National IQ Test

Someone once told me that Election Day is the National IQ test day. Well in my opinion the country did not test well on the last Election Day. I am nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof about how these will go on this upcoming Election Day. One thing that has me nervous is the polling data that all the news outlets are touting say the Orange Dipshit and many of his minions are underwater deeper than anyone has ever seen.

For once he is performing up to his ever constant claims of no one has ever seen a performance like this until he came along. While I hope that is indeed true, but I don’t trust any of these polls.

All I can do is my part and vote and see where the chips fall. I hope any of you who are reading this also do the same regardless of how you vote! Be like Nike Just Do It!

I saw a interesting interview this morning with Terry Bradshaw on television. He has written a new book. Of course in my formative years Terry was one of my hero’s as he led the Pittsburgh Steelers as their quarterback. Terry was the hick from Louisana who eventually led the team to four Super Bowl victories. Of course I was pretty young when all of this was occurring so I did not really comprehend how much of a “hick” Terry was at the time.

However, from the interview it sounds like the book deals much more than just football. One of the interesting things it touches on is depression. Terry has battled depression for many years. He has had three marriages, several bouts with cancer, but is still going. He is 78.

I have a funny story about Terry. When we worked in Houston several of our co-workers would eat lunch in one of our break rooms and we would have interesting discussions about various things. One day we were talking about who should be on the list of all time great quarterbacks. This was probably after one of the Patriots Super Bowl wins. Anyway, we are all tossing names out. Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Jim Plunket, Ken Stabler etc. I said well Terry Bradshaw should be on the list with his four Super Bowl wins. One of the younger gals in our group got the strangest look on her face and said Terry Bradshaw actually played football! She only knew he was a broadcaster and did not realize he was actually a former player. I wish I could have a picture of the looks on everyone else’s face (including my own) when she said that. Talk about a make you feel old comment. Anyway we all had a good laugh about that.

Anyway, Terry was very open about his struggles with depression. He said that he and his current wife have named it when he starts having a bout of depression. They have named it Roy. He said his wife will come to him and say Terry is Roy coming for a visit? He says then they start talking about it and he actually may go see one of his therapists and work his way through it. He said that talking and support groups have also been very helpful for him. He said she often sees it before he does.

We all have depression type moments and we probably all know someone who has succumbed to it in some way. I know I have had moments of it at various times/moments in my life. I fortunately have been able to overcome it. Hell these last 3 years I have had many what I would call “dark” moments and I have fought thru them. There are many things that help. Writing this blog, has been a big help and certainly having good family and friends also have helped immensely.

Last night at my Rotary meeting I was responsible for the inspirational moment that we always have at the beginning of our meetings. When I do these, I often lean on AI to help write a message to share. The one it wrote up for last night was what I felt was a good one. It was as follows:

When you toss a small stone into a still pond, it disappears in an instant. The ripples keep going, though. They spread outward and touch shores the stone never reaches.

That’s what “Service Above Self” looks like in practice. It isn’t only about big projects or headlines. It’s the phone call to check on a member, the Saturday morning at a community event, the dollar given when no one is watching. Each time we put someone else’s needs ahead of our own convenience, we send a ripple out into our community.

We may never see where those ripples land. A student we helped may become a teacher. A family we supported may one day support someone else. Service Above Self means we serve anyway, because the people on the far shore matter as much as the ones in front of us.

As we begin today, let’s carry that motto into every decision on our agenda. Let’s go make some ripples.

Well I better get doing something productive and try and make some of my own ripples. I encourage anyone reading this to also go out and make some ripples today!