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A while back, in a post titled Consider the Source (Oct. ’07), I related what is probably one of the most widely-known Bible stories of all, the tale of Jonah and the Really, Really Big Fish (probably second only to the story of Adam and Eve.)

(And by the way, The Bible is full of wonderful stories about all kinds of people and events. Whether you accept the Bible as the Word of God or just a good book, it’s truly worth your time to get familiar with it. There’s no end of life lessons to be found in its pages.)

Possibly one of the least-known stories is one from the Book of 2 Kings. To be honest, though, at first I found it to be just an “interesting little story”. But if you’ll bear with me a few minutes, I think you’ll find that there’s a remarkable truth to be learned from it.

The Lost Ax Head

The story is in Chapter 6, and relates a time when the Prophet Elisha (the august fellow pictured above), who at the time ran a school for young prophets, decided to expand his operation a bit in order to house a growing number of students. (I guess the prophet business must have been doing pretty well at the time.)

While chopping a tree, however, one of the students lost his ax head in the Jordan River. In those days, an ax head was an inordinately valuable piece of equipment. Naturally, the poor student was aghast.

Now, the Jordan is a fast-flowing and very muddy river, so jumping in and recovering it was problematical at best (not to mention the minor little detail that at the time, few people knew how to swim!) However, after asking the young fellow to point out the spot, Elisha tossed a stick in the water where it fell.

To the astonishment of the young prophet, the ax head immediately rose to the surface, and “swam” to the shore, where it was recovered with great relief.

By now you may be thinking to yourself, “Uh, say what? The prophet Elisha? Floating ax heads? What has that got to do with me?”

Well, bear with me a moment; I need to share a little story first.

On Calculus and Motivation

My quest to become an engineer was a somewhat long and, er, crooked road. In fact, when I started, I didn’t even know that’s what I wanted; I just went to college because it was expected of me. (Sadly, I had no real appreciation for what my parents did for me at the time. What can I say? I was young – and stupid.)

After about a year and a half of college, however, I decided to give up on my engineering degree and go to work (I blame it on Calculus, but in truth, it was simply a question of motivation). So naturally I got a job in engineering! (Trust me; it wasn’t on purpose. It’s just the only place I was qualified, and I didn’t want to work in construction.)

Ironically, 20 years later I realized I did indeed want to be an engineer (sound of parents saying “I told you so!”). So what to do? Well, no doubt you will agree with me that the next move was obvious: I had to go back to college.

It wasn’t a question of now wanting to be an engineer; the desire was there now. I could even visualize it; taste it; heck, I could feel it! But before I could finish the dream and accomplish the goal, well, I had to go back to the point where I had lost it. I had to finish what I’d started before being able to move forward.

Quite simply, I had to pick up where I left off.

So Where Did You Drop It?

Let’s start with some leading questions.

Are there any big plans you’ve had in the back of your mind for some time now? Dreams that still manage to stir your heart every time you think about them? Is there a B.H.A.G. (big, hairy, audacious goal) waiting for you every time you close your eyes? Is there something you just know you’ve got to accomplish in this lifetime?

Have you ever begun a B.H.A.G., but somewhere along the way, well, you just kinda ran out of steam?

If this has ever happened to you, then my friend, I know exactly how it feels! Trust me; you’re not alone! In fact, it’s probably a safe bet that nearly everyone has experienced this sort of thing at one time or another.

Now suppose you dust off that dream? Suppose you begin to think again about how exciting and great it would be to accomplish that thing you began way back when? C’mon, be honest; can’t you feel a stirring begin within your heart? Wait a minute – was that your soul jumping up and down with excitement? Can you hear it telling you go! go! go!

OK; here’s what you do. Go back to that place you were when you dropped the dream. Consider carefully what you’ve already done toward accomplishing it. Think hard about what you know now, and compare it with what you knew then. Allow the hope to well up within you and begin to visualize that thing, accomplished!

I promise you; if you’ll diligently do those things, you’ll see that dream resurface from the muddy waters of time, just like a, well, a certain ax head that fell into a muddy river. You’ll see it miraculously float to the surface and swim to the shore. Suddenly, you’ll find it’s within your power to reach out and take hold of it!

