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The Turtle Pen
Posted by: | CommentsMy father, Zig Ziglar, likes to say he’s had a mechanical by-pass…if a project requires tools he believes himself to be beyond teaching and beyond help. I watched him struggle more than one Christmas eve to put toys together for my little brother Tom, who is almost 10-years my junior. I tend to agree with his assessment.
Everyone who ever watched Dad try to hammer a nail knew that God skipped over giving him the ability to build things and gave him in abundance the ability to build up mankind. Even at the age of six, when I asked Dad if he could build me a pen outdoors to keep box turtles in I knew it was asking a lot, a whole lot, but the hope in my eyes inspired him to give it a try.
I didn’t see the slack in the chicken wire, the different lengths of the stakes he drove into the ground, or the places that any turtle could breech in a moment’s notice. I saw my Daddy doing something just for me! I remember jumping up and down with joy, thanking him when he finished building the pen. Daddy had just made it possible for me to have my first box turtle and I was elated.
I can’t count the number of turtles that escaped from that pen over the years or the number of times Dad tried to repair it, but I remember many of the individuals who occupied that space for a time and how much I enjoyed them while they were there. And I remember the love of a father who did all that he could with all that he had to make his little girl happy.
Like Dad says, it is okay to do something poorly until you can learn to do it well. Too bad he only built one turtle pen.
Skeeter, Scatter and Scooter, the Three Scared Mosquitoes from Schenectady
Posted by: | CommentsMy mother, the woman my father call the Redhead, taught all of her children to call out for their father if they got scared in the middle of the night. She would tuck us into bed and give us a hug and a good-night kiss and then begin her nightly speech, “Now,” she’d say, “If you wake up in the middle of the night and you’re afraid holler for Daddy and he’ll come running.” Mama said he was easier to wake up than she was….we didn’t find out until years later that she just didn’t want to have to get out of bed.
I am so glad Daddy was the one we learned to call for because I doubt seriously if Mama would have made up great stories to calm us down and get us back to sleep like Daddy did. Our favorite story, the one we requested most often, was about three scared mosquitoes from Schenectady, New York. The story always started in the dark of night with the “skeeters”, as Dad called them, in some dire predicament and running scared. In no time they’d be flying around looking for a safe place where only good and happy things happened. They always seemed to find a hole in the screen of an unknown bedroom window and then Dad would announce that they were looking for a nice warm bed to hide in and hoped they could get a bite to eat as well…..then he’d say, “Quiet! Do you hear something?” The tension would mount until finally Dad would announce loudly, “Why, it’s Skeeter, Scatter and Scooter, the three scared mosquitoes from Schenectady and they are here to eat you!” Then he’d grab us up in his arms and make munching noises as he pulled our heads together in a big bear hug. We’d all laugh, our fears long forgotten, and he’d kiss us goodnight.
I like to think that some of Dad’s great story telling talent was honed in the inky black nights that he courageouly battled to bring light and love, peace and an eventual return to sleep, to the children he cherished.
But, just so you don’t think his children could totally schmooze him he’d give us a motivational speech as he walked down the hall to his room “If I hear any giggling I’m going to have to come in that and swat those mosquitoes!”
Precious memories…thank you Daddy!
eWomenNetwork Rocks!
Posted by: | CommentseWomenNetwork Rocks!
I have just spent four incredible days with the largest group of bright, motivated, excited and growing business women that I have ever experienced. Somebody is going to have to pull me down to earth so I can actually get back to work! That is how high I am on my new found mentors and friends. Never have I seen my father’s principle that you can have everything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want put into practice so literally and with so much LOVE.
Over the years I have attended many conventions and I have never felt so immediately “at home” in my life. I attended all of the break-out session that were available and got more usable information than I’ve acquired from innumerable sources in the past five years! The keynote speakers all had real meat for content and were as entertaining as they were informative. My only question is why am I just now finding out about this incredible group of women?
I won’t waste time fretting about what I can’t change because I’m so grateful that I got to join and I’m already registered for the 11th convention next year. I made a lot of new friends that I know I will know for the rest of my life and I’m counting down the days until next year.
If this sounds like a prepaid ad I’m sorry….but I have never been able to keep good news and good people to myself. If you’re a woman in business and you like motivated, positive women who want to grow and succeed you will love eWomenNetwork! There are chapters all over this glorious country of ours so look online and find the closest one to you. I joined the Plano, Texas chapter and am looking forward to my first chapter meeting.
If you are one of the ladies I got to shop with on Nordstrom Night….I won’t tell how much you bought if you won’t tell how much I bought!
What Lies Ahead
Posted by: | CommentsWhat Lies Ahead
Once my father, Zig Ziglar, and I were talking about his short-term memory loss and the fact that it seemed to be getting worse. He said, “You know, it is hard to think that all of this [his speaking career] is coming to an end, but when I consider what lies ahead of me I can’t help but be excited. Jesus said He was going ahead of me to prepare a place so wonderful, so magnificent, that the mind cannot fathom its grandeur. I’m really looking forward to that.”
