I loved coaching girl’s volleyball for our Church youth program "back in the day." I had some awesome players over the years. I learned a few “tricks” too re. motivating and caring for athletes...and others too. Once, one of my star hitters went up for a block and took a spike straight down on her ring finger. The finger dislocated and she screamed in pain. I called time out and the girls all huddled around her as she groaned in agony. I walked up and took her hand in my left hand so I could hold the damaged finger in my right. “Tell me what happened,” I said knowing that her focus on the play would distract her from the pain and from what I was about to do. “Well,” she started, “I saw numbe

I had several sports-related injuries in my 20’s. For example, I rolled my ankles a few times in college playing basketball, etc. It got so bad that I could be standing around talking, shift my weight the wrong way, and hit the floor like a ton of bricks. I had to wear supports on my ankle and wrap it extensively for over a year until it healed. Then, after graduation, I was playing volleyball on the beach in Hawaii with some coworkers when I decided to go up for a spike and forgot that I was on sand. When my foot shifted and slid under me, I wrenched my lower back and experienced shooting pain that was so bad, I couldn’t stand up. I crawled to the sideline and spent the next day in bed. I c

When I was a Tech-Industry Sales Rep, it was common for us to do an annual presentation for management showing the business we had identified for the following year. It gave them numbers to forecast for the stockholders and allowed all of us to make plans as to how we would pursue and obtain that business. My last year at Data General had been rough. Still, my partner and I had identified over $3,000,000 in potential business from a territory which historically, had only produced about $400,000. I had made a decision to take another position out of state with my old firm so that I could spend more time with my family and relieve the intense stress I had been under. DG was struggling and had

While working as a security guard in TX, I had some interesting experiences. Once, a girl on our college landscaping crew got bit by a water moccasin and was rushed to a local hospital. Now our boss, the Director of Security for the college, had told us NEVER to take someone to Gladewater hospital. “It’s just bad,” he said, “Always—go to Longview or Tyler, never Gladewater.” Still, Gladewater was closer, so the guard on duty tossed the poor girl in the patrol car and raced with lights flashing—to Gladewater. They arrived shortly thereafter and sat in the waiting room…and sat….and sat…meanwhile, the swelling in the girls hand moved slowly up her arm as the poison did its thing. The guard star