What will you do?

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Who in tarnation is Bob Ledbetter, you ask? Well, it’s like this…

Those of you who’ve been hanging around the Zone for awhile probably vaguely remember that Mrs. MZM and I started an Ignite business on the side a few months ago.

(Warning: Commercial alert! Here it is in a nutshell: We sign folks up for electricity service with a local retail electric company in the deregulated areas of Texas (which is about 85% of the state) – and earn a residual income when people pay their electric bills. Want to know how you can too? Email me here. Really. You might be glad you asked.)

Anyway, the other day I got to hear one of our company’s top money-earners, Bob Ledbetter (retired high school football coach from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and multiple-times Coach of the Year; he turned a mediocre Southlake Carroll H.S. football program into a nationally-recognized championship).

Needless to say, since he’s a, you know, coach – well, he’s quite the team builder. So it’s no surprise to anyone that he’s one of the best with Ignite as well. (Like pretty much all successful businesses, Ignite is all about the team.)

Anyway, since we’re smack in the middle of another What I Learned From… writing project, I thought I’d share a bit about what I learned from his talk. Bear in mind, this was given to a room full of Ignite Associates… but in actuality, these principles apply to life!

How to Fail Miserably

Being a complete failure at this business typically means passing through four common stages. We should be prepared to recognize them and deal with them accordingly.

Step #1 – Rejection. Konrad Adenauer once said, “A thick skin is a gift from God.” If you haven’t experienced rejection as an Ignite Associate, then you probably haven’t told anyone about it yet! The fact is, dealing with rejection is part of what makes us stronger over time. We have to remember that it’s entirely possible the folks you think will do it, won’t, while the ones you think won’t do it, will (if you can follow that – you’re good!) Don’t take a chance – show the plan to everyone!

Life Application – Although most people don’t like to acknowledge it, being able to handle rejection is a crucial part of having a well-adjusted life. I mean, who hasn’t had to face disappointment from time to time? From the cradle to the grave, each of us will have been told “no” countless time – yet amazingly, we survive to grow, not in spite of it, but because of it! Remember this: “No” is just “yes” with a different coat on!

Step #2 – Deception. OK, maybe it’s a bit strong to put it that way, but when people tell you they’ll “come to the meeting tonight” – but don’t show up, nor have any intention of doing so – well… All I can say is to be prepared to keep after ‘em! We hear the same story from many successful Ignite folks: They only came to a meeting to get so-and-so off their back and leave them alone! Now, X months later, they’re earning residuals and doing quite well! There’s one lady at work who’s promised me for two months she’d sign up as a customer “tonight”. Well guess what? It still ain’t happened – yet!

Life Application – If you’re like me (and if you are – I’m truly sorry ‘bout that!), then wouldn’t you rather someone gave you an outright NO? But let’s face it; if your business depends on other people (and what business doesn’t?) you’re going to have to deal with it sooner or later. The solution? Expect the best of people, no matter what! Is what you have to say truly valuable to them? Then keep on givin’ ‘em chances to hear it! Who knows; if you can get their attention, maybe they’ll eventually profit from it – and get to thank you for it, too!

Step #3 – Loss of Enthusiasm. This one happens when the first two items above become overwhelming. Remember, the mental part of the Ignite business is just as important as the physical part – meeting, talking and signing up customers and Associates. Our own “self talk” can go a long way to helping us past this one. Ups and downs are inevitable, but perseverance is what pays off over time. Randy Hedge (known among Ignite Associates as “The Electric Cowboy” and our #3 highest money earner) advises us to treat this stuff “like a bug on a windshield – just wipe it off and move on!”

Life Application: Hey, this one’s easy: No matter what – keep goin’!

Step #4 – Quit. If we let the things above “get to us” – well, it’s probably only a matter of time before we do the unthinkable – quit. The solution is pretty straightforward, and I dare say you’ve heard it before:

1. Be familiar with the signs listed above so you can recognize them
2. Take immediate action to deal with each one
3. Spend time with others who are going the same way you are
4. Be flexible

Life Application: Allow me to illustrate it with a story…

I recently discovered a friend of mine has been an Ignite Associate for about 2 years. He had managed to sign up one Associate right after joining, but never signed up a customer. Alas, he quickly lost his enthusiasm and quit after only a few months. In fact, until 18 months later when I called him, he hadn’t even checked on his status.

