Seminar Year 2011: Don't Take a Step Back, Get Ready for the Comeback!
As you read this you are either converging on Dallas, or just getting back from Seminar. I am sure it was another moment in your MK career that brought challenges and new dreams. Whether it was hearing a top Director or National speak, you left inspired. For those who are packing and getting ready to make the journey, I am sure you are filled with anticipation. This is an exciting time of the year for the Pink Culture. New dreams are set and challenges given. It is a time to be filled with words of wisdom and letting go of the words that have hindered us. It is a time to rejoice in your victories and dust off yourself from your failures. Mary Kay once said,
There is a saying I heard a number of years ago....
We all have choices. I am sure you have heard it so many times...yet today I would like to remind you of that one important word..CHOICE. I love stories about the under dog who became a champion. Stories like this are so inspiring because we have sometimes in our life felt like the under dog. There is a passage in Scripture that reads,
The words...forgetting, straining forward, and press on, are all words that one must carry in their heart, in order to become a champion.
May you be inspired by the following true story:
Seabiscuit was the equine Cinderella. An ungainly and boxy scrapper that became one of the most remarkable thoroughbred race horses in history. In 1938, at the peak of his career, Seabiscuit was the biggest newspaper story in the United States, receiving more column inches than anyone else. President Roosevelt ranked second, and Adolf Hitler was third. Seabiscuit, a descendant of the great thoroughbred Man o'War through his son Hard Tack, was born on May 23, 1934. He was never a complete outcast, as portrayed in the movie, but actually won nine races and U.S. $26,965 in prize money before Charles Howard, a wealthy bicycle repair man turned car dealer, bought the three-year-old horse for a mere U.S. $8,000.Still, with his stumpy legs that wouldn't completely straighten, Seabiscuit wasn't considered a great prospect. Some said he wasn't worth the hay in a first-class barn. But he had a believer in Tom Smith, also known as "Silent Tom," a trainer whose reluctance to speak led some people to believe he didn't have a tongue. Smith found a jockey in Johnny "Red" Pollard, one of seven children born to a bankrupt brick manufacturer, who spent years at the country's lowliest racetracks, talking his way onto as many mounts as he could. At 5'7", Pollard was too tall to be a jockey. He was also blind in one eye, something he tried to keep a secret. Without bifocal vision, he lacked depth perception and couldn't tell how far ahead of him horses were. Against all odds, Seabiscuit became an instant success, winning race after race. Howard, who marketed his Western-bred underdog as a challenger to the East Coast racing establishment, sent barrels of champagne to the press box before races. Seabiscuit became the most popular horse in America during the Great Depression. But trouble lurked around the corner. While riding another horse, Pollard fell and shattered his collarbone, broke his shoulder, and fractured his ribs. Doctors told him he wouldn't ride again for at least a year. When a match-up was finally set up between Seabiscuit and War Admiral, an elegant East Coast champion and winner of the Triple Crown—the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes—a new jockey, George Woolf, took the reins of Seabiscuit. The resulting race became a contest between two worlds: the East Coast establishment of bankers and their beautiful horses versus a nation of disillusioned have-nots who championed a hero that had been beat up just like them. "Seabiscuit was given a second chance and made the most of it," said Paulick. "People in the Great Depression could relate: All they wanted was a second chance in life. Seabiscuit lived out their dream." (From news.nationalgeographic.com; Nag to Riches: The Story of Seabiscuit by Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News; July 28, 2003)
Set backs will happen, but remember it comes back to that most important word...CHOICE. We can say to ourselves, "Its to hard." "I can't." "Why me?" or we can choose to press on. Obstacles will come. Sometimes it may seem to last a life time. Yet, what makes a champion is one who never stops moving forward. No matter how fast or slow...they keep moving, until that one day when they finally break through!
Dream big and never give up! Many blessings as you begin your new Seminar Year! See you on stage in 2011!
His call. His gifts. Your purpose. Irrevocable!
For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.
There is a saying I heard a number of years ago....
"Don't take a step back, get ready for the comeback!"
We all have choices. I am sure you have heard it so many times...yet today I would like to remind you of that one important word..CHOICE. I love stories about the under dog who became a champion. Stories like this are so inspiring because we have sometimes in our life felt like the under dog. There is a passage in Scripture that reads,
I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.(Philippians 3:13-14, Amplified Version)
The words...forgetting, straining forward, and press on, are all words that one must carry in their heart, in order to become a champion.
May you be inspired by the following true story:
Seabiscuit was the equine Cinderella. An ungainly and boxy scrapper that became one of the most remarkable thoroughbred race horses in history. In 1938, at the peak of his career, Seabiscuit was the biggest newspaper story in the United States, receiving more column inches than anyone else. President Roosevelt ranked second, and Adolf Hitler was third. Seabiscuit, a descendant of the great thoroughbred Man o'War through his son Hard Tack, was born on May 23, 1934. He was never a complete outcast, as portrayed in the movie, but actually won nine races and U.S. $26,965 in prize money before Charles Howard, a wealthy bicycle repair man turned car dealer, bought the three-year-old horse for a mere U.S. $8,000.Still, with his stumpy legs that wouldn't completely straighten, Seabiscuit wasn't considered a great prospect. Some said he wasn't worth the hay in a first-class barn. But he had a believer in Tom Smith, also known as "Silent Tom," a trainer whose reluctance to speak led some people to believe he didn't have a tongue. Smith found a jockey in Johnny "Red" Pollard, one of seven children born to a bankrupt brick manufacturer, who spent years at the country's lowliest racetracks, talking his way onto as many mounts as he could. At 5'7", Pollard was too tall to be a jockey. He was also blind in one eye, something he tried to keep a secret. Without bifocal vision, he lacked depth perception and couldn't tell how far ahead of him horses were. Against all odds, Seabiscuit became an instant success, winning race after race. Howard, who marketed his Western-bred underdog as a challenger to the East Coast racing establishment, sent barrels of champagne to the press box before races. Seabiscuit became the most popular horse in America during the Great Depression. But trouble lurked around the corner. While riding another horse, Pollard fell and shattered his collarbone, broke his shoulder, and fractured his ribs. Doctors told him he wouldn't ride again for at least a year. When a match-up was finally set up between Seabiscuit and War Admiral, an elegant East Coast champion and winner of the Triple Crown—the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes—a new jockey, George Woolf, took the reins of Seabiscuit. The resulting race became a contest between two worlds: the East Coast establishment of bankers and their beautiful horses versus a nation of disillusioned have-nots who championed a hero that had been beat up just like them. "Seabiscuit was given a second chance and made the most of it," said Paulick. "People in the Great Depression could relate: All they wanted was a second chance in life. Seabiscuit lived out their dream." (From news.nationalgeographic.com; Nag to Riches: The Story of Seabiscuit by Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News; July 28, 2003)
Set backs will happen, but remember it comes back to that most important word...CHOICE. We can say to ourselves, "Its to hard." "I can't." "Why me?" or we can choose to press on. Obstacles will come. Sometimes it may seem to last a life time. Yet, what makes a champion is one who never stops moving forward. No matter how fast or slow...they keep moving, until that one day when they finally break through!
Those who are blessed with the most talent don't necessarily outperform everyone else. It's the people with follow-through who excel.-Mary Kay
Dream big and never give up! Many blessings as you begin your new Seminar Year! See you on stage in 2011!
His call. His gifts. Your purpose. Irrevocable!
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