What’s worse is convincing yourself you really didn’t feel like doing it or it was a stupid unneeded task in the first place.  The justifying doing a poor job or no job at all becomes baggage you carry until you start working on the next excuse or fabricated reason for not preforming to you best.  No one can be happy managing all this baggage.  Get rid of it and start making those deposits in the ‘happy’ bank.

IN SUMMARY:

1.     Don’t wait on someone to make you happy.  It is no one else’s job. 

2.     You do the work to get you where you want to go. 

3.     Don’t ever get having a good time get mixed up with being happy.

4.     Create a day’s worth of winning by starting with the simplest task then keep adding as the day goes on.

5.     God wants you to be happy, he gave you the tools to achieve it.

6.     Don’t whine, I hate whiners. 

Coach John Wooten was so great and wise there are so many quotes by him but here are a couple that really makes the my point.

-"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to," Coach would say. "Never
lie, never cheat, never steal," and "Earn the right to be proud and
confident." 

- "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming." 

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket... keep it in your own."  ---unknown

NORMAN LOSER'S-REAL OPENING DAY

Well Vandy mite near licked all the red off Johnny Reb’s candy again last night.  Neither team could have felt too bad because both seem better than last year and played for a full 60 minutes.  Both showed the rest of college football the way the game should be played and will both end up in bowls again this year. 

I also heard what a Tar Heel is from my boy Bubba.  He explained it is that mound of used tars taken from wrecked cars and trade-ins that pile up in a junk yard before they catch fire and burn for six months.
Thus ‘Tar Heel’

Now for the real opening day.

GEORGIA vs CLEMSON
Hide your women and children and put the dog outside because this one should be a slobber knocker.  Both the Dogs and the Tigers should score a bob tail truck load of points.  Neither of the head coaches, who happen to both be former Mouseketeers , have ever been able to win one or two games each year that would really set them apart.  They both have tremendous offenses with all kinds of explosive skill players so the two questions here is can either on stop the other of who will have the ball last.  Both should be in their conference championship game if they can figure out how to give their defenses a huge dose of Kaopectake and stop the other a couple of times.  Determining factor here for me is how can I pull against a guy from Alabama with guts enough to go by the name of ‘Dabo’. 
NORMAN’S  LOSER:  GEORGIA  by 5. 

MISSISSIPPI STATE vs OKLAHOMA STATE

Bless his heart the little troll, Dan Mullen, has had Mississippi State fans under ether for several years now.  They are about tired of hearing how he coached Tim Tebow and was the real brains in Gainesville during those glory years under the bigger fraud Urban Meyer.  In the meantime Mike Gundy has just about proven he is a ‘man’ and is now a few years past 40 which he claimed qualified him to be a man several years ago.  Oklahoma State has proven they are contenders with Oklahoma, Kansas St. and the other real teams in the Big 12.  Mullen has some experience on the offense in his QB and RB but they can’t play with the big boys and the Cowboys will ride them like Roy Rodgers on a 10 year old mare. 
NORMAN’S LOSER:  MISSISSIPPI STATE by 2 touchdowns. 

ALABAMA vs VIRGINIA TECH

‘TURN OUT THE LIGHTS, THE PARTIES OVER.’  ‘Little Nicky’ will not let the band open with Don Meredith’s old song out of respect for Frank Beamer’s legendary career,  but it is only because he has good West Virginia manners.  The CIA, FBI, Finebaum nor any other expert in finding weakness can find one on the Alabama team.  They can probably be beat, if they beat themselves, but it won’t happen in an opening game where Sabin, Kirby Smart and Wesley Neighbors have had 7 months to prepare.  Yeldon , Cooper, McCarron and the rest of the first team should not play beyond the first quarter and the babies behind them will have a hard time keeping this game respectable. 
NORMAN’S LOSER:  VIRGINIA by   (you name it)

