Helping Your Kids Become Champions in Life
by Jim Burns Ph.D.
Pat Williams
July 22, 2009
What does it take to become a champion in life? Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Pat Williams, who has worked in the sports world for four decades. Currently, Pat is the Senior Executive Vice President for the Orlando Magic, one of the teams in the National Basketball League. Both in his professional life and at home, Pat has proven over the years that he knows what it takes to build a champion.
Together, we were able to discuss his new book, Who Wants to be a Champion?, in which Pat shares his knowledge on what it takes to become a champion in life. As parents, we can help our kids become champions as we commit to laying a solid emotional and spiritual foundation for them, and as we make the effort to believe in their potential to become all who God has designed them to become. Here are Pat’s “10 Building Blocks for Helping Your Kids Become Champions in Life.”
1. Encourage them to think the right kinds of thoughts. Every action – whether good or bad – begins as a simple thought. Therefore, it’s vitally important that we teach our kids to exercise control over their thought life. Kids who become champions learn to think positive thoughts, correct thoughts, big thoughts, pure thoughts and unique thoughts. Train your kids to think on only things that are good and beneficial. See Philippians 4:8.
2. Encourage them to set goals. We need to help our kids set realistic, specific and attainable short-term and long-term goals. In order to be a champion in any area of life, kids must be taught that goal-setting is the way to turn their dreams into reality.
3. Encourage them to choose the right kinds of friends. To a great degree, the kinds of friends your kids choose will determine how they think, speak and act. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that “bad company corrupts good character,” and it’s our job as parents to help steer our kids in the right direction when it comes to the friends they choose to associate with. “Coach” your kids by offering occasional words of advice, words of wisdom and words of encouragement, and you’ll help them choose the right kinds of friends.
4. Encourage them to never give up. Some of the most successful businessmen and women, athletes, and leaders today are not necessarily the most talented or most gifted. Take David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals for example. David is 5’7’’ and weighs 165 lbs., which is considered too small by today’s standards in any professional sport. All his life, David was told he would never make it in baseball, but he never gave up. His persistence in the face of overwhelming odds paid off, and today he is seen as one of the premiere shortstops in the major leagues; he was an integral part of the 2002 Anaheim Angels World Series championship team. When we help our kids become the kind of people who never give up, not only will they be amazed at what they can accomplish, they will become a conduit through which God can work in mighty ways!
5. Encourage them to live by faith. In John 10:10, it’s recorded that Jesus said that He came that we “may have life, and have it to the full.” Without Him, it’s impossible to be a true champion in life, and this message must be communicated to our kids. They need to know – and see by our example – that living by faith is an exciting adventure, and that by giving their lives to Christ, then, and only then, will they be able to live life to the fullest.
6. Encourage them to say the right kinds of words. More than any other way, people judge us by the words we speak. Kids need to understand that, whether they like it or not, the person who speaks clearly, articulately and confidently is much more likely to become a champion in life. As parents, we can help them speak this way by encouraging them to speak words that are positive, speak the truth in love, listen before they speak and steer clear of using profanity.
7. Encourage them to take responsibility for their actions. True champions understand that they are responsible for their actions. Instead of whining and complaining about their difficulties, they strive to do their best with the hands they’ve been dealt. We need to help our kids take responsibility for their actions and decisions, which means we will need to let them experience and learn from failure.
8. Encourage them to turn their failures into strengths. When troubles come, we need to help our kids learn to make the most of them. We need to teach our kids how to give their failures to God and allow Him to use them for His glory and for their benefit. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:10 that he delighted “in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” When our kids are at their weakest is when God has the chance to be His strongest in their lives.
9. Encourage them to go the extra mile. Kids need to understand that hard work will help them overcome many of life’s obstacles. They can have unbelievable intelligence, great connections, and have opportunities fall out of the sky, but in the end, hard work is the true enduring characteristic of a champion. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:3, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” The glory of God is what motivates true champions to go the extra mile in all areas of their lives.
10. Encourage them to remember that character counts. Kids need to understand that if they want to be champions in life, then they must be people of honesty and integrity. It’s almost impossible to overestimate the importance of character. An absence of character is responsible for much of the trouble the human race has experienced. We must teach our kids that character – what they do when they know they can get away with anything – is vital not only to their success in life, but also to being useful to the Lord.