But when he did, he got a huge surprise! Remember that one Associate? Well, that guy had built an organization of 214 Associates! (Sheesh! We’ve got 11 Associates now - may we be at least as successful as he is!) But (and here’s the sad part) because he never completed his basic qualifications (with Ignite it’s pretty simple; you have to sign up 10 customers and 3 Associates to qualify for residual income), he hasn’t made a dime!

Just think – he’s not only missing a promotion (it happens automatically when you get 12 Associates in your organization plus you have personally signed up 10 customers), but he’s also not receiving the residual income from literally hundreds of customers, just because he quit!

My Advice

Hey, if you’re going to give up on your dreams – then my advice is: don’t have any! You’re only leaving yourself open for disappointment and heartache. But if you’re the type who is willing to give something new a try (at least long enough to tell if it’s going to work or not), then I say: go for it!

Just remember that turning dreams into goals always takes a fair investment in blood, sweat and tears (yuk – who thinks up these metaphors, anyway?)

Besides, as Ignite moves into other states (very soon now), you never know; the next Bob Ledbetter might get signed up somewhere in my team. Now that thought sure juices me up, lemme tell ya!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

You may remember a few Fridays ago I posted Dave Walker’s cartoon, “Waiting”, simply because on that day it expressed what I was thinking and feeling pretty well. Even done that? Just catch yourself staring off into space, thinking to yourself, “I know there’s something out there worth writing about, but what?”

Oddly enough, here’s something I noticed just the other day outside my office window…

My cube is located on the fourth floor, west end of our building, and across the street are several large lots just primed and ready for the eruption of new office blocks. Now, I’ve been at this location for over a year, but only in the last several months has anything happened; FIVE new construction sites have popped up in three directions within a block of our building! (There’s a freeway on the fourth side; putting a new building there might be, er, frowned upon. All those cars and everything.) Yep, business is definitely booming here in Texas – for a change.

Well, I’ve been watching this one particular site to the west for the last several months. As is customary for new construction, it started with a hole. Various and sundry earthmoving machines dug a large rectangular hole in the ground, about five or six feet deep, and somewhat wider and longer than the actual building will be. (In fact, it reminds me of a sandbox I played in last week used to play in when I was little.)

Excess dirt was piled high in long hills until an endless stream of dump trucks carried it off. Gradually, over several weeks, the building’s actual footprint became evident, covered and built up with a new layer of earth and sand such that it left a sortof plateau within the original excavation.

And then… well, then it rained. And we’re not talkin’ just any ol’ rain – it was more like “Honey, better load up the Ark!” Needless to say, the jobsite ended up with a nice medieval effect, what with the moat and all (which I personally thought was a nice touch). After another few days, a lone guy with a pump finally drained the lake and they leveled out the site.

“Finally,” I said to myself (yes, I talk to myself; what’s your point?), “time to get going again!”

Nope, not quite. There was a brief bit of activity while they built their construction shack, and wow, this is some shack! Underneath it’s really just a trailer; but man, this one has a nice wood exterior (not the usual cheap vinyl siding), a full length covered porch with shiny tin roof – even a beautifully finished set of stairs on each end. Very nice! They even installed signs proudly advertising “The XXX Construction Company”.

That was a month ago. Since then… nothing.

Seems kinda strange. Why don’t they just, you know, get on with it? All that site preparation, a beautiful construction field office no doubt filled with building plans – but still no building. So I gotta wonder: why don’t they just, oh, I don’t know, build the thing?

Uh-oh; somebody alert the media! I just had a thought (that loud clunk you just heard).

The thing is, just like pretty much everybody else on the planet (er, I mean this planet), there are certain things I’d like to accomplish; big things, small things – lots of, um, things. Come to think of it - if you wrapped them all up into one pretty package, it would be like… well, like a great big building.