WASHINGTON STATE vs AUBURN

What happens when a pirate goes head to head with a bus, the pirate ends up road kill.  The pirate Mike Leach’s air attack will look like the Hindenburg when this one is over.  Neither team should have played in a good Pop Warner league last year, they both stunk.  The difference here is that Auburn had some real players, they just had no idea how to coach them.  The Cougars on the other hand had the Pop Warner guys and they have not had the time necessary to equip Leach with the tools to perfect his air war.  Ellis Johnson’s defense will win this one in a hurry.  This is a perfect opener for the Gus Bus to teach a little driver’s education to a talented but untested Nick Marshal and Rodney Gardner’s chargers will feast on a much smaller and less athletic offensive line. 
NORMAN’S LOSER:  WASHINGTON STATE  by 15

KENTUCKY vs WESTERN KENTUCKY

Bobby Petrino is back on the motorcycle and riding the country roads again.  Mike Stoops like the last 34 football coaches at my old Kentucky home has had nearly a year now to convince the 6,000 football fans in Kentucky football is a real sport, but selling and producing are two different matters.  Coach Bryant is credited with saying he could take his and beat yours and he could take yours and beat his.  This game will prove Coach Bryant right.  Neither team has the talent Motorcycle Bobby is use to but he will take his and beat Wildcats like he should before he packs up and heads for Austin Texas to replace Mack Brown. 
NORMAN’S LOSER:  KENTUCKY by 10. 

LSU vs TCU

The battle of the initials. Say what you want, Les Miles is a factor.  Like a big old cat lying in the bushes, Miles has suffered the last 7 months in silence following a less than stellar year.   He has quietly reloaded and is ready to surprise a lot of people this year.  ‘The Hat’ is never short on talent and has a staff that can coach them.  Gary Patterson on the other hand has his picture in dictionary next to ‘big fish in a small pond’.  He continues to astound fans with his winning ways playing in a conference (Big 12) with at most 4 teams out of 12 that could compete in the Sun Belt.  ‘The Hat’ is coming back strong, he will contend in the SEC this year and may be the only real outside challenge to ‘Little Nicky’, so don’t think TCU will even  be in this one much past kick off. 
NORMAN’S LOSER:  TCU by 21. 

The other SEC games are not worth ole Norman’s time.  Somebody has got to stop this kind of bloodletting just to have a few exhibition games. 

TENNESSEE vs AUSTIN PEAY
Only thing notable here is AUSTIN PEAY’S  battle cry.  “LET’S GO PEAY”
NORMAN’S LOSER:  AUSTIN PEAY by (whatever)

TEXAS A & M vs RICE
TEXAS A&M by 25 even with Johnny Cash on the bench for 30 minutes
NORMAN’S LOSER:  RICE by 30

ARKANSAS vs LOUISIANA (RAGIN GAJUNS )
Will probably be a decent game I’m just too tired to mess with it and don’t really care.
NORMAN’S LOSER:  LOUISIANA

FLORIDA vs TOLEDO
You’ve got to be kidding.
NORMAN’S LOSER: TOLEDO by (a ton)

NORMAN'S LOSERS--OPENING DAY

North Carolina vs South Carolina 

I know the only person who ever lived that could come close to telling us how the North Carolina Tar Heels feel going into tonight’s game was Old Testament hero David.  Not since the day little undersized David slew the giant Goliath with five slick, smooth river rock has anyone felt pressure like this.  Jadeveon Clowney makes Goliath look like Michael Corleone’s brother Fredo.  Sun Visor Steve has been building for this year since he came to Columbia and the S.C. fans are more anxious to see their pit bull released than the Romans were on hungry lion day.  S.C. may go all the way this year and let Steve go out with one more SEC if not National Championship.  It will take Clowney a quarter or maybe into the second quarter to totally suck all the air out of a brave but under matched bunch of Tar Heels (what is a Tar Heel) but believe me this one is at least a 20 pointer.  Norman’s loser, North Carolina.

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt

I know the hype.  Vanderbilt is finally a contender, the little coach that jumps up and down like an old time shortstop has them believing.  But come on, it’s Vanderbilt.  The same Vanderbilt the Smoot kid from Miss State made the offer to not hit them if they did his homework.  Ole Miss is going to be pretty good if they can figure out what they are.  Are the Rebels or Black Bears or just drunk?  Whatever they are still on the high from last year where they actually looked like a football team and the fans actually stayed in the stands and out of the grove until the end of most games.  We need a game to really get into and start practicing our taunts of ‘wait till you play us’ but this is not the game.  Ole Miss by at least 14 and Vanderbilt back to looking for Duke and Wofford.  Norman’s loser, Vanderbilt.

