I'm sure you’ve heard of a flea circus. That’s where tiny little fleas are trained to perform amazing tricks.  But they’re too small to really see, so its kind of silly.

 But, people do supposedly catch fleas and train them. And, those people have observed a strange habit of fleas while training them.

 Fleas can jump extremely high (that’s how they get from animal to animal) so when a flea is caught, it is put in a jar.  Without a lid, its simple for the flea to escape by just popping right out of the jar.  So, the flea trainer quickly puts a lid on the jar.

 When the flea jumps, BANG, it hits the lid and falls down.  Over and over, the flea will jump and BANG hit the lid.  Until, after some time, you can see that the flea is jumping just almost to the lid, but not quite.  He jumps, and jumps, not quite hitting the top, but jumping as high as he can. 

Now, that seems like a pretty smart flea to me. But, what’s strange is to see what happens when you take the lid off.  The flea continues to jump just almost to where the lid was. it wont jump any higher.

 The flea hit a limit to what it could to. He decided that he could not go any higher and then never tried to improve.  Even though the limit was gone, he was stuck in a rut – doing just what he always did and not challenging himself.

 If you find that you can’t do something today, don’t assume that you will never be able to do it.  Try it again tomorrow or next week. You might hit the lid occasionally, but you won’t be held back from my imaginary limit that you outgrow.

Thursday, May 12 2006

You've heard the saying ' A Chain is only as strong as its weakest link' .  That's absolutely true.  With this chain, I can pull a car or lift a heavy load - I can perform many tasks, but if I try to lift something that is too heavy, one of the links will break - the weakest link will let down the rest of the chain.

In scouting, each scout works on personal advancement to strengthen himself and improve his skills.  Personal advancement increases the strength of our troop chain so we can accomplish more.

But, there will always be a weakest link. No matter what the task at hand, some person will be less skilled than the others.  Someone will not be able to tie a certain knot, or kindle a fire or hike as fast, or recite as well the scout oath or law as well as the others.  At some point, each of you will be the weakest ling - I guarantee it!  Being the weakest link is not a shameful thing- it is an opportunity for improvement.

One of the best things about scouting, is that our chain is better than a simple metal chain.  When we have a task to do, we are not really limited by out weakest link.  The other, stronger or more skilled or more experienced links support the weaker link.  They help them, teach them, and guide them.  As a result, we accomplish much more then if we each just did our specific task and left the rest for others.

Do your best not to be the weakest link- for yourself and for your patrol and for your troop. Learn skills, take on challenges, GROW! But, be aware that around here the weakest link one day might be the strongest next - and the strongest , one day might be the weakest. 

Thursday, April 27 2006

Imagine, if you will, a man walking down a long hallway.

On the floor lay keys, different shapes and sizes.  As the man walks, he stops to pickup some keys and leaves others.  only he knows why he chooses which to take and which to leave - maybe he's to lazy to retrieve them all, maybe he is in too much of a hurry,  possibly a key does not look interesting to him.

At the end of the hall, the man reaches a large circular room.  there are many doors all around the room.  some doors are very interesting looking while others are simple wooden doors.  each door has a keyhole. the man chooses the door that appeals to him most.  unfortunately, as he tries the keys, he collected, none fit the door.  he left that key laying in the hall. 

The hallway is your life.  the doors are goals or rewards.  the keys are opportunities to grow.  if you do not grab the opportunities as you travel through life, you will not be able to unlock the door to your rewards and you will have to settle for something less. 

Get good grades NOW! so doors remain open for you for college.  Advance NOW! so you can finish your Eagle requirements before life throws roadblocks in your path.  Exercise NOW! so you will have a better opportunity to make the team next season.

Pick up the keys NOW! so you can open the most interesting doors in your life.

Scouts are like teabags. You don't know how strong they are until they get in hot water. Scouts occasionally find themselves being first on the scene at serious accidents or other emergency situations that put their Scout skills to the test!  
Do your ever ask yourself how would you do in such circumstances? Acts of heroism are not always a matter of being fearless - more often it's just the opposite, doing what is right in spite of being afraid. Being a Scout, by which I mean living by the Scout Oath and Law, the Slogan and the Motto, more often means doing things that are not easy in less news-worthy - but no less heroic - ways, than in the stories you hear about. Things like: standing up to peer pressure, seeking ways to help people, being courteous even to the non-courteous, placing God rather than self at the center of the universe. So try your best to make a good cup of tea!

I was walking along an ocean beach one hot summer day. In the distance I saw a man who was doing a strange dance, bending over again and again.  As I got closer, I saw that he was picking up starfish that had washed up on the shore and was throwing them back..

I asked him "Why are you throwing those starfish into the sea?"

He replied, "The tide is going out and the sun is hot, and if I don't throw them back they will die here."

I asked him why he was doing this since the beach was miles long and there were thousands of starfish and the few he threw back wouldn't make any difference.