Runner Or Jogger?
By Ben Cairns, M.A.

Long distance runners often describe an experience that they call Òhitting the wall.Ó On a long run, the runnerÕs body first uses muscle glycogen as well as blood starches and sugars that are immediately available for energy. Once that is gone, the body begins to metabolize complex carbohydrates stored in the liver, and then it starts metabolizing body fat (long-term stored energy). Because it takes time to metabolize the more complex carbohydrate molecules and fat, there is a lag-time where the body is virtually Òrunning on empty.Ó ThatÕs when the runner Òhits the wall.Ó They almost feel like they cannot run another step. The running is most difficult at that point. The runnerÕs challenge is to have the perseverance to Òkeep pushing through the wall.Ó

Hitting the wall is a great analogy for life experiences like marriages, relationships, jobs, conflicts, and new skill mastery. These experiences all have a point where you might feel like there is nothing left to do or to gain. It is much easier to stop rather than to go on. When the runner hits the wall, she or he knows that this is the time for discipline and Òpush.Ó This is exactly what separates a runner from a jogger.

The runnerÕs challenge is really the life challenge because pushing through the wall in life is exactly what separates extraordinary results from the ordinary. In America, over 50% of marriages end in divorce. Working relationships are terminated by employee or employer 85% of the time due to ineffective communication. There are countless easy places to quit. Psychologists tell us that ups and downs in all types of relationships are normal.

Heat tempers steel. Pressure creates diamonds from coal. Perseverance creates character and builds quality relationships ø at work and at home. Who do you want to be in life, a runner or a jogger? You get to choose your results by exercising your perseverance at exactly the moment that it seems easiest to quit. Find your walls and push through them.

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Happy Holidays to You and Yours

The religious and secular holidays that we celebrate in December focus us on family and friends. For many Americans, this is a time of great joy. For some, it is a time of isolation and depression due to the loss of a loved one. This year, so many families and friends are mourning a loss from the attacks on September eleventh.

Now, more than ever, is a good time to reach out and show kindness to someone that you do not know. Share a smile and warm greeting with a stranger. Let someone in your lane of traffic. Remember the needy and give as generously as you can.

Consider each kind deed as a candle that you light. If each of us reading this newsletter lights one candle a day between now and Christmas, we will have reached over 120,000 people. If some of those also pass the kindness along, the influence is infinite. May this holiday season be a united one.

From all of us at TLC, we wish you a very happy holiday season filled with love, happiness, sharing, and peace.

Humorous Headlines

Actual headlines that appeared in newspapers:

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge

Two Sisters Reunited After 18 Years in Checkout Counter

Check With Doctors Before Getting Sick

Bank Drive-in Window Blocked by Board

Lansing Residents Can Drop Off Trees

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

Old School Pillars are Replaced by Alumni

Stolen Painting Found by Tree


Source: Internet

Perseverance, Dramatically Speaking

He grew up being the son of a poverty stricken tomato farmer in the Bahamas. He acquired only two years of education, thus his initial jobs included being a janitor and dishwasher. His dream was to be an actor, not an easy goal for a black man with a thick Caribbean accent.

His dream took him to New York City where he was literally thrown off the stage by a director from the American Negro Theater. He bought a radio and patterned his speech after the announcers. After more failed auditions, he offered to be a janitor for a theatre in exchange for acting lessons.

Sixteen years later, Sidney Poitier won an Academy Award for his role as a handyman in Lilies of the Field. Here is a man who demonstrated perseverance against all odds.

What obstacles are you facing? Are you going to listen to those who will tell you that you canÕt or will you listen to yourself and tell yourself that you can? The difference in the result can be quite dramatic!

Keep Going
By Vincent Ivan Phipps, B.S.

What do you think of when you hear the word ÒperseveranceÓ? Some may say tenacity, relentlessness, or the action of sticking to it!

Just think of the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, in which a wrongly imprisoned inmate took twenty years to dig himself out of prison using a small rock hammer. Think about Muhammad Ali, who after 4 years of being away from the ring, came back to win the heavyweight championship 2 more times!