PAPA'S ADVICE--GET AN EDUCATION

I’m going to get my high school diploma, then a degree from college and I will have my ticket punched to fame and fortune.  I know because my guidance counselor told me a degree is the ticket.  Wrong

A degree from any level of formal education is worth about as much as the Vice Presidency was when John Nance Garner described the office, while being sought to fill it by President Franklin Roosevelt,  as “not worth a warm bucket of spit”.  You are thinking old papa has lost his mind.  You know you don’t want your mother or dad to read this.  Poor old Papa has really lost it and should be put away you think, but not so fast grasshoppers.  Papa did not say an education was not important, I said a degree does not mean anything if it does not truly represent the education one has gained to be used the rest of your life. 

We (our country) have become so focused on getting the ‘degree’ we have lost sight of what it should represent.  A ‘degree’ means absolutely nothing.  You can get them by mail order,  get them on-line and really just make one up and fill in the blanks.  There was a time in earlier generations when a ‘degree’ really meant something.  The only place you could get one was from an institution with few students, a dedicated faculty,  single minded and focused on teaching and having their students learn, and students who recognized they were there to learn and develop and not simply to get a thick sheet of paper signed by the president of the school.  In those days even the high school diploma represented a completion of a learning experience and not just a preliminary step to nowhere.   

  

Don’t get me wrong.  I know there are great teachers in every school who do all they can to stimulate you to learn, but I don’t feel they do enough to teach you why you learn and what learning really is.  Even the great teachers are working on timelines and quotas to meet goals designed by someone probably far away that fails to take into consideration the individual student’s abilities, motivations and correct pace to learn.  
Everything is geared to the average and there are few average people alive. 

Learning originally was self-motivated and driven by the individual student searching and seeking to learn something that would serve him/her in life.  Universities grew because people sought out scholars and wise men from which to learn.  There were neither grades nor time period for a course of study.  The student would search and explore whatever he was seeking until he understood it as much as possible.  Soon man learned a well-rounded education prepared him even better and the individual scholars, experts in their own fields, taught in one single geographic location so the students could study the various subjects in one place, thus the liberal arts education. 

The magic here comes not from the teacher or institution but from the student.  Now I hope each of you seek and obtain a Liberal Arts education.  I think it prepares one better for a fuller life.  This may not be the best for everyone, but education is essential for everyone.  You may be better suited for a razor focused specific skill or trade education.  The point I want to make is that no matter what you are best suited for and what you intend to do, don’t expect success just because you obtain a degree.  Expect success when you, by your own wit and intellect seek knowledge and wisdom for the sole sake of making you a more complete person, not for the sake of getting some degree anyone with enough money and time can get. 

Get the education forget the degree.  The degree should evidence what you have accomplished.  It is important to communicate just what it should, that you have sought wisdom, have paid a price in time and effort of obtain it and most important you can apply the wisdom you have learned.  The degree should not represent you stayed long enough to get the teachers and courses necessary to get a passing grade without working, without thinking and without struggling to internalize everything you could.  It should tell the world you took full advantage of the opportunity afforded you. 

LEARN, DON’T JUST GO TO SCHOOL.

YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT MR. PRESIDENT

I watched the President give his unscheduled talk on the Travon Martin case and think he and so many others are completely missing the point.  I have no doubt he and a large percentage of not only blacks, Hispanic, Asian and many whites have felt the discomfort of people clutching their purses, exiting an elevator and avoiding eye contact on a street with people appearing to be scared in this country.  I know it happens every day and is a shame.  The last thing any civilized person would chose to do.  The problem is not the color of the embarrassed and hurt person's skin, but the perception the offending party has of that person.

So long as the President, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or any of the other so called leaders fail to realize or refuse to accept, because it alienates their base,  those who get this type of treatment are a part of a culture that invites such action.  As long as African Americans, red-neck whites and other groups fail to address the perception existing today things will not get better simply because someone demands it should.    

