As a former national champion Olympic weightlifter, one of my prized possessions is my gold medal. It is a very special momento to me, which I display in my office. Recently, I was traveling on an airplane, and I met a uniqe gentleman seated next to me. If they ever add an Olympic event called the Marathon Bad Attitude, this gentleman will have a gold medal, too.

Shortly after introducing myself, he told me he didn't like the airline we were flying on, the seats, the aisles, or our flight attendant. He went on to inform me he didn't like the city we were in, the airport we were connecting through, or our final destination. I don't think he liked me either, but we didn't get that far into the conversation.

After we took off, our flight attendant told us that we would have a choice of chicken or beef for our dinner. I told her I would enjoy the chicken dinner, and my "Olympian seat mate" told her he didn't care which one he got. She informed him that he was a first class passenger on this airline and it was her job to make him happy, and they had plenty of both the chicken and the beef, so she would be delighted to bring him whichever one he would prefer. He informed her once again, "It really doesn't matter-just bring me something."

A few moments later she returned with my chicken dinner, and gave him the beef dinner. For the next 41 minutes of this flight (I actually timed it on my Braille watch), he told me everything you can imagine, and some things you could not imagine, that was wrong with his beef dinner, and why he wished he had the chicken dinner. I realized that this is the way most people live their lives. There are a few people who make the right decisions, and there are a few people who make the wrong decisions, but the vast majority of people really never make a decision at all. They simply complain about the results. These are people who spend more time planning their three-day weekend than they do planning the rest of their lives.

This life we are living right now is not a practice game. It is the Superbowl and the World Series and the Olympics all rolled up into one. If you do not feel that way about your life and what you do, you need to do something different or get a new attitude about the things you do now. Your destiny awaits.

Today is the day!

You may contact Jim Stovall at
5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK 74145.