Knope

My latest TV show hit has been the wonderful Parks and Recreation set in Pawnee, Indiana. This show chronicles the adventures of Leslie Knope, an at-times over-eager political leader who simply wants to do the right thing, going to great lengths to do just so. Throughout the show she is widely acclaimed as being the best at what she does.

What do you do? Are you a student? Teacher? Worker? No matter what it is you do, strive for excellence. Are you the Leslie Knope?
Teddy Roosevelt once said something to the effect that the best thing anyone can do is the right thing, the second best thing anyone can do is the wrong thing and the worst thing you can do is nothing. All Leslie Knope wants to do is what is best for her beloved city of Pawnee. Even though at times this zealousness gets her in trouble, she never loses sight of what is important. Whatever it is you do, do it with excellence and a keen eye to what is right. Do this, and you can't go wrong.

Critic

Teddy really does say it all in today's Thought. Without expounding on his wisdom too much, I'd like to ask a few questions for all of us to think about.

Who do you identify with? Are you the critic? Or are you the man in the arena? I think we can be both, something simultaneously. It doesn't matter which entity we are, what does matter is which one we allow to bubble to the surface, to control our thoughts and actions.

Try

Today's Thought comes from the great mind of Theodore Roosevelt. As you look at the title and the quote, you may be wondering if I'm contradicting one of my earlier posts. I may be, but hear me out. There indeed is some wisdom left in 'ole Teddy.

Failure is hard. There's no doubt about that. It's hard do to your best and be told, "not good enough." Miraculously, somehow, we are able to learn from our failures. But what is there to learn from not even trying? You may fail, but you can only succeed if you try.
This weekend I had an interesting experience. I was at church sitting in my normal spot with the same folks sitting around me. As I was walking out at the end, I was approached by a young gentleman, about my age. He said he noticed I had been there a few weeks and that I should join him in a youth group meeting after church. I turned him down, rationalizing that I only have two weeks left in the city and so why get too involved now? However, I had to ask myself, what did I miss out on?
You see, I failed to even try. I may have found success, even though I didn't know exactly what success was, in that meeting. Instead, I went about my day. You see, like me, you have an opportunity to try. You never know when opportunity will knock, don't be afraid to open the door. Will you fail? Will you succeed? Those aren't important questions. The important question is this: Will you try?

Action

Today's Thought is from a great man of history - Theodore Roosevelt.  Reading and listening to accounts of his tales have filled many hours for me and my friends as we strive to be like good ole' Teddy.  What is it that draws us to him?  What makes someone who died almost 100 years ago so appealing?  I believe this quote about sums it up.

How many of us have said that we are a person of action, that we don't sit around waiting for the other guy, we do what we think is right and we do it with conviction?  Now, how many of us actually DO all those things?  I know in my own life, those two questions are answered very differently far too often.  I firmly believe that Teddy has it right here.  In any decision, we have three choices.  While it may stink to do the wrong thing, at least you did SOMETHING.

I would imagine that large percentage of visionaries - people who change the world and inspire others to do the same - never knew exactly what they were doing.  I suspect they simply did what 'felt right'.  And yet for every wrong action, they ended up with some pretty spectacular results.  With that, I leave you with something to think about: How will YOU take action?