Farther To Fall

My wife and I attended the Farmers Open Golf Tournament on Saturday.  It was held at the beautiful Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego and going there brought back a lot of memories for me.

The last time I attended a golf tournament at Torrey Pines was back in 2008. At that time The US Open was being played there and it would be the last time that Tiger Woods would win a major golf tournament. In 2008 Tiger was the best golfer on the planet, setting or breaking records every time he played. He walked tall, and he walked proud, and his gallery of followers were always 20 people deep at every single hole. Tiger wasn’t always friendly to the crowds, the media, or his competition back then. To me, it seemed like he considered himself the greatest athlete on the planet and practically perfect in every way. Little did he know how much things would change in the very near future.

The Tiger Woods we watched at Torrey Pines in 2018 was not the same man we watched in 2008. By that I don’t mean he wasn’t as good a golfer (although it was true since this time he finished in 23^rd place.) What I mean is that he didn’t carry himself with total arrogance anymore. He walked a little slower, took time to talk to fans, and actually smiled despite being way down the leader board. Obviously, I don’t know what he was thinking, but it seemed to me like he was truly enjoying the game for the first time in a very long time.

We were perched in the grandstands at the 15^th hole most of the day. When Tiger walked up onto the 15^th green the crowd gave him a very warm greeting. When the applause died down, a man sitting in the front row said rather loudly, “Welcome back Tiger. The game still needs you.”  I saw Tiger look over and smile at the man and acknowledge his comment. It was a moment of new found humility that made Tiger seem… well… human. And of course we all know that humans are not perfect… and never will be.

And that got me thinking… I don’t know if the game still needs Tiger Woods or not. What I do know is that when we put ourselves above everyone else, it simply means that we have that much farther to fall.

Tiger Woods approaches the 15th Green at Torrey Pines, January 27th, 2018

If only I had a little humility, I would be perfect. 

~ Ted Turner

A Timeless Gift

I set a goal at the beginning of the year to try to figure out what “gifts” I have and how I can best use those gifts to serve others. So last week I wrote about being good at fixing things as a gift, but this week I’ve been super busy and haven’t had time to come up with any new ideas. And then it hit me, “time” is a gift we all wish we had more of. Maybe I can give someone else the gift of time!

It didn’t take long for the opportunity to present itself. On Tuesday, I went to the Post Office to buy stamps. As I walked in, I noticed a sign “Open 8am-4:00pm” and since it was 3:45, I was glad it was still open.  Inside there were two clerks waiting on people and only one person in line. However, there was also a lady who appeared to be working feverishly to get a box ready to ship. She kept glancing out the window, so I thought maybe she had a baby in the car or something. When she was done packing the box, I decided to step out of line and ask her if she would like to go ahead of me. She smiled and said, “Thank you so much”, and explained she parked in the red zone out front so she could keep an eye on her kids in the car and was worried about getting a ticket.

Both Clerk A and Clerk B finished up with their customers at the same time, so the next person in line stepped up to the counter. However, Clerk A stepped away and left my lady friend and I still standing in line. Clerk A then proceeded to go lock the door, apparently so he wouldn’t have to deal with any more customers. He then walked around the lobby area, picking up trash and re-sorting the counter displays, while completing ignoring the fact that there were still two customers in line. Clerk B kept working hard to provide good service to his customer, while the lady and I just kept wondering why Clerk A left us standing there. Eventually, Clerk A finished his “closing preparations” and went back to the counter. The lady in front of me was really stressed out now having stood there for at least an extra 10 minutes waiting for service.

Clerk A finally took care of the lady with the box. As I watched her dash out the door, I was glad I gave her a little bit of my “time”. Unfortunately, Clerk A took that “time” and more away from her.  I admit I was pretty ticked off about it. If any of my employees ever ignored a customer at our Will Call Counter just so they could hurry up closing the doors for the day, they would be closing the door on their day for good!

And that got me thinking… Time is one of the most precious commodities we have. So, if we can’t give or don’t want to give someone else our time… then at the very least, we shouldn’t steal any from them.

He who robs you of your time, steals your greatest treasure.

