When I was four we lived in Nashville. One summer Sunday afternoon my brother, Donny, and I decided to make a go-cart. We began rummaging around our home and in the basement we found some old boards, nails, four wheels from an old wagon, and a rusty saw.
Donny, age seven, took on the responsibility of “boss". He would tell me what to do and I did it to the best of my four-year-old abilities. After we gathered our stuff together for this manufacturing feat we began laying out our go-cart.
One of the boards needed to be sawed to a shorter length so Donny grabbed the old rusty saw and went to work. I watched.
He fought with the saw and the board, but just did not make any progress. That old saw just would not cut that hard old cedar board.
Finally, he assigned me the task of holding the board still while he sawed. Back to work we went, with teamwork as our motto. Donny sawed and I applied as much pressure as my thirty-two pound frame could muster. Unfortunately, that was not enough. The board still danced all over the saw horses.
Donny stopped sawing, looked at me and said in a stern voice, “Put more weight on the board!”
He then resumed sawing.
I was holding onto the board with all my might, and then I had a flash of insight. I reasoned that if I could get a better grip on the board then I could hold it really still.
Just as I rose up to reapply more pressure on the board Donny made a big pull on the saw. The saw came loose from the board. Donny hit himself in the head with his saw hand; and then he got mad. He got mad at me, at the saw, at the board, and at our go-cart project, but he took it out on me.
He grabbed me by the head with his left hand and with the saw in his right hand he laid the saw on the top of my head and gave me two or three swipes with the saw blade. As he sawed my head he muttered, “I told you to hold that board still!”
My head took four or five stitches and this story has given us some great family laughs in retrospect.
I think there are some principles in this story, and here they are.
Gather your Supplies (Gather the Facts)
Before beginning any undertaking gather as many of the supplies or facts as you can before you begin.
Sharpen Your Saw (Read, study on the subject at hand)
Put a sharp edge on your most critical tools. After gathering your stuff, sharpen, clean, organize and prepare them so that you know where they are, and that they are in as good a working order as can be.
Get a Grip
Get a Grip. Understand the basics to the best that you can. Hold on to essential facts and keep a steady hand on your thoughts and the direction in which you are headed. If you need to make an adjustment, let the critical people on your team know.
Hurts Heal
Hurts heal and stitches eventually come out. If you make mistakes it is not the end of the world. Patch up what you can, seek professional help when needed, and apply the appropriate remedy to promote recovery as quickly as possible.
Laugh It Off
If you make a mistake, laugh it off, learn from your mistakes, and move on. Besides, it gives you something to remember in the future.
Now, let’s go make a go-cart!
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