"THEY" and "THEM"

Certainly you have had people in your lives who have been a major catalyst for encouragement. You can look back and see the positive influence they gave you and how it helped get you to where you needed to be. More about one of my recent catalysts in a moment.

Then there are the THEY who always seem to remind us of what our shortcomings are, THEY always seem to put a crimp in our spirit and find ways to keep us in a negative frame of mind. You can count on THEM for a dire forecast or reminding us of the consequences when we dare to move out of our box and try something new.

For the last 4 years, my business has been a struggle for many reasons, but not for lack of effort. One of my problems, which I look at as an asset, is getting older and trying to fit into a role that many car dealers want much younger folks to tackle. You too may be facing this in your own endeavors. I have heard countless of my counterparts complain about  this and that, which THEY feel will bury us, I have heard some say I should do something different or in a different way, or just ride off into the sunset of retirement.

There are a few problems in my own mind about that. First, I can't afford to (many mayalso identify), next: God hasn't asked me to, and at this time in my life I am actually at the peak of my profession. But, if I listen to THEM, my mind can get pretty screwed up.

This leads me to the person who has been a major encourager in my life in the past 6 months, who has recognized the talent and has opened the door for my present success. His name is Tim McGraw (no, not the one you are thinking of ladies), we call him Casey. Like me, he is in recovery, and he and I have become like brothers.

Casey wakes up positive, I am convinced he jogs out of bed (usually after an early call from me when I forget they are an hour behind us), and he will not let THEM hold him back. He praises my skills to all who will listen, and we have teamed up with a few other team members to turn around several dealerships. This man believes in me and I also believe in him and that regardless of whether THEY think our plan will work, we do!

This past week while traveling to 4 auctions, covering more than a thousand miles, the old guy Casey believed in bought 40 cars, which most 20-50 year old men will never ever dream of doing. And, they were mostly good buys in an aggressively high used car market (that's where the experience really helps). And, there is still sanity, still energy (I may have to do this again next week), and we managed to make some of THEM much happier.

You know how to rid your minds of the opinions of THEY and THEM? Drop the first and last letters of both those words and what are you left with? HE, and to me that HE represents first God, who says "what is impossible for men, is a piece of cake for God".

Don't ever give up the faith that HE believes in you and wants you to succeed, even when THEY think you can't.

 Answer this question in a comment on this blog, "Why wouldn't God want people who THEY have given up on to succeed?"

 

And then try to find another human being to encourage you like Casey who doesn't give a hoot about THEM. (And, if you have someone in your life like him, let us know in a reply.)

From the land of Disney, Glenn