Editor’s Note: Adapted from Who Wants to Be a Champion? (2005) by Pat Williams, Howard Publishing.
We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Source: Home Word
Hayley Westenra and Connie Talbot
Connie Talbot – What a wonderful world
Connie Talbot and Whitney Houston sings together
Connie Talbot: I have a dream
Connie Talbot: Smile
40th anniversary Moon Walk
By Kem Knapp Sawyer
July 22, 2009
Editor’s Note: Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s bootprint. Aldrin photographed this bootprint on July 20, 1969, as part of investigations into the soil of the moon’s surface. (Photo: NASA)
We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
One million people watched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the ship’s engines fired and flames and smoke filled the sky. At 9:32 a.m., on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 lifted off.
Three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins, were on board the spaceship—and on their way into history. Armstrong and Aldrin would become the first humans to set foot on the moon.
On Their Way
After blastoff, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins settled into the command module, the part of the spacecraft called the Columbia. On July 19, three days after liftoff, the astronauts saw the moon up close for the first time.
Armstrong and Aldrin boarded the Eagle, the lunar module. That part of the spacecraft would separate from the Columbia and take them to the moon. Collins was to remain behind to pilot the Columbia.
When the lunar module undocked from the Columbia, Armstrong radioed to Earth: “The Eagle has wings.”
Moon Trek
Finding a clear spot on which to land took longer than Armstrong and Aldrin had expected. Eagle was running dangerously low on fuel by the time the astronauts found a good site for the touchdown. There were only 30 seconds to spare when the Eagle finally landed.
Armstrong was first to descend the ladder to the lunar surface. As he stepped onto the moon, he said: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” About 600 million people worldwide watched on television as he took that step.
Aldrin soon joined Armstrong. The astronauts spent 2 hours and 14 minutes on the moon. During that time, the astronauts took photographs of the moon’s surface. They also set up scientific experiments, including one to test for moonquakes.
Before heading back to the Columbia, Aldrin and Armstrong placed a U.S. flag in the ground. With it they left a plaque that read, “We came in peace for all mankind.”
After reconnecting with Collins at Columbia, the three astronauts headed back to Earth. On July 24, Columbia splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, returning everyone safely.
Everyone’s Success
Putting men on the moon was a huge accomplishment for America. The success of Apollo 11 increased our knowledge of the moon, sun, and Earth, and helped pave the way for future space exploration for all humanity. Aldrin believes that’s the point. “The ultimate goal of human and robotic activity in space is to benefit mankind,” he told Scholastic News.
The mission’s success was a result of teamwork. More than 400,000 people—from flight directors and teachers to space-suit designers—played a role in it.
Chris Kraft was the director of Mission Control at the time. Gene Kranz was the flight director in charge of Apollo 11. Both men take tremendous pride in the mission—and speak with great anticipation of the possibilities that lie ahead.
Kraft foresees a time when nations will band together to build a permanent station on the moon. America’s space agency, NASA, has a similar vision. It has plans for a moon base and even human missions to Mars.
Kranz wants young people to become aware of the many opportunities in the space program. To those who show an interest, he offers five words of advice: “Dream. Aim high. Never surrender.”
Source: Scholastic News Online
Our Children Are in Danger – Cutting
by: D’Arcy Lyness, PhD
July 20, 2009
Emma’s mom first noticed the cuts when Emma was doing the dishes one night. Emma told her mom that their cat had scratched her. Her mom seemed surprised that the cat had been so rough, but she didn’t think much more about it.
Emma’s friends had noticed something strange as well. Even when the weather was hot, Emma wore long-sleeved shirts. She had become secretive, too, like something was bothering her. But Emma couldn’t seem to find the words to tell her mom or her friends that the marks on her arms were from something that she had done. She was cutting herself with a razor when she felt sad or upset.
Injuring yourself on purpose by making scratches or cuts on your body with a sharp object — enough to break the skin and make it bleed — is called cutting. Cutting is a type of self-injury, or SI. Most people who cut are girls, but guys self-injure, too. People who cut usually start cutting in their young teens. Some continue to cut into adulthood.
People may cut themselves on their wrists, arms, legs, or bellies. Some people self-injure by burning their skin with the end of a cigarette or lighted match.
