When I was in my senior year in high school, it was to be glorious. We were poised to be a basketball powerhouse, and I was tapped to be a co-captain. In a spurious episode of fate, I suffered a tear of my right knee cartilage while playing sandlot football. My coach publicly excoriated me on a local am radio program. It made me a pariah overnight.
That same year, I took an introduction to psychology class from Mr. Bercun. I loved it. I remember reading my textbook with fascination during my breaks as a short-order cook at the pancake house. I looked deeply into myself and benefitted greatly from the reflection. I became a student of motivation.
I was never made co-captain. I decided to play the season with an injury. My coach didn’t try to dissuade me. No one could change my mind. I had to ameliorate the shame. My play was ineffective.
I opted to skip the annual sports banquet. I was awarded “Most Persistent” in absentia. I looked a the trophy as a joke. It’s one I wished I would have kept.
That psychology class helped me sort out my shame that year. Father Rog, my guidance counselor, rightly told me that psychology is not for you unless I was prepared for eight years of school. “In four years,” he said, “as an engineer, you will have full employment for the rest of your life.” He was right. And it was a great career. Yet, the Persistence in my love of psychology and human motivation has brought me here to my encore career as a Certified High-Performance Coach.
Synchronicity: There are no Accidents.
As I mentioned last week, while I was in Boothbay Harbor a couple of weekends ago, I picked up the book “There are no Accidents” by Robert H. Hopcke. As a result of reading this, I have been hyper-aware of synchronous events in my own life.
Here is my most recent one that has unfolded over the last two weeks.
I bought a second copy of that book for my daughter, Emma, whose 25th birthday was May 31st. I will visit her this Saturday in Los Angeles, my first visit since her move last Summer. She’s a bold one, that Emma.
I’m a member of an LA-based networking group called Metal International. Metal stands for Media, Entertainment, Technology, Artistic Leaders. It’s filled with all sorts of west coast power players. But it’s not about power. It is a “heart-based” support organization with genuine, caring people. During our Saturday call, I heard from Brendan Kane, an incredibly effective marketing professional who has developed a system that anyone can follow to connect with millions of people.
He gave us an example of a video that went viral. Its keys are that it grabs your attention and holds it. Watch it, and see if you disagree. It’s currently at over 16 million views.
The girl in the video grabs your attention in the first 3 seconds with the raised index finger saying, “wait, don’t go, you’re gonna love this.” She looks a lot like Emma.
The next day I randomly pulled an album from my unsorted vinyl records for our rainy Sunday morning listen and read. It was Fleetwood Macs rumors. If you watched the video, you’d get the connection.
While in Boothbay, we visited a pottery store that became a new favorite of ours. On the wall in the store was a sign that read: “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not - Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not - unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not - the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” The quote is from Calvin Coolidge.
So many things are connected that sometimes we don’t know unless we are paying attention. And when we do, it’s the symbolism of the connections that resonate with us and fill us with spirit and love and understanding. And these synchronous events fill us with hope and motivation, and the strength to persist.
Next weekend when I visit Emma, I’ll be physically connecting with some of my Metal brothers for the first time. Kindred spirits all, who share my interests and passions. For that and the visit with Emma, I am in a state of excited anticipation. I expect there are other bits to this slice of synchronicity I’ve shared with you. My ears are pricked to hear for them.
Be well, dear reader.
