I once had the reputation of being one of the better ping pong players in my home town. Every summer I would hang out at Little Park on the lower grounds of the county library next to Little Pool and play endless ping pong games. There were only two or three kids and one adult, Coach Shelton, who could usually beat me at my game.
Somewhere along the way I learned how to serve a great dancing curve ball that only the experienced players could handle. At times, I could predict with great accuracy exactly where their return shot would land on the table, if it landed on the table at all. What fun that was.
When one of the better players came along who could handle my serve, I would then change my tactics with short shots, right hand corner, left hand corner, inside spin and anything else I could think of to give me the advantage.
But it always came back down to the serve.
So, how is your serve? How is my serve?
Here’s the application.
The question is not “what can you do for me?” It is “What can I do for you?” I constantly ask myself: “How can I serve others better? What can I possibly write about that will encourage and inspire and offer someone hope today?”
Do I value people? Do I cherish and guard the divine within each person I meet? Do I hold out the possibility for greatness to exist in every individual?
Everyone is great at something. Sometimes we have to dig a little to discover exactly what that greatness looks like.
How is my serve?
Am I serving you in a way that betters your life, encourages you, and lifts your spirits? Do I cause you to see your own uniqueness and the possibilities that are inside of you? Do I act in a way to lift you up and cause you to like yourself, or do I point out your faults, your short comings and your inadequacies?
How is my serve?
Do I communicate clearly with you?
Do I speak to you as an equal or do I use a tone and demeanor that puts you down, causes you to feel less than respected or small and inadequate?
Do I look you in the eye when we talk? Do I allow you an equal share in our conversation, or do I over-talk you?
How is my serve?
Do I respect you enough to show up on time for our set appointments? Do I return your phone calls? Do I send notes of thanks and appreciation just because? Do I honor you by recognizing you as a fellow human being with wants, desires and needs as well? Do I see that you simply want to be recognized and made to feel important?
Do I nurture your nature? Do I esteem you? Do I allow your uniqueness to come out, or do I try to make you conform to my way of thinking, acting and living?
John C. Maxwell offers a quote in The 21 Indispensible Laws of Leadership that I really love.
John’s original quote is: “You’ve got to love your people more than your position.” My revision is “You’ve got to love your people more than yourself and more than your idea of what they should be, do, or become.”
John goes on to say, “The truth is that the best leaders desire to serve others, not themselves.”
There is a Bible verse in Mark 9:35 that states, “he who would be great must be like the least and the servant of all.”
Wow! What a nice serve.
Now, let’s go grab a cup of coffee and mull some of this over?
By the way, I’ll buy.
Somewhere along the way I learned how to serve a great dancing curve ball that only the experienced players could handle. At times, I could predict with great accuracy exactly where their return shot would land on the table, if it landed on the table at all. What fun that was.
When one of the better players came along who could handle my serve, I would then change my tactics with short shots, right hand corner, left hand corner, inside spin and anything else I could think of to give me the advantage.
But it always came back down to the serve.
So, how is your serve? How is my serve?
Here’s the application.
The question is not “what can you do for me?” It is “What can I do for you?” I constantly ask myself: “How can I serve others better? What can I possibly write about that will encourage and inspire and offer someone hope today?”
Do I value people? Do I cherish and guard the divine within each person I meet? Do I hold out the possibility for greatness to exist in every individual?
Everyone is great at something. Sometimes we have to dig a little to discover exactly what that greatness looks like.
How is my serve?
Am I serving you in a way that betters your life, encourages you, and lifts your spirits? Do I cause you to see your own uniqueness and the possibilities that are inside of you? Do I act in a way to lift you up and cause you to like yourself, or do I point out your faults, your short comings and your inadequacies?
How is my serve?
Do I communicate clearly with you?
Do I speak to you as an equal or do I use a tone and demeanor that puts you down, causes you to feel less than respected or small and inadequate?
Do I look you in the eye when we talk? Do I allow you an equal share in our conversation, or do I over-talk you?
How is my serve?
Do I respect you enough to show up on time for our set appointments? Do I return your phone calls? Do I send notes of thanks and appreciation just because? Do I honor you by recognizing you as a fellow human being with wants, desires and needs as well? Do I see that you simply want to be recognized and made to feel important?
Do I nurture your nature? Do I esteem you? Do I allow your uniqueness to come out, or do I try to make you conform to my way of thinking, acting and living?
John C. Maxwell offers a quote in The 21 Indispensible Laws of Leadership that I really love.
John’s original quote is: “You’ve got to love your people more than your position.” My revision is “You’ve got to love your people more than yourself and more than your idea of what they should be, do, or become.”
John goes on to say, “The truth is that the best leaders desire to serve others, not themselves.”
There is a Bible verse in Mark 9:35 that states, “he who would be great must be like the least and the servant of all.”
Wow! What a nice serve.
Now, let’s go grab a cup of coffee and mull some of this over?
By the way, I’ll buy.
I reconnected with a cousin in her 90s, living alone in East Texas approximately 10 years ago. I began calling her once a week. She was so happy to hear from me. It was always a lift to hear her rough contralto voice spring a funny story on me. Today, I had to go through her daughter-in-law to find out where she was, for after trying to get through to her twice in a week, I decided something might be wrong. Sally told me that Dot had to go into the medical center because she had lost so much blood. With cancer, she has kept upbeat for all these years without having to suffer. But when I finally reached her her voice was much softer and weaker. I could tell this conversation was not going to be long. But when I tried to encourage her and lift her spirit, she said she was okay. "All I need is a good looking man to come cheer me up." The old sense of humor that has kept her on top all these years had not left her. I think of the trip I made just to see her a year ago. She was so surprised that I would make the trip, but I am so thankful to have renewed that relationship after so many years of having no contact with her. Serve? She served me time after time the luscious fruit of a faithful life and positive attitude. I never put down the phone after a conversation that I was not lifted and felt better. I called to keep her encouraged, but ended up being more encouraged myself.
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