Seth Godin is Dr. Otto Scratchansniff?
Ever wonder what happened to Dr. Otto Scratchansniff from The Animaniacs? He became famous author Seth Godin!
Let Kids Lose
From Baseball America:
Augie Garrido finished second at the 1992 College World Series with a Cal State Fullerton team led by future big leaguer Phil Nevin.
“I know this: That 1992 team with Nevin and those guys that finished second, more of them have gone on to different professions—real estate, banking, dentistry,” Garrido said. “They have a higher level of success rate in life than teams that won. I honestly believe it’s because they never want to finish second in anything again. I have that experience—I know that to be true.”
Coach Garrido said the same kind of thing in his post-game interview last night immediately after his University of Texas team lost to LSU in the College World Series championship.
There’s a lot of positive value in losing.
It motivates, it builds resolve, it increases focus on the goal. And, as Coach Garrido noted, often failure in one area (losing the national championship series) is the springboard to success in another area (professional accomplishments).
It’s the biggest reason why I’m such a proponent of youth sports that keep score and declare winners and losers. Not so kids can win trophies. Not so dads can live vicariously through their kids’ dynastic undefeated seasons. But so kids learn the positive values that come from losing: persistence, effort, teamwork, focus, commitment. The elements that make them winners as adults in life, not just winners as kids on a field.
Then and Now
13 years ago I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world.
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| From Our Wedding |
Now I know I am.
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| From Family Photo Session May 2009 |
The Noticer
The Noticer is only 156 pages long and a quick read. It does have some great lines, such as:
- “Experience is not the best teacher. Other people’s experience is the best teacher. By reading about the lives of great people, you can unlock the secrets to what made them great.” (p. 9)
- “Most folks figure a true friend is someone who accepts them as they are. But that’s dangerous garbage to believe…The kid who works through at your local fast-food restaurant accepts you for who you are - because he doesn’t care anything about you. But a true friend holds you to a higher standard. A true friend brings out the best in you.” (p. 30)
- “Five seagulls are sitting on a dock. One of them decides to fly away. How many seagulls are left?” “Well…four.” “No. There are still five. Deciding to fly away and actually flying away are two very different things.” (p. 111)
Overall, though, I wasn’t impressed. One chapter was a re-hashing of The Five Love Languages (a book I love, by the way; but I’d rather have the original than a chapter-long summary of it). I never bought into the premise - a semi-non-fictional account of the author’s supposed encounter with a wise God-like drifter named Jones.
It’s not a completely unworthy read, but for my taste it’s largely cliched platitudes with some a few good insights sprinkled throughout.
Hey, Watch This
I sometimes imagine Jesus with a mischievous grin on his face, leaning in close to someone and whispering, “Hey, watch this” when he’s getting ready to do something that’ll blow people’s minds. Kind of like a redneck saying, “Hey, look at this!” before blowing up a house with a cannon. But better.
With a gleam in his eye, Jesus whispers to a bystander, “Hey, watch this” before he gets in the boat and tells Peter, coming in from a long night of unproductive fishing, to put his nets back in the water. Peter catches so many fish his boat almost sinks.
Jesus secretively whispers to a little boy, ‘Hey, watch this!” before he takes a little bread & fish and feeds thousands of people.
He whispers to the woman, “Hey, watch this” when she’s caught in adultery and he shows her accusers that they’re no better than her.
Photo by David Owens (simplycandid.com)
We recently had some family photos taken, including this picture of Caedon on my shoulders. It wasn’t a planned pose; our photographer just captured a random moment.
But when I saw this photo for the first time this morning, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus leaning in close to someone and, with a big grin on his face, whispering, “Hey, watch this.”
“Watch how I’m going to use this boy to really teach his dad about love and selflessness.”
“Watch how I’m going to use this boy to make loving and serving a natural part of his brother’s and sisters’ fundamental makeup.”
“Watch how I’m going to use this boy to blow everybody’s expectations out of the water so I can sit back and laugh uproariously when they’re dumbounded and say, ‘But I thought he couldn’t…’ Because I know he can.”
Man, I’m glad I get to be along for the ride.