See, I’ve been making these great plans to help me get where I want to go… but if I’m not executing them, well… what good are they? But – and here’s where the rubber meets the road – what real, tangible things am I doing, right now, to accomplish them; to turn my dreams into goals?

Hey, I got plans – lots of plans; I mean, doesn’t everybody? But plans unrealized – well, those are just called intentions. (Like that building across the way there, it’s just site preparation.) I mean, sure, it’s important (critical in fact!), but it’s not the building itself!

I heard a really profound statement once (and it’s all the more irritating because I’m guilty! guilty! guilty!) which I think sums it up quite well:

We tend to judge others by their results, but we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions.

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Just before getting married (this was some time ago) I decided to take the plunge and get my pilot’s license. I mean, one of my life’s goals ever since I was a kid (and that’s human, not goat) is I’d wanted to fly. But I discovered that there’s a difference between flying and being a pilot.

A big difference.

Flight school was going rather well, I’d successfully performed many T&Ls (that’s take-offs and landings, for you earth-bound folks), and everything was going rather peachy. Then one fine day when I showed up for my lesson the instructor said those dreaded words, “Hey, have a good flight!” and walked back into the office. It was time for me to solo. (Flash of lightning, crash of thunder, terrified scream; oh, and cue the organ music.)

You know how they say during times of crisis, this is no time to panic? Well, for a few moments, I was thinking this was an absolutely perfect time to panic! But after the initial surprise, I managed to calm myself enough to say to my instructor, “Hey, great, no problem. See you in a few hours.” My voice didn’t quaver or anything.

(Oh, did I mention that I’m flying out of Hobby Airport in Houston, one of the busiest traffic per volume airports in the country?)

So now I’m flying southeast toward a small local field called Houston Gulf to shoot a few T&Ls – takeoffs and landings (although, now that I’m airborne already, I guess you would call them L&Ts), and I was about to switch the radio over when I realized I couldn’t remember what frequency they were on! Yikes!

Now, I don’t know if this is still true, but I remembered my instructor telling me that for small, uncontrolled airports, it wasn’t absolutely necessary to call in; but it’s definitely considered the right thing to do. Common courtesy for other small planes, etc., you know.

So I did the only thing I could; shot an L&T (since I was already there anyway) and beat it back to Hobby.

By now I’m starting to get really flustered. I had just dropped in out of the blue on this unsuspecting airport and then flown off again. I had visions of a small army of angry people hunting me down and giving me a thrashing (similar to a beating, but with a little more feeling). But at least I was heading home.

I reached 1500 feet, took a bead on the airport and called the Hobby tower (since I never changed the radio frequency I knew I had the right guys). As I approached the airport things started to look strange. (Yeah, I know – since things always look strange to me, how could I tell?) Well, it’s like this.

Have you ever traveled a road during the daytime and gotten so familiar with it that it’s become automatic? Then you try driving it at night. Everything looks different, right? Well, it was sortof like that. I mean, nothing looked familiar! The buildings were odd, the runways were… similar; even the roads around the airport looked totally foreign. I thought I was in a Twilight Zone episode and had accidentally popped through a time warp.

Well, now I’m getting really close, perhaps a mile away, when suddenly it dawned on me (cue the sun): I was about to land at Ellington Air Force Base! And, just to really give the ol’ ticker a goose, right about that time the Hobby tower calls me and says words to the effect of, “where the heck are you going?” Holy moley! And Gadzooks!

One of the really great things about driving a car is that when you get lost, you can actually stop somewhere and ask directions. Yeah, I know guys, it violates the Manly Men’s Code of Conduct, but sometimes, you just gotta swim against the stream, ya know? But in an airplane… you can’t. (Well, I suppose you could – but that first step is a dilly.)

Anyway, I had to sheepishly admit that I was a student pilot on his first solo flight, AND that I had just realized I was targeting Ellington AFB (who were no doubt targeting me – I had visions of fighter planes scrambling, etc.). Thank goodness they were professional about it, pointing me in the right direction (about 70 degrees west of my current heading) and getting me down safely.