When cuts or burns heal, they often leave scars or marks. People who injure themselves usually hide the cuts and marks and sometimes no one else knows
Why Do People Cut Themselves?
It can be hard to understand why people cut themselves on purpose. Cutting is a way some people try to cope with the pain of strong emotions, intense pressure, or upsetting relationship problems. They may be dealing with feelings that seem too difficult to bear, or bad situations they think can’t change.
Some people cut because they feel desperate for relief from bad feelings. People who cut may not know better ways to get relief from emotional pain or pressure. Some people cut to express strong feelings of rage, sorrow, rejection, desperation, longing, or emptiness.
There are other ways to cope with difficulties, even big problems and terrible emotional pain. The help of a mental health professional might be needed for major life troubles or overwhelming emotions. For other tough situations or strong emotions, it can help put things in perspective to talk problems over with parents, other adults, or friends. Getting plenty of exercise can also help put problems in perspective and help balance emotions.
But people who cut may not have developed ways to cope. Or their coping skills may be overpowered by emotions that are too intense. When emotions don’t get expressed in a healthy way, tension can build up — sometimes to a point where it seems almost unbearable. Cutting may be an attempt to relieve that extreme tension. For some, it seems like a way of feeling in control.
The urge to cut might be triggered by strong feelings the person can’t express — such as anger, hurt, shame, frustration, or alienation. People who cut sometimes say they feel they don’t fit in or that no one understands them. A person might cut because of losing someone close or to escape a sense of emptiness. Cutting might seem like the only way to find relief or express personal pain over relationships or rejection.
People who cut or self-injure sometimes have other mental health problems that contribute to their emotional tension. Cutting is sometimes (but not always) associated with depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, obsessive thinking, or compulsive behaviors. It can also be a sign of mental health problems that cause people to have trouble controlling their impulses or to take unnecessary risks. Some people who cut themselves have problems with drug or alcohol abuse.
Some people who cut have had a traumatic experience, such as living through abuse, violence, or a disaster. Self-injury may feel like a way of “waking up” from a sense of numbness after a traumatic experience. Or it may be a way of reinflicting the pain they went through, expressing anger over it, or trying to get control of it.
What Can Happen to People Who Cut?
Although cutting may provide some temporary relief from a terrible feeling, even people who cut agree that it isn’t a good way to get that relief. For one thing, the relief doesn’t last. The troubles that triggered the cutting remain — they’re just masked over.
People don’t usually intend to hurt themselves permanently when they cut. And they don’t usually mean to keep cutting once they start. But both can happen. It’s possible to misjudge the depth of a cut, making it so deep that it requires stitches (or, in extreme cases, hospitalization). Cuts can become infected if a person uses nonsterile or dirty cutting instruments — razors, scissors, pins, or even the sharp edge of the tab on a can of soda.
Most people who cut aren’t attempting suicide. Cutting is usually a person’s attempt at feeling better, not ending it all. Although some people who cut do attempt suicide, it’s usually because of the emotional problems and pain that lie behind their desire to self-harm, not the cutting itself.
Cutting can be habit forming. It can become a compulsive behavior — meaning that the more a person does it, the more he or she feels the need to do it. The brain starts to connect the false sense of relief from bad feelings to the act of cutting, and it craves this relief the next time tension builds. When cutting becomes a compulsive behavior, it can seem impossible to stop. So cutting can seem almost like an addiction, where the urge to cut can seem too hard to resist. A behavior that starts as an attempt to feel more in control can end up controlling you
How Does Cutting Start?
Cutting often begins on an impulse. It’s not something the person thinks about ahead of time. Shauna says, “It starts when something’s really upsetting and you don’t know how to talk about it or what to do. But you can’t get your mind off feeling upset, and your body has this knot of emotional pain. Before you know it, you’re cutting yourself. And then somehow, you’re in another place. Then, the next time you feel awful about something, you try it again — and slowly it becomes a habit.”
Natalie, a high-school junior who started cutting in middle school, explains that it was a way to distract herself from feelings of rejection and helplessness she felt she couldn’t bear. “I never looked at it as anything that bad at first — just my way of getting my mind off something I felt really awful about. I guess part of me must have known it was a bad thing to do, though, because I always hid it. Once a friend asked me if I was cutting myself and I even lied and said ‘no.’ I was embarrassed.”
