Art Fettig’s Monday Morning Memo
Originally published on March 9, 2009
In This Issue
o Climbing An Icy Hill
o Say Something Good
o Points To Ponder
o A Little Humor
o Quote of the Week
Climbing an Icy Hill
Sunday we drove over to a beautiful little mountain village named Cashiers, in the Blue Ridge Mountains discovered the Laurelwood Mountain Inn. Heavy snow was predicted and so we parked down the big hill adjacent to the highway. After breakfast, I tried driving up that hill three times without success and so I pulled back down and reparked near the street. Jean walked on up ahead of me and as I walked uphill I noticed that the blacktop was nice and rough and gave good footing and when I was about 2/3’s of the way up the road became smooth and as I took another step uphill suddenly I lost it and both of my feet began to slide. I managed to turn back down hill and I started running on the ice faster and faster and I finally stayed on my feet and made it over to the side of the drive onto the snow and came to a stop near the bottom of the hill. I haven’t run since I had both knees replaced. I don’t even jog but at that challenging instant as I came downhill all of a sudden I ran full speed. Carefully I went back up that hill and things were fine until I again hit that same spot and it was as if nature, gravity, the laws of weights and measurements and stupidity all came together and again I went into that same slide, swung around and made that same four minute mile run down hill finishing up on my feet on the side near the bottom of the hill standing in the snow. Now I’m not going to tell you that I did the very same thing the third time. I won’t tell you that because I know that Einstein said that anyone who does the same thing, the same way, again and again expecting a different result is a fool. So, after my three times downhill near death experiences I went over to the far side of the drive and walked uphill in the snow there and with great care I made it all the way. When I tell that story to relatives on the phone they stop me on the second trip up the hill and say, “You fell and broke your hip,” or maybe, “What hospital are you in?”
These are challenging times now in America. We have witnessed a number of downhill slides, in our investments, in employment, in almost every way you measure our progress in America but please, do not sell America short and don’t sell yourself short in the process. We might witness more slips and more slides but we have always been a nation that survives great challenges and comes out a winner. So look for the snow on the side of the road and go up gently but keep on going up and watch your character grow.
Say Something Good
Paul Harvey Someone who has held the American people in the hallow of his hand since 1933 on radio is a gentleman named Paul Harvey who just recently passed away. Several decades ago I was driving to a Lion’s Club meeting where I was to speak and I turned on the radio and I heard Paul Harvey mention my name and then go on and read my Growth verse. I was stunned. My coworker had sent it to him and I had forgotten about it. Imagine, Paul Harvey reading my verse to some twelve million people. After the meeting I rushed to the radio station and met a wonderful young lady broadcaster named Roberta Jasena who was able to make me a tape of that broadcast. I still treasure it. You can hear it at our website www.artfettig.com May God bless this America that Paul Harvey loved so and keep our troops from harm.
Here is that verse titled…
Growth
© Art Fettig
I don’t ever want to be what I want to be
There is always something out there yet for me
I get a kick from living in the here and now
Yet, I never want to feel I’ve learned the best way how
There is always one hill higher with a better view
Something waiting to be learned that I never knew
’til my life is over never fully fill my cup
Let me keep on growing Up! Up! Up!
Points To Ponder
There is no greater disease than the loss of hope. Rabbi Yisroel Salanter
A Little Humor
Bumper Sticker “If you don’t like my driving stay off the sidewalk.”
Quote of the Week
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Leo F. Buscaglia
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