Mrs. MZM (who was my fiancé at the time) tells me that when I came in (she lived a few miles from there so I visited her after my flight lessons), I just walked in, sat down, and didn’t speak for about two hours. Oh, and I was somewhat… pale. I can’t say; I really don’t remember.

OK, lesson learned: flying a plane is the easy part! Knowing and handling the details is what makes a pilot. You know how they say (who are “they”, anyway?) don’t sweat the details?

Well, all I have to say is, sometimes details are everything.

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

I spent an entire summer, many moons ago, wrestling with that ever-popular question, “What Should I Do With My Life?” Since I’m no good at wrestling, a long vacation from my job seemed just the ticket to do some serious soul searching.

On the advice of a former church friend, I (gulp!) volunteered to be a counselor at a children’s camp (hey, I was MUCH younger then… and thus still insane) located in Huntsville State Park, in the heart of the beautiful Sam Houston National Forest in East Texas.

This camp’s format was 7 week-long sessions, which meant I had a different group of 12 to 15 boys each week, aged 8 to 12. From day one, I was amazed to find the entire experience was an incredible adventure! (And let’s just say that if you ever had the desire to kick-start your life’s allotment of grey hairs early, this is the best way I know. Trust me on this.)

One day I was walking alone back to my cabin and, as was my custom whenever I encountered a piece of trash along the trail, I picked it up. No biggie; I did it all the time. I liked to think I can always leave a place better than I found it. Besides, I hoped that my actions would at least serve as an example to the kids.

A few days later, one of the camp Board members called me over. After the usual introductions and preliminaries, he said, “Over the last few weeks we’ve been noticing how you seem to really care about this camp. You’re good with the kids, you tell good stories, and you seem to be a real leader. We’ve even seen you doing little extra things like picking up bits of trash along the trails.”

Needless to say, I was intrigued and quite flattered. I mean, not only had I never done this sort of thing before, but I had no idea whether was even any good at it. Now this guy comes along and says he’s been watching me… (lucky for him I’m not a paranoid!)

But here’s where it really got weird.

“We don’t know if you’ve been aware of it,” he continued, “but we’ve been looking for someone to fill the position of camp caretaker. But we’re not just looking for a handyman. It needs to be someone who cares deeply about what we do here, and has the qualities we’ve seen in you. We were wondering if you’d be interested in the job.”

Now instead of telling you what I did (that would be just too easy!), I’m going to turn it around and then ask you a question. (Consider it carefully; there may be a test later.)

Suppose you discovered, quite by accident, that you were really good at some… thing you’ve never done before. Suddenly, out of the blue, an opportunity to do it for real dropped out of the sky and landed right in your lap.

What would you do?

Note: I’m not asking what the thing would be, I’m asking what your response would be. Oh, and about that test… it’s called “Life”.

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Sometime back in February, it finally hit me (sound of dull thud): Hey, I’m a writer!

Now you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, of course you’re a writer, silly – I’ve been reading your wonderful, popular, A-list blog for months now!”

Yes, but… well here’s the thing. Up until then, I never really thought of myself as a writer. Oh, sure, it’s something I always wanted to do (something along the lines of being a spaceman, or climbing Mt. Everest… or keeping my hair), but it’s always been a sort of “pipe dream” thing that never quite made it over the hump to “goal” status. I suppose, to be completely honest here, I never followed my own advice.

In the spirit of giving credit where it’s due, I blame Liz Strauss. Ever since she wrote 7 Traits that Writers Have in Common (this post has 152 comments – how does she do that? I’m not jealous, Liz. Really. I am awed!), I discovered that if these are the common traits of writers, then by gosh, I must be one! How did that happen? (Once again, echoes of yesterday’s post.)

But you know who truly cinched it for me? (Sorry, Liz, it wasn’t you – but you helped!) It was my life and joy, my partner in crime, Mrs. MZM. (I really mean that. Nowadays, whenever anything unusual or weird happens, she turns to me and says, “You should blog that!”)

