Category Archives: Life

Cinderella Man

Family, Life

The movie “Cinderella Man” is one of the most meaningful movies of all time. It came out in 2005, and it is about a professional boxer named James Braddock in the early 1930s during the Great Depression. James was a husband and father of three little children; they were in the middle of the depression with no work, no money, and no hope.

The movie is tough to watch because if you have ever been broke and without hope, this movie touches your heart. James Braddock was almost too old to box, but if his family was going to survive, boxing was his only way out.

The main point of the movie was what had driven James Braddock to win. It was because of his wife and children; they were his motivation. Glory, honor and fame were not. He went on to win the heavyweight title when no one believed he could, and he saved his family from financial disaster.

I have discussed the word “motivation” many times with people, and I believe deeply that if you know the “why” you can figure out the “how.” When we were broke and dealing with the restaurants in the early ’90s, it was a tough time in our lives. I have been asked many times what motivated me to sell hotels. The answer is real simple. It was my wife who believed in me and the faces of my little girls when I would come home. No other motivation was needed because those three people were the “why” and selling hotels was the “how.”

In my case, it was clearly and solely the hand of God that brought us through that period of our lives.

Whether you are a man or a women, married or single, watch the movie because it will warm your heart and make you believe again in the simple reasons parents do the things we have to do. KT

Winners and whiners

Career, Life

The difference between how the words winner and whiner are spelled is a couple of letters. The real life difference between people that are winners and people that are whiners is something entirely opposite.

Have you ever seen the person that whines all the time? Nothing is ever ok, and they want everyone to know all the bad events of their day and their life. There are people I know that I refuse to ask how they are doing because they will tell me…everything.

Winners, on the other hand, are different. The word winner has been used to describe people that feel they have to win at all costs, beat their competition, act upbeat and basically be an irritating person to be around. That is not what I mean by the use of the word winner. For me, that word describes a person who is secure in his/her skin and looks at life with expectation and hope rather than failure and doom. A winner to me is a person that is honest, transparent, and real and tries their best to be a good steward of the gifts they have been given.

Small-minded people talk about other people, average-minded people talk about things, and great-minded people talk about ideas. Being a winner does not mean you will never fail, never lose, and never be depressed. It means they choose to pick themselves up and go try to do better next time. Whiners will fail at something and then milk it for years as if that one failure was their only shot at a future.

The difference between how the two words are spelled is very close, but the difference in life is big, broad, and wide. The great news is everyone gets to choose which word describes them. KT

Living in the Past

Life

I want to speak to you spiritually for a moment. Many people cannot forgive themselves for past event(s) or period of time in their life. It keeps them from moving on in life. The spiritual part is that if Satan can keep you living in the past, he doesn’t have to worry about you in the present.

The hardest forgiveness is not when you forgive someone else; it is when you attempt to forgive yourself. If an event or a period of time in your life keeps you from living your life now, you must make a decision.

A pastor I listen to quite often tells the story of a married woman that needed some counseling. They met and she started to tell him all her history about who did what to her, what was said, who hurt her, etc. She then told him all the wrong things that she was consumed with guilt over. When she finished, she thought he would give her a hug, tell her God loves her, tell her he would pray for her, and tell her that everything would be all right. That is what everyone said to her when she told her story before.

The pastor looked at her and asked her to write down a date and time she was going to “decide” to quit letting her past control her. He asked will it be 6 months, two weeks, 5 days or today? He asks her how long do you want to cry over the past. He said until that date and time, you can cry your eyes out and lay on the floor and kick the heels off your shoes. What he said shocked her so badly that it made her mad and she proceeded to tell him how bad a counselor he was and yada, yada, yada. He just sat there and let her vent. Somewhere in her venting she grasped what he was trying to tell her. The answer to her past was HER decision on how long SHE would let it control her. Once what he had said began to penetrate her spirit, she saw the way through all the living in the past.

Sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand and tell Satan this is the line and that you are not going beyond that point. It is a decision that frees you from your past, unlike anything else you could ever do. Forgiving yourself is one of the hardest things to do, but it is a “must-do” action that many people need. KT

Sometimes you just don’t get the job

Career, Life

Yesterday at Hotel AG, we lost a piece of business to a competitor. The competitor is a much larger company than Hotel AG, but it is never fun to lose. These situations are difficult to accept, but you basically have to understand that you will not be hired for every job or every piece of business.