What about the Energizer Bunny? It keeps going - and going - and going - and É well, IÕm sure youÕve seen the commercials! Think of what you could accomplish if you just kept going!

When my Father was in his mid-forties, he told me he wanted to become a licensed pilot. At that time, I thought that was pretty silly because it would take so long! He studied daily for three years and I donÕt think it is silly anymore, especially now that he flys me back and forth to Florida!

Our CEO told me she was writing a book a few years ago and I thought, ÒMan, that will take forever!Ó I am inspired each time I travel to see clients at a Fortune 500 Company and someone says to me, ÒHey Vincent, will you ask Beverly to autograph a copy of her book for me?Ó

What do my Father, our CEO, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and other successful people have in common that makes them different than everyone else? The answer is simple. They keep going! Perseverance is more than starting something. It is the commitment to remain focused and stay the course. I have been inspired to not just get going, but to keep going - and going - and going - and ....

Reading Between the Lines

1.Bob Smith, my assistant programmer, can always be found

2.hard at work at his desk. He works independently, without

3.wasting company time talking to colleagues. Bob never

4.thinks twice about assisting fellow employees, and always

5.finishes given assignments on time. Often he takes extended

6.measures to complete his work, sometimes skipping coffee

7.breaks. Bob is a dedicated individual who has absolutely no

8.vanity in spite of his high accomplishments and profound

9.knowledge in his field. I firmly believe that Bob can be

10.classed as an asset employee, the type which cannot be

11.dispensed with. Consequently, I duly recommend that Bob be

12.promoted to executive management, and a proposal will be

13.executed as soon as possible.

In our group training and individual coaching, we often teach our clients how to read between the lines. This example is quite simple. Read only the odd numbered lines and youÕll get a different recommendation. (Thanks to our friends at Timely Tips for Teams for allowing us to reprint this article. Original source unknown.)

CEO Corner: Lighten Up While You Persevere
By Beverly Inman-Ebel, CEO

The word ÒpersevereÓ takes its roots back to old Latin Òperseverare,Ó which translates to Òvery serious.Ó I object. When we take ourselves too seriously, we are bound to implode. If you want to truly stay the course, learn to laugh.

While I learned long ago not to take myself too seriously, I was reminded of this recently. My husband got on a cleaning binge and focused his energy on a remote toiletry closet upstairs. We have lived in the same house for twenty years and I do not recall ever cleaning this closet. Whenever I would need the occasional over-the-counter medicine for a family member, I would vow to buckle down and clean out that closet.

Upstairs, I was soon faced with a hall full of lotions, make-up, and various items that my husband wanted my okay to discard. On this day, one week after the sixteenth birthday of my youngest child, I finally threw away nursing pads!

Sometimes we just need to laugh at ourselves. Whether persevering or procrastinating, lighten up. I think God has a sense of humor. He created two children and gave them the house rules. They disobeyed and then got into a fight blaming each other. You know, ÒShe made me.Ó ÒDid not!Ó ÒDid so!Ó GodÕs corrective action was to make them parents.

Parenting is definitely a career that requires us to Òstay the course.Ó Someone recently sent me an email about children. One quote was, ÒParents of teenagers understand why some species eat their young.Ó That made me laugh during a trying time. That and knowing that my child will probably grow up and become a parent too!

When you Òhit the wallÓ (see the article ÒRunner or Jogger?Ó), because you need a new energy source, swallow your pride and laugh. Start with a smile. In the darkest moment, search for some glimmer of joy. Remember a funny story. Watch a comedy. Just throw your head back and laugh. If your laugh is like mine, the noise will soon have you laughing for real.

It is not the destination, rather how we make the journey that brings success. Go ahead and have serious goals. Make plans that will cause you to stretch. Find ways to overcome obstacles. And at each bend in the road, celebrate the process by laughing. So go ahead and persevere. Just make sure you also ÒperlightÓ as well. Plan. Stay the course. Revise. Persevere. Laugh and live your dreams.

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