A great tennis player

When he was 18 years old he played in a tournament in Wheeling, West Virginia the only black member of the team. Some of the other players trashed a cabin and blamed it on him although he had nothing to do with it. 

As much as he denied any involvement the incident made the daily newspapers and he was assumed to be guilty.

On his way home he stopped to call his father who asked him one question: “Did you have anything to do with it?” “No Daddy I did not,” he replied. “Then forget about it,” his father said. The son realized that his father trusted him so the incident was never brought up again.

Later on the young man went on to become a super tennis player winning many world tournaments. Arthur Ashe played the game of tennis with confidence and with a sense of integrity that he always credited to his father.

~ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF INTEGRITY~

The golfing legend Bobby Jones lost the U.S. Open in 1925 by one stroke. He was not the first golfer to lose a major tournament by one stroke but the way in which he lost it is very memorable. He penalized himself one stroke for accidentally moving the ball a fraction of an inch.

No one else saw him do it. He certainly did not have to admit it however he did and by doing so lost one of the world’s most prestigious golf tournaments and a very large amount of cash.

When other players commended him for his integrity Jones replied, “There is only one way to play the game of golf. You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank.”

~ACCOUNTABILITY~

Every choice we make is a building block of our life. Every act, every word, every decision becomes a part of us. The way we see and respond to the world in which we live in is the result of the choices we have made.

In a sense not only do our choices make us who we are but they in effect make our world because the world that we see is the world in which we live in.

~OBJECTIVES~

A piano sits in a room gathering dust. It is full of the music of the masters but in order for such strains to flow from it fingers must strike the keys, trained fingers that represent hours of disciplined dedication.

You do not have to practice because the piano neither requires nor demands it. However if you want to draw music from the piano discipline to practice is required.

~INVITATIONS~

The great playwright George Bernard Shaw sent the following message to Sir Winston Churchill: “Have reserved two tickets for my first night for you. Come and bring a friend if you have one.” G.B. Shaw

Churchill was certainly no less witty. His reply: “Impossible to come the first night, but will come the second night if you have one.” Churchill

~CHARACTER~

•Character is what you do when you think that nobody is watching.

•Character is how you treat people who can do absolutely nothing for you.

•Character is how you behave during the petty aggravations of everyday life.

•Character is how you react when the pressure is on.

•Character is deciding beforehand that you are going to do the right thing.

A final thought for this week. No man for any considerable time can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which one is true.