 |
Motivation |
 |
Home
About
Us
For
Parents
Training/Squads
Latest
News
Photo
Gallery
Meet
Results
W.A.
Rankings
Motivation
Our
Sponsors
Links
n Fun
Contact
Us
Five Lessons From Geese by Milton Olson
As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the bird following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if the bird flew alone.
Lesson 1: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the "lifting power" of the bird immediately in front.
Lesson 2: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go (and be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to the others).
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another flies at the point position.
Lesson 3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership - with people, as with geese, we are interdependent of each other.
The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson 4: We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging - and not something else.
When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay until it is able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or catch up with the flock.
Lesson 5: If we have as much sense as geese we too will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strongest.
The Gestalt Prayer Fritz Perls (1893-1970) I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations And you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I. And if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful, If not, it can't be helped.
Success by Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one's self;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived . . .
This is to have succeeded.
Desiderata by Max Ehrmann Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; for they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind The First approached the Elephant, And happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: "God bless me! but the Elephant Is very like a wall!" The Second, feeling of the tusk, Cried, "Ho! what have we here So very round and smooth and sharp? To me 'tis mighty clear This wonder of an Elephant Is very like a spear!" The Third approached the animal, And happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldly up and spake: "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a snake!" The Fourth reached out an eager hand, And felt about the knee. "What most this wondrous beast is like Is mighty plain," quoth he; " 'Tis clear enough the Elephant Is very like a tree!" The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said: "E'en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can This marvel of an Elephant Is very like a fan!" The Sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope, Than, seizing on the swinging tail That fell within his scope, "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a rope!" And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong! Moral: So oft in theologic wars, The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!
Boogie Through Life!
By Anonymous
Don't cry because its over,
smile because it happened.
Pain and Suffering is inevitable
but Misery is optional.
Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is a mystery,
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called: The Present.
A good exercise for the heart is to
bend down and help another up.
Life is what you make of it...
kinda like Play-Doh
The bubbling brook would lose its song
if you removed the rocks.
Happiness comes through doors
you didn't even know you left open.
Everything is always okay in the end,
if it's not, then it's not the end.
If all my friends jumped off a cliff,
I wouldn't jump with them.
I would be at the bottom to catch them.
A girl on the street is pointing up at the sky
'Look, an Angel!' she yells.
Passerby laugh, 'You fool, that is only a cloud.'
How wonderful it would be to see Angels
where there are only clouds. How sad it would be
to see clouds where there are Angels.
Here is a test to find whether your
mission on earth is finished:
If you're alive, it isn't.
So be happy!
Don't let anything burst your balloon!
Boogie through life!
More Snippets of Wisdom
"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly.
. . . AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES!"
~ Nike ad
"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision. "
~ Muhammad Ali, American Boxer
"I concentrate on preparing to swim my race and let the other swimmers think about me, not me about them."
~ Amanda Beard
"I enjoyed every bit of my swimming career. I think that's the most important advice — to enjoy what you do".
~ Summer Sanders 1992 double gold medallist
"There is water in every lane, so it is OK."
~ Ian Thorpe (on being in Lane 5 for a final).
"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime."
~ Babe Ruth
"Ability may take you to the top, but it takes character to stay there."
~ Unknown
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. "
~ Thomas Edison
"I am a winner. I just didn't win today."
~ Greg Norman
And even when things get a little "blurry" between us, it's okay... because we're a "team"... and teams stick together.