The fact is that even with over 50 years of actions aimed at creating equal opportunities the large majority of those who could be beneficiaries of the actions fail to change.  The Presidents was right in that many things have and are changing for the good.  I think it is time the white race should get some credit for changing and accepting those who make the effort to become productive members of our society.  I am by heritage as true a southern white man as can be.  I was born here, raised here and will die here.  I am 67 years old, was educated in Birmingham during the worse years of the civil rights movement and have raised my family here. I was never extremely prejudiced and was not raised that way but did have the background to understand where these feeling of disdain came from.

I can truly say today many of my best friends are people of color.  They are people who because of their parents, teachers and mentors have the same view of the world I think the majority of Americans share. They got their education, the amount doesn't matter, they are productive and vital members of the community and are teaching their children the values they were taught and live.  I welcome them into my church, my home and my family should that be the case.  I would never clutch my wallet, lock my door at an intersection or cross a street to avoid them.  I have and continue to enjoy their company in restaurants, ball fields and anywhere else I can share time with them.

The problem is acceptance comes with great effort.  I don't care what color a person is but I will clutch my wallet, lock my doors and avoid contact with anyone regardless of color or origin I perceive to be questionable.  I am not going to treat someone with their pants down around their knees, with a cap turned sideways and wearing a Mr. T. collection of chains as my long lost cousin, even if he is.  It is not a black and white thing.  The statistics of what someone like that has a propensity to do bothers me, and if I were a woman it would bother me more.  The President or anyone else is not going to make me open up to someone like that, I don't care what color they are.

I simply wish instead of fostering this Black/White thing the President and the leaders of any community suffering the indignities of the actions you describe, focus your efforts on changing the perception by holding the members of your base accountable to becoming productive members of our world.  This applies to our white leaders as much as to any other group.

The African-American has made and continues to make great strides in this area.  The Whites, Hispanic and Asian communities need to redouble their efforts as we are witnessing a rise in the unproductive elements of our races for some reason.  Some blame it on the taking of God out of our culture.  I really don't think God has gone anywhere.  I think we have a generation of parents of every color that have dropped the ball.  The kids are not the center of their lives any longer and we all suffer.  The majority of any group must hold they group accountable or we will lose everything.  Just quit wasting all the energy on making it a black/white deal and get on to making it a productive/non-productive thing.

Understand you can't keep blaming it on a straw boogy man and accept the fact you are going to need to step on some toes.

By the way, Travon's trial was not about profiling, it was not about what anyone should have done to get in or out of the situation.  The jury was directed to determine if Zimmerman acted in self-defense at the time he pulled the trigger.  If there was reasonable doubt of the crime charged he was due to be acquitted.   What either of the party's should have done earlier was not a part of the jury's task.  The little presumption of innocence thing applied here to.

LESSONS FOR THE GREATEST GRANDS IN THE WORLD

In Marcus Luttrell’s #1 bestselling book ‘Lone Survivor’, the highly decorated NAVY SEAL from SEAL TEAM 10 tells his story of training to become a SEAL and then his experience as the sole survivor of a tragic incident in Afghanistan.  His journey to just become a SEAL is sufficient fill a bestselling book and is the source of this life lesson I want to pass along to my grandchildren. 

Prior to even joining the Navy Marcus wanted to be a SEAL.  His life had been one of high achievement in all that he undertook.  Knowing any chance he had to achieve success in his quest to be a SEAL he trained with a former SEAL for over a year to prepare him as best he could before even beginning his formal SEAL training.  The details of all he undertook and the actual training itself are beyond belief, but I recommend you read the book for a more complete understanding of what these guys go through to serve our country. 

My lesson I want my grand’s to take from this book at whatever their age is just a small part of this great book.  The lesson comes from an early session soon after Marcus begins his formal SEAL training.  The lesson would seem to apply to sports and physical training but when considered, it really applies to life and an individual’s journey in pursuit of a happy and successful life.  The lesson is applicable to any point in a person’s life and is as relevant to me at 67 as it is to my Emma Glenn at 4. 