I believe that is Dad’s secret to being happy and positive — he is ALWAYS looking forward to the next great and wonderful thing. He is aware and certain of what lies ahead of him. Are you aware and certain of what lies ahead of you?
Get The Chipmunk!
Posted by: | CommentsOn Thursday, February 11, 2010, I spoke for the Women’s Council of Realtors in Dallas, Texas. I was stunned that I began listening to my talk as I was giving it. It was vaguely annoying because I needed to be focused on what I was saying…not on what I needed to do– because I suddenly recognized that I had something in front of me to do.
I’ve had a few more days to consider what was going on during that talk and I’m ready to “Get the Chipmunk!” If you attended the meeting, you know that “getting the chipmunk” means that you stay focused on what God has put in front of you to do and you do it now! You don’t get sidetracked, consider your options, or the “what-if’s,” you just “do it now”! The chipmunk story is an analogy that I use to encourage people and it came about because my father, Zig Ziglar, did the impossible when he chased down and captured my pet chipmunk with his bare hands! That story, combined with what my pastor, Gene Smith, taught me, is making it difficult for me to accept the “status-quo.”
My pastor taught me that I don’t have to worry about the particulars of what God’s will for me might be…I only have to be available and willing to be obedient to do what God has put in front of me to do. I’ve been tasked, since my telling of the chipmunk story last Thursday, with losing the excess 35 pounds I’ve gained over the past ten years. Yep, that’s what’s in front of me to do, and I’m going to do it using the same faith, the same determination, the same self-discipline, and the same simple tool I used to quit my three-plus-pack-a-day cigarette smoking habit.
When I quit smoking over 15 years ago I used duct tape to wrap my pack of cigarettes and I wrote “God and I can do this” on the tape. I made myself a promise that if I wanted a cigarette, I had to go through that duct tape and through my belief that God and I could get my smoking habit taken care of. I carried that pack of cigarettes with me for years…you never know when the urge might strike! Now, I’m going to wrap my Snickers bar with duct tape and a note that says “God and I can do this!” and I’m going to commit to having to go through that note – and through God – to get something sweet if I decide that I just have to have something sweet.
You see, I know sweets are the main addiction I have to food, as are simple carbohydrates that convert quickly to sugar in the blood stream. I think those foods change the way I feel and that is the problem. I need to go to God to change the way I feel; not to food. I’ve struggled with this problem since my early teens and have lost and gained hundreds (probably in excess of a thousand) of pounds over the years. Today I’m going to commit to “get my chipmunk.”
I’ll keep you posted on the progress, the trials, and the triumphs.
My weight today is 159, just nine pounds under my all time high.
HELP
Posted by: | CommentsI’m learning that it is wonderful to need help. Years ago, a counselor told me that I was too independent. He said I needed to learn to be interdependent and that until I did, I would be missing out on one of the most wonderful aspects of having relationships.
Over time I got a little better at needing others, but overall I still tend to be an “I can do that myself” kind of person. Asking for help is hard. I have never wanted to be an inconvenience or burden to anyone, and though I hate to admit it, pride has played a part in my attitude toward needing help. After all, Daddy always said I was “the little one who was everywhere doing everything.” I have a reputation to uphold.
Rotator cuff surgery reduced me to a heap of shameless neediness. It also opened the door for me to bask in the priceless care and attention of my daughter Jenni. Oh, how I wish I had heeded my counselor’s words earlier. I have felt so loved and special and treasured — and did I say loved?
Jenni has driven the 50 miles to our home every third day since December 2, 2009. She vacuums, cleans, empties the dishwasher, keeps me company, picks up stuff I need from the store, fixes my Blackberry, sets me up with better Facebook tools, and that is not all. Jenni cleans my horse stalls! And she cleans them even better than I do….and that is saying a lot.
I just want everyone to know that independence really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Getting to reconnect with my daughter after all these years of her being married and raising her own family has been a blessing I hadn’t anticipated. I’m thinking I might get my knee fixed a lot sooner than I originally planned.
A NEW YEAR BEGINS
Posted by: | CommentsI’m flying to Florida with my parents, Jean and Zig Ziglar. Dad has two speaking engagements and these will be his first times to speak in 2010. When Dad fell down the stairs in his home in March of 2007, and sustained a head injury that resulted in profound short-term memory loss, we had no idea how long he would continue to speak.
I believe that the almost three years we’ve been on the road together are all a gift from God. A gift to me and a gift to everyone my dad has impacted with his incredible attitude of perseverance, adaptation, and hopeful expectation that tomorrow really is going to be even better than today. “Why, the possibilities are endless!”