~ James L. Basford

Perfect Intentions

In my first Monday Message of 2018, I stated that I believe our primary job on earth is to “serve others”.  I then went on to say that I wasn’t sure what gifts God has given me, but I would try to figure out what those gifts are, and then find different ways to serve others using those gifts. Well, I thought about it and one of the gifts I have is that I know how to turn a screwdriver! I know that doesn’t sound like much of a gift, but I’ve always been mechanically inclined, and I enjoy fixing things, so over time I’ve developed quite a collection of cool tools. Surely somebody somewhere out there needs something fixed!

Then I received a sign! No, it wasn’t a heaven-sent sign… or maybe it was! I was dropping off some charity items to a thrift store in Laguna Hills that’s run by the South County Outreach. The store is called “Upscale Resale” and as I pulled up to the front of the store, I noticed that their sign was really faded and practically falling off the wall. It looked especially bad because the other businesses in that strip center all had nice new signs. I determined that this must be a sign… (get it!)…and decided right then and there to get a new sign made and install it for them for free.

I went to Fast Signs in Lake Forest and told them about the sign that the South County Outreach needed. It was finished within a week and when I picked it up, I was excited because it looked absolutely perfect. I immediately drove it over to the thrift store and as I pulled up, I realized I had made a stupid mistake. The new sign read, “South County Outreach” instead of “Upscale Resale”. What a dummy! My good intentions were definitely not backed up with good results!

Back to Fast Signs I went. I hate to say it, but I told the lady at Fast Signs a little white lie. When she asked why I came back, I told her that they loved the new sign so much they wanted to order another one, but this time with the name “Upscale Resale” on it. I guess I just didn’t want to admit that I made a mistake.

The new “Upscale Resale” sign was finished within three days. When I picked it up, it looked perfect for sure this time, so I grabbed a ladder and my tools and drove straight over to the thrift store. Wouldn’t you know it, when I took the old plastic sign down off the steel backboard, one of the screws broke off and I couldn’t get it out. That forced me to have to drill new holes but no matter what, I couldn’t hide the old holes and still get the sign perfectly straight. I fought with it for a while and ended up doing the best I could, but it still ended up being off about a 1/4 of an inch. It looked good, but it definitely wasn’t perfect.

And that got me thinking… It’s hard to admit it when we make mistakes. It’s even harder to accept that even when our intentions are perfect, we’re never going to be perfect. But then I realized that we don’t have to be perfect because somebody else already was perfect for us. And that makes perfect sense to me!

There are no perfect people in this world, only perfect intentions.

~ Pen Densham (Robin Hood) 

Time Well Spent

Overall the holiday season was absolutely awesome this year! I have to say that I am really thankful for all the blessings that abound within our family. The only exception is that my wife was sick the entire holiday season. She has been struggling with respiratory problems on and off ever since she had lung surgery back in 2003, but before Christmas week even began, she started having serious breathing issues. Two weeks ago, she got so bad and was struggling so hard to breathe, that she had to call 911 for help.

Wouldn’t you know it, I happened to be at a golf lesson that morning when she collapsed. I felt horrible that I wasn’t with her when this frightening episode happened. Fortunately, the paramedics were able to stabilize her and then I drove her to the doctor’s office where they gave her a new round of medications to try out. It took several more doctor visits and medication trials before she started to improve, but as of yesterday her breathing is almost back to normal.

I felt really bad that I wasn’t with my wife at the time when she needed me most. But I am also super thankful that we have the 911 system in place. I hate to think about what could have happened if we didn’t have paramedics available, and for that matter firefighters, police and military personnel and all the other first responders who have high stress dangerous jobs that force them to sacrifice their own health for the benefit of other human beings. We are lucky to have people on this earth who are totally focused on serving others.

And that got me thinking… I realize it’s not my job to “serve others” from a career standpoint. (Although I do kind of “light up lives” with my lighting business!) But from a biblical standpoint, I truly believe that my primary job here on earth is to serve others using whatever special gifts God gave me. So…What can I do to fulfill that obligation? And… What are those special gifts? I haven’t figured out the answer to either one of those questions yet, but I do know that whatever the answers are, “time” is a major component. Therefore, for the rest of 2018, I plan to set aside time every week to look for ways to serve others. It might be something small that only takes a few minutes of my time, or it might be something that takes me weeks to accomplish. Whatever it is, I have a feeling it will be time well spent!

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as 

if they were going to be dead by midnight. 

Extend to them all the care, kindness and service you can muster. 

Do it with no thought of any reward and your life will never the same again! 

~ Og Mandino