Sometimes self-injury affects a person’s body image. Jen says, “I actually liked how the cuts looked. I felt kind of bad when they started to heal — and so I would ‘freshen them up’ by cutting again. Now I can see how crazy that sounds, but at the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable to me. I was all about those cuts — like they were something about me that only I knew. They were like my own way of controlling things. I don’t cut myself anymore, but now I have to deal with the scars.”
You can’t force someone who self-injures to stop. It doesn’t help to get mad at a friend who cuts, reject that person, lecture her, or beg him to stop. Instead, let your friend know that you care, that he or she deserves to be healthy and happy, and that no one needs to bear their troubles alone.
Pressured to Cut?
Girls and guys who self-injure are often dealing with some heavy troubles. Many work hard to overcome difficult problems. So they find it hard to believe that some kids cut just because they think it’s a way to seem tough and rebellious.
Tia tried cutting because a couple of the girls at her school were doing it. “It seemed like if I didn’t do it, they would think I was afraid or something. So I did it once. But then I thought about how lame it was to do something like that to myself for no good reason. Next time they asked I just said, ‘no, thanks — it’s not for me.’ ”
If you have a friend who suggests you try cutting, say what you think. Why get pulled into something you know isn’t good for you? There are plenty of other ways to express who you are.
Lindsay had been cutting herself for 3 years because of abuse she suffered as a child. She’s 16 now and hasn’t cut herself in more than a year. “I feel proud of that,” Lindsay says. “So when I hear girls talk about it like it’s the thing to do, it really gets to me.”
Getting Help
There are better ways to deal with troubles than cutting — healthier, long-lasting ways that don’t leave a person with emotional and physical scars. The first step is to get help with the troubles that led to the cutting in the first place. Here are some ideas for doing that:
- Tell someone. People who have stopped cutting often say the first step is the hardest — admitting to or talking about cutting. But they also say that after they open up about it, they often feel a great sense of relief. Choose someone you trust to talk to at first (a parent, school counselor, teacher, coach, doctor, or nurse). If it’s too difficult to bring up the topic in person, write a note.
- Identify the trouble that’s triggering the cutting. Cutting is a way of reacting to emotional tension or pain. Try to figure out what feelings or situations are causing you to cut. Is it anger? Pressure to be perfect? Relationship trouble? A painful loss or trauma? Mean criticism or mistreatment? Identify the trouble you’re having, then tell someone about it. Many people have trouble figuring this part out on their own. This is where a mental health professional can be helpful.
- Ask for help. Tell someone that you want help dealing with your troubles and the cutting. If the person you ask doesn’t help you get the assistance you need, ask someone else. Sometimes adults try to downplay the problems teens have or think they’re just a phase. If you get the feeling this is happening to you, find another adult (such as a school counselor or nurse) who can make your case for you.
- Work on it. Most people with deep emotional pain or distress need to work with a counselor or mental health professional to sort through strong feelings, heal past hurts, and to learn better ways to cope with life’s stresses. One way to find a therapist or counselor is to ask at your doctor’s office, at school, or at a mental health clinic in your community.
Although cutting can be a difficult pattern to break, it is possible. Getting professional help to overcome the problem doesn’t mean that a person is weak or crazy. Therapists and counselors are trained to help people discover inner strengths that help them heal. These inner strengths can then be used to cope with life’s other problems in a healthy way
Source: Kids Health
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Who Owns the Moon?
by Victoria Jaggard
National Geographic News
July 20, 2009
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts stepped onto the moon and planted an American flag—not to claim the moon but simply to commemorate the U.S. role in the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Forty years after Apollo 11, a Nevada entrepreneur says he owns the moon and that he’s interim president of the first known galactic government.
Dennis Hope, head of the Lunar Embassy Corporation, has sold real estate on the moon and other planets to about 3.7 million people so far.
(Also see “NASA Aims to Open Moon for Business.”)
As his customer base grew, he said, buyers wanted assurances that their property rights would be protected.
So Hope started his own government in 2004, which has a ratified constitution, a congress, a unit of currency—even a patent office.
“We’re now a fully realized sovereign nation,” Hope said.
The trouble is that, legally, nobody can own the moon or anything else in space, for that matter, said Tanja Masson-Zwaan, president of the International Institute of Space Law, based in the Netherlands.