The resonance of his voice rings in my ears as I write the words he loves to say. The joy he has when he listens to someone explain how something he taught them changed their life for the better is visible, almost palpable, and it is evident to all who witness this scenario that he takes none of the credit but celebrates fully the accomplishment of the one thanking him.
With my dad it is never about him. He is much more interested in you than he is in talking about himself. He wants to know how you are doing, what you are doing to improve your life, if you are married, happy, successful, and if you know his Lord, his Savior, Jesus Christ. He’ll gladly help you in any and every area of life that you will allow him to, and he’ll count it as his joy and privilege.
My dad lives his life thinking about others and how he can help them. If all of us make the decision to be just a little more like Zig Ziglar this year, 2010 will be “better than good”!
Out of Pocket, but on the Mend
Posted by: | CommentsDad, Mom and I roared through our busiest months ever speaking for the Get Motivated Seminars last October and November. We were on the road for days at a time, and even spoke at two venues in one day several times this past year. Our last out before the Christmas break took us to Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Texas, over a three-day period and I’m thrilled to report that Texans love to love Zig Ziglar. It was a special trip for all of us.
I arrived home late at night on December 2nd and spent the next day getting ready for surgery on my shoulder on December 4th. I had been told that rotator cuff surgery would keep me from flying for six weeks and that recovery could take from three to twelve months, depending on how complicated the surgery was. I was also told the therapy was extremely painful and I regret to tell you that nobody lied about any of what I was told!
I have developed a new language….it is only suitable for my therapist and it has become somewhat of a chant that goes like this, “Ouch, ouch, ouch! Oh me. Oh dear Gussie me. Doggoneit. I don’t think it bends that way. Are you serious? You want me to do THAT?”
Regardless of what I say, she persists in what she is doing. She’s heard it all and she knows that I have to push through the pain to get to a point of wellness. Friday she said I could pick up stuff with my right hand as long as it isn’t heavier than a fork, but if I pick up a fork and want to eat with it I have to put my elbow on the table so I won’t flex my bicep. I decided it is easier to eat with my left hand than it is to block out my mother’s voice saying “Get that elbow off the table!”
My husband, Jim Bob Willie, upon seeing my dangling right arm named it “The Lonely Arm.” I catch him and our middle daughter Jenni laughing hysterically when they watch me walk with my sad, limp arm hanging from my forward pitched shoulder at an angle that betrays my complete and utter fear of pain at any unexpected movement. And I thought they wanted to help me.
I guess I’m grateful for a family that can find humor in any awful thing – or it is really just having a positive attitude????? If you think I’m exaggerating, go to YouTube and type in The Row Tater Kuff. All I can say is it is a very good thing that I appreciate a man with a big sense of humor.
Life is so Unpredictible
Posted by: | CommentsLife is So Unpredictable
This time two years ago I was just starting to travel and speak with my father, Zig Ziglar. We were working on the third book of a three book contract, and the more I traveled with Dad, the more I realized the book we were writing at the time just wouldn’t have the impact a book about his existing circumstances would.
It didn’t take much for my brother to convince Dad we needed to deal with the topic at hand…how do you respond to life on life’s terms? Dad’s third book on that contract, Creative Imagination, was laid aside so that Embrace the Struggle could be written.
I’ve been hearing from the people he has inspired with his willingness to be just who he is, just where he is. Many, many of those who have seen us on stage together comment that seeing the love and the strength of our relationship spurred them on to call or visit their mother or father. We’ve been told that the relationship we have on stage is the greatest indicator that Dad has truly lived what he has taught. I’m glad it shows.
For me, being on the road with Dad and Mom (she has made all his speaking engagements for almost three years now) has been an answered prayer. When your parents reach their eighties, you start to think about that sand in the hourglass and you just want to be close to them. Dad has always worked so hard that it has been a real effort for me to keep up with him. We’ve written up to three books in one year…or I should say, he’s written three books in a year and I’ve edited them…pretty much every day of the year. Obviously, I didn’t get to see my folks much because of all the work Dad had me doing.
As awful as Dad’s fall was, there really have been some beautiful things that have come about as a result. My sister Cindy and I have gotten to truly know our little brother Tom. Before the accident we were all busy living our lives, and Tom’s life was a lot different from ours…and always had been. He was born almost 10 years after I was born, his family is younger, and his interests are different. But we were all in the same position when it came to helping Mom and Dad deal with the aftermath of the fall. That brought us together like nothing else could have. Tom isn’t just the younger generation now….he’s our grown-up brother.
All three of us children have now gotten to spend more time with our parents than we have in years. One week I traveled with them from Monday through Thursday night, going to our Get Motivated Seminar engagements. Cindy picked them up Friday and drove them to the Ziglar family reunion in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and home again Sunday afternoon; then Tom traveled with them to Hershey, Pennsylvania, on Monday and they got home on Wednesday. That’s what I call spreading out the love…and we’re all glad we get to spend special time with them individually. That’s a gift many adult children never get.