Now, you have to understand, Mrs. MZM is not exactly a technology buff, although technophobic isn’t the right term either. It’s not that she’s afraid of it; she just doesn’t really, um, like it. Can’t say I blame her, considering my recent bout with technology, but what it means is that she’s what you might call a “late adopter”.

So even though I’ve been writing here at the Zone since June of last year, it was only last week when she finally started reading it. (Luckily she didn’t start with my very early posts, when I really didn’t know what I was doing! Not that I know now - I’m just more experienced at it.) I happened to be in Illinois at the time, and during one of our evening phone conversations, she startled me with these words, “You know, you really are a writer!”

Lemme tell ya, folks, hearing those words from the Love Of My Life was like, well, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature! It’s one thing to have friends or even total strangers tell me my writing is good. And for me to believe it myself is another. But for the one who is the most familiar with me, the one who is literally the best part of me to affirm it – well, that’s just the cat’s posterior meow!

So, the good news is, I guess that Great American Novel can’t be too far away.  What’s more, I even have the title for my first book (comment #4, and thanks, Roger, I love it!):

Poke it with a Sharp Stick!

I’m taking pre-orders now, folks, just make the check out to (sound of blunt object hitting back of head)…

p.s.  Just so ya know - I didn’t intentionally try to set a new record for how many self-promotional links I could squeeze into one post (6) - it just happened that way!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Why are weird things are always happening to me?

Some years ago a friend and I participated in an “gimmick” road rally. In a nutshell, each team was given a set of very specific driving instructions. To make a challenge, there were clues on signs along the way that would help determine the next destination.

Now before you conjure up images of people madly speeding about town, looking at everything except the road (and at high speed, no less) - it wasn’t that way at all (honest). There were average speeds  to hit along each stretch because the final wrinkle was that for each leg there was a specific time to hit; taking more or less time cost points.

It was a beautiful Spring day, and luckily most of the rally took place outside of town on farm roads, back roads, and country roads. (That should give you a clue - alas, there are very few of those kinds of roads left around Houston any more.) 

So my pal and I took off with a set of instructions that looked like a bad translation of Shakespere’s Hamlet into Pig Latin: Follow road 2745 east for .7 miles, CAST 37. (CAST stands for “Change Average Speed To”) What farm animal is shown on the billboard on the left? It was stuff like that, all day long (with us wondering, “to turn or not to turn”).

On the fourth leg (there were six total), we started off merrily enough, but eventually (and through no fault of my own - that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) we got totally and completely lost. I’m not talking about just a little lost here - we were so lost, we weren’t even sure we were on the same planet! Yep, that lost.

After what seemed like ages, we ended up driving down this long, straight road for what must have been 5 miles or more without seeing so much as a cow, much less another person. Finally, I’d had enough, and decided to just turn around and try the other direction.

We’d gone just a little of the way back, when suddenly we came upon the leg’s finish line! What the heck? Where did that come from? I mean, it seemed like we’d just passed that exact spot not 15 minutes earlier!

We looked at each other and decided to just take our penalties on this one and consider ourselves lucky someone came along and found us. I was starting to visualize my picture on a milk carton…

As it turned out, the sixth leg got everyone even more lost! We were supposed to meet for dinner at a pizza joint (which almost everyone found), and while chowing down we all waited to hear who won the prizes.

Now we had no illusions about winning anything - we just wanted to have a good time anyway, but after the first, second and third prizes were given, they called us up to the podium. We thought it was to have a joke at our expense about having the longest leg time, or for getting totally lost.

Would you believe it? We won the “puctuality prize” for that fourth leg: we finished it exactly on time!

So I gotta ask you, have you ever accomplished something by, well… accident? Surely I’m not the only one in the world this has happened to? (Yeah, yeah, I know - don’t call you “Shirley”.)

I mean, it’s probably not the weirdest thing that’s happened to me (what’s scary is that I really can’t identify the actual weirdest thing; there are so many to choose from!), but it ranks right up there.

What about you? Have you started out with a clear goal in mind, did everything you could to accomplish it, and after trying and trying and… well, you gave up, only to find the goal was achieved anyway, and you have no idea how it happened?

Do you dare answer this? What’s the weirdest thing that ever happened to you?

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!