The real issue is how you handle it if it happens to you. The carnal side of you wants to say something or do something, but in my experience, it only hurts you. I believe you have to just be a gentleman and move on. What many people do when these things happen is say something you can never take back; the result is it usually harms the relationship.

Last night when I thought about this, I had to put myself in the client’s shoes. Frankly, knowing all the components that went into that decision led me to believe that hiring the other company was the best thing for that client. Furthermore, I realized that if I had been in their shoes, I would have done the same thing. Ha. This doesn’t help if you are working up a good case of mad because you are basically siding with the client!

So, I had to just understand that God is in control and not me. In the movie “Rudy,” the priest says something that is very profound. He tells Rudy “In all my years as a priest, I have come up with two indisputable truths, one–there is a God and two– I am not him.”

I believe taking an inventory of where you are in life and how you got there is always a wise exercise. It is amazing how humble this can make you. As you look at the string of events that lead to where you are in life, I believe many of us can see the hand of God that has protected you and in many cases, kept you from situations that could have ended badly. I have this spiritual vision of God placing his hand on my back to help lead me through the door and at other times I see his hand on my chest keeping me from going through the door. When you make decisions, you need to know where his hand is.

Years ago, I used to get so mad when a work trip flight was delayed or cancelled. I was traveling with another broker on one such trip when the flight was delayed. He looked at me and told me that maybe it was God protecting us by keeping us from being in a certain area at a certain time. That shut me up pretty quick, and I have always remembered that view point since. I remember one day I was driving home from the office, and I was in a lane on the interstate that I never drive in. Translation: I was in the slow lane. Ha. Anyway, there I was in the slow lane, and I was at peace and happy just hanging out, listening to music, and driving slow. A minute later, there was a tractor trailer truck that blew a wheel off (and I do mean the whole wheel) and that wheel hit exactly in the lane where I would have been.

Sometime you just don’t get the job, but it is important to accept that there is a reason for everything; while we may not know the reason, there is still a reason. You might have to settle down and listen to the music in the slow lane for a while, but it will all be ok in the long run. KT

But by the grace of God, that could be me

Career, Family, Life

Have you ever seen people that are arrogant and puffed up to the point that they mistreat someone who is less fortunate?

I have always had this thing deep in my spirit that tells me to never, never look down or treat someone less fortunate in a way that would be unbecoming. There are people we come in contact with that are in need or have suffered disabilities, struggling financially, or heartbroken, and they simply need someone to look at them with understanding.

I guess I am really talking about elitism and an attitude that makes the person ugly inside.

One of the greatest examples of how to look upon and treat the misfortunate was Franklin Roosevelt, who served three terms as President of the United States during the Great Depression and World War II. He was not a perfect man regarding his marriage and personal life, but he did many things that he will be remembered for. He developed polio at the age of 39 as a father of 4. While they were vacationing at their lake house in Campobello Island, Canada, he went for a swim, like he did regularly, and when he got back to the house, his legs felt a little numb. They thought it would go away, but later found that he would not recover and would be paralyzed for the rest of his life from the waist down.

Ask yourself what you would have done if you became paralyzed at age 39. Hard to imagine isn’t it? Would you just give up?

He went on to become President of the United States during the worst economic cycle the nation had ever experienced; he lead the United States through WWII and held America together. He refused to let polio determine his life and control what he could and could not do.

The main point of this blog is that during the Great Depression, when families were starving and the poor were everywhere, he got together his people and told them something that was life-altering. He told them to go out into the community and meet with many of the poor, unfortunate, and homeless and to bring him back a report on the results. He told them that when they saw these people and the condition their lives are in, to treat them with respect; to realize in their heart, but by the grace of God that it could be their own family. He told them if anyone was caught mistreating these people, they would find themselves out of work, just like them.

If you have a moment, please read the paragraph above again and let that sink into your spirit of what a life-changing direction he gave to those who worked for him.

If we looked at others with this same frame of mind, it would do us well to remember this. In my own life, having no formal education and stuttering when I talk, I can tell you without question and without hesitation, but by the grace of God, that could be me and my family.

Think about where you are, where you live and what you have; my suggestion is to never forget how you got there and never take it for granted because like the people in the story above, but for the grace of God, that could be you. KT