“What Lunar Embassy is doing does not give people buying pieces of paper the right to ownership of the moon,” she said.
(Related Apollo 11 photo gallery: “Eight Moon-Landing Hoax Myths—Busted”.)
Lunar Loophole?
The controversy began in 1980, when Hope registered his claim to the moon with the United Nations. The claim went unanswered, so he figured his rights were secured.
To date his company has sold more than 2,500,000 1-acre (0.4-hectare) plots of lunar land, which Hope says are rich in an isotope of helium that has an earthly price tag of about U.S. $125,000 an ounce.
Today a deed for a plot, printed with the buyer’s name, is selling online for $22.49, plus tax.
Legal experts counter that the UN didn’t answer because it didn’t have to: The moon is unclaimable under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which has so far been ratified by 100 UN member countries, including the United States.
Hope, however, said there’s a loophole.
The treaty prohibits countries from claiming property in space, but “I filed my claim of ownership as an individual.”
The fact that he’s now claiming his Galactic Government has legal authority over the moon might seem problematic. But Hope said that the fledgling regime isn’t a member of the UN and so doesn’t have to abide by its laws.
Regardless of his current stance, Hope’s original claim to the moon is simply not legal, the space-law institute’s Masson-Zwaan asserts.
The UN treaty does apply to governments and their private citizens, which invalidates Hope’s claim to the moon and other celestial bodies, she said.
But that shouldn’t disappoint any prospective moon millionaires.
You don’t need to own a place to make money on it, Masson-Zwaan said. But you do need a clear legal framework for doing business on the property—something the moon currently lacks.
A separate 1984 treaty known as the Moon Agreement sets up a framework for establishing clearer rules for managing the moon’s natural resources, once the use of those resources becomes feasible. Such rules would apply to businesses looking to establish hotels, mining operations, and other commercial endeavors on the moon.
That agreement, however, has been ratified by just 13 countries, none of which are major spacefaring states.
Moon “Just Another Continent”
One of the main hang-ups with the 1984 treaty is how countries would share the wealth.
Some scientists think stores of helium-3, for example, could make the moon the next Persian Gulf. The gas, which is rare on Earth, has been tagged as a clean, renewable energy source of the future.
For billions of years the moon, unprotected by an atmosphere, has been showered with particles from the sun. This includes an as-yet undetermined amount of helium-3, which is now trapped in the moon’s soil.
Its use as a fuel, though, hinges on developing a reliable process for fusion, a form of power generation that’s “like a controlled hydrogen bomb explosion,” said Peter Kokh, president of the nonprofit Moon Society.
Other more immediate uses for the moon include mining moondust for lunar construction, launching satellites, and setting up solar-power collectors, Kokh said—projects for the first wave of moon settlers.
(See “Moon Settlers May Be ‘Ski’ Racers, Helium Miners, TV Stars?”)
The moon “is just another continent across a different kind of sea,” he said.
“We foresee a future in which people will be living on the moon and producing materials for solving Earth’s problems.”
United States of the Moon?
Kokh personally thinks that the best possible future is one in which the people of the moon rule themselves.
The process of colonizing the moon’s challenging landscape will change the needs and wants of the society that settles there—just as the desires of English colonists changed when they got to the New World.
“Lunar settlers may want to bring the American way of life to the moon, but they will leave Washington, D.C., at home,” he said.
“In the meantime it’d be better to have UN stewardship,” Kokh said. “Right now [the world has] a working international relationship in the International Space Station … and that’s a good precedent.”
Space-law expert Masson-Zwaan agrees, saying that the first bases built on the moon should be cooperative projects.
“I don’t think we’ll have people putting in their flags and saying, This is my little square, and I’m going to build a base here,” she said.
Lunar Embassy’s Hope, meanwhile, already seems to be charging toward establishing an autonomous moon government.
Recently, Hope said, he’s been sending letters on behalf of his government asking other countries not to trespass on the moon without a license.
He’s also battling the International Monetary Fund for official recognition of his government’s currency, called the delta.
“The position of the Galactic Government is that we’re not trying to distance ourselves from other governments. We just want recognition so we can work together,” Hope said.
“We’re not hostile, not angry—we just want to be accepted.”
Source: National Geographic
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com