WHAT'S WRONG WITH HAVING A SOB STORY?

In general, nothing!
To me a sob story becomes a bummer if you use it to play with people's emotions!
A tear jerker is the lowest form of emotional blackmail! Especially if you use it to sell your book!
My solution?

Tell your sobbi sob tale as a matter of fact story!- If, 10 years later you still need to tell the same story, doesn't that mean you are still not over it?
You clever sober you: you use the audience to feel sorry for you, the audience becomes your substitute for therapy, your shrink!
And, it sells your book!
Why is that?
Why do we feel compelled to weep with the sobber rather than celebrate with the doer?
Just asking?

THE WAY OF THE LORD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

This post is the 22nd entry of my self - imposed 22 day writers challenge!
For good measure, true devotion and utter enjoyment I will add two more days of daily writing which will bring us to June 1.

A long time ago I wrote my bucket list. On the paper I listed everything I wanted to learn, achieve, see, travel to, accomplish and read during my life party here on earth. One of the books I wanted to read is THE BIBLE.

This book scares me; it is way too thick and way too complicated written to make heads and tails of it. The Bible is THE silent bestseller on the book market. It has been around forever, it will never go out of fashion!
Knowing what the bible teaches is part of my own 'well rounded', personal education. I am born protestant to once- a- year church going parents. Religious education wasn't high on the agenda at school- it is part of our curriculum and not more.


Given the choice, I rather read a Dan Brown novel than the bible. Having said that, The Lord works in mysterious ways: A few months ago I decided to open my doors to two Jehova witnesses (Dec 14, 2013, True Religion), - who brought the bible into our house! To this day, I am still with the ladies! These two wonderful women have become part of my private, weekly enlightenment routine. We are flicking through the bible, we are reading bits and bops, comparing, talking, laughing.
What can I say, "Jehovah made me open the door so I can finally read his word".

What an interesting book this is. After spending all those months with the ladies you can ask me,
Are I converted? No. Are you wiser? Yes! Am I enjoying myself? You bet! Will I join the Jehovah crew? I Don't think so.



Our middle son plays basketball with the team of our local Christian School. After the first practise he was so surprised these boys are so normal, just like him! He told me some boys pray before having dinner, he asked me why we don't go to church!
Why don't we?
Over the years I formed my own belief about who or what GOD is. Dominic and I are free spirits, we are interested in everything others call God, Jehovah, Buddha or Allah.
I told our son, "Just because you go to church doesn't make you a good person. If you want to go, I will take you."
Guess what happened? Our son believes he is a good person - up to this day he has chosen to sleep in instead of getting up and going to church.

WINNERS aren't BORN, they are MADE!

Last year they started out as a loose bunch of High School students - with no ties or connections to each other. The only bond between them was their shared love for the game, to play soccer! They were categorized as the bronze team, the lowest team to play in.

Yesterday, they were crowned undisputed Winners and Champions in their league!



Our Bulldogs team went straight to the top in 23 undefeated (!!!) matches; come rain, come shine or snow! We travelled to the furthest places ( to a German that is, for a Canadian it's just around the corner) or played in our own neighbourhood. We mothers huddled together under big umbrellas, sat on cold benches, wrapped in blankets or sleeping bags, we made the most of every cold morning!

Yesterday, it all came to a crescendo! God, my heart warms and jumps with joy when I see our healthy, strong, dedicated and handsome (!) sons!



It all comes down to a good leader or coach, right? Somebody who can awaken the giant within you? Somebody who will start a burning desire to succeed, somebody who will let you know 'we stand strong as one, together as a team'.

When you read this it sounds quite sophisticated, complicated, technical or challenging, wouldn't you agree? At the end of the day, a coach can make or break the team!

Who needs Antony Robbins when three highly motivated fathers can do the same thing? Three dads who wanted to spend some more time with their lads in the evening! Let me call them Phil, Zack and John.

All they did was put on their coaching suits, were their own quirky, goofy selves and - Voila - magic happened. To this day I don't know if our coaching dads play soccer themselves (they know about the rules though) or if they have any coaching experiences.

I don't believe I just wrote this, silly me! Of course they do. They are fathers, they are raising children and they just created winners! Whatever they did, they sprinkled the right amount of pixy dust onto our sons; to bring the best out in them; to make them run faster, shoot harder; try harder!

How did they do it - apart from sprinkling the dust? Don't ask me, I am only the mother who supplied transportation and watched from the side lines! All I remember is their laughter during practice, high fives, our Christmas party, paintballing on a glorious Sunday morning, ice-creams at Dairy Queen, encouraging words during matches and in emails, shouting, yelling, more laughter and encouraging words to our goalie when the occassional, unstoppable ball slipped through his fingers.

Could it be that simple? The magic formula for success is HAVE FUN & JUST DO IT?

Dear coaches, I bow my head in admiration: You taught our sons to believe!



To believe in themselves and in their team! Thank you!