I'd like to take this opportunity to wish my dear friend Dale Brown a happy birthday. Coach Brown had it figured out a long time ago -- that basketball is an instrument for us to utilize to exact positive change on people and communities. Coach Brown always passed out motivational items to his teams and then discuss it with them. He also mails out these items to his friends and colleagues -- and still does to this day. I was recently going through some of them because we use them with our teams and came across one on Elodie Armstrong who at that time was 90 years old. She had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 50 so she sat down and wrote the following:MY PERSONAL TEN COMMANDMENTS
Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.
Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.
Thou shalt not cross bridges before you get to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.
Thou shalt face each problem as it comes. You can handle only one at a time anyway.
Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you for they make very poor bedfellows.
Thou shalt not borrow other people's problems. They can take better care of them than you can.
Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday for good or ill....it is gone. Concentrate on what is happening in you life today.
Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.
Thou shalt be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It's very hard to learn something new when you're talking.
Thou shalt not become bogged down by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and it will only interfere with positive action.
Happy birthday Coach!!!