The lesson I want to convey came at an early group session with the original SEAL training class, which would be reduced by over 75% before the end of training.  The session was led by a petty officer instructor, Chief Bob Nelson.  After his initial comments on not trying to fool anyone, (since they had seen it all and any attempt would be addressed with much pain and suffering), he gets into what I believe is the best advice I have ever seen for anyone at any stage of their lives. 

Chief Nelson tells them at least 2/3’s of them will not make it.  That humans are not very adaptable to hard work, pain and suffering when they have a chance to avoid it by simply quitting.  To those of them that really wanted to succeed he gave this advice which I believe to be invaluable. 

“He closed by telling us the real battle is won in the mind.  It’s won by guys who understand their areas of weakness, who sit and think about it, plotting and planning to improve.  Attending to the detail.  Work on their weaknesses and overcome them.  Because they can.”  He goes on, “Your reputation is built right here in this first phase.  You don’t want people to think you are a person that does just enough to scrape through.  You want people to understand you always try to excel, to be better, to be completely reliable, always giving it your best shot.”  He closes by telling them, “and remember this one last thing.  There’s only one person here in this room who knows whether you’re going to make it, or fail.  And that’s you.  Go for it, and always give it everything.”

Even now at my grandchildren’s young ages they have seen and had disappointments.  They did not make an All Star team, did not make a grade point they wanted or failed to achieve something really important to them.  I have experienced such disappointment throughout my life and know anyone that has dreams, hopes and ambitions has done the same. I have had great mentors, family and coaches that have tried to teach me this lesson, but it has never been made a plain as this lecture by Chief Nelson and set out by this great American hero. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in our military and what they go through to serve and protect our country.  Thanks to my friend Steve Armstrong for passing it along to me and encouraging me to read it. 

NEWS RELEASE: JERUSALEM BEFORE EASTER (update)

JERUSALEM, MARCH 11, 33 A.D.:

The Jerusalem Convention and Visitors Bureau announced today that because of the high demand for booth space in the Temple for Passover Week that additional space would be provided.  Sharon Absuluer, recording scribe for the Bureau said that Temple officials decided to offer space in corporate tents on the outside of the Temple but still on the grounds so as not to leave so much money on the table.  "People will pay anything for this week and we are not going to pass it up just because we ran out of room", said Wade Rasandoberg, board member and also a  member of the Temple's ruling council.

Absuluer reiterated earlier reports that everyone involved was certain sufficient steps had been taken to prevent any social or religious disturbance during this festive week that has become such a large economy driving event for the city.  "Plenty of Roman troops will be in the city and there is a chance the country preacher, Jesus,  may not even attend.  Announcement of the entertainment in the various venues around town for the week will be announced soon. 

NEWS RELEASE: JERUSALEM BEFORE EASTER

JERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 28, 33 A.D.:
The Organizing Committee in charge of the coming Passover festivities concluded a two day meeting this past Monday and Tuesday. The final preparations for the upcoming week of Passover were agreed upon and the work already started for a fun filled week.  In attendance were representatives of all those contributing to the annual event.  Various meetings included officials representing the Jerusalem Convention and Visitors Bureau, the local Hospitality Association (motels and Inns), Governor Pilate's office, all the established religious leaders and organizations and even a representative from King Herod Antipas's office from the adjoining kingdoms of Galilee and Perea.

Spokesperson for the group Squee Quininous, event co-coordinator for the Jerusalem CVB, released a statement saying that most of the work was done.  Every booth in the temple had be rented and vendors were now being put on a waiting list.  The chairman of the sacrificial  live stock committee had reported the best accumulation of animals he had ever seen were moving into the city every day and he expect this to be the best selection ever for the lamb to be chosen for the ritual.  Governor Pilate's representative informed the group that the Governor looked forward the the event each year. He would be arriving on the Sunday beginning the Passover week and would bring sufficient troops to assure the safety of all those attending.  Housing director Delores Ashmeher reported all rooms were booked and outplacement to the surrounding towns and villages had already begun.

Some concern was expressed over the possibility of demonstrations and trouble coming from the usual zealots that have begun to grow in number and the followers of the new 'prophet' or 'Holy Man' called Jesus. The religious leaders and Governor Pilate ease all concerns with there assurances these people would be handled and that nothing would interfere with the festivities.