by Art Berg, CSP
In 1989, I purchased my first mini van. It was a Plymouth Voyager with a V6, 3 liter, fuel injected engine. It was also equipped with an automatic sliding door, a ramp and hand controls to operate the gas and brake. After wheeling myself into the vehicle, I would position myself behind the steering wheel and my wheelchair would lock into place from a bracket attached to the floor. This new mini van gave me a new sense of freedom and independence I had not known before.
While driving along the streets of Salt Lake City, I came to a stop at a traffic light. A moment later, another Plymouth Voyager pulled along side of me. I immediately noticed that he didn’t have the newer V6, 3 liter, fuel injected model as I did. Suddenly, all of those teenage urges began to surge through my body. I started to rev my motor.
The other driving, in an attempt to humor me, began to rev his motor too. I revved mine louder. He revved his some more. Finally, the light turned green. We both took off. Now, keep in mind, he didn’t have the V6, 3 liter, fuel injected model (I think I’ve said that before) as I did. Before even getting completely though the intersection, I was clearly a full car length ahead of him. As my vehicle was surging into the next gear, my wheelchair suddenly broke free from the locks below. I rolled straight to the back of the van!
About this the time, the other driver was beginning to overtake me. In his desire to gloat, he looked over at me—but, I wasn’t there! I was quickly pushing myself back to the front of the vehicle.
We live in a world of unprecedented change. Things are changing technologically, professionally and personally. Many are changing skills, careers and even families. The media is changing. Politics are changing. The stock market is changing. The legal system is changing. The challenges confronting our teenagers are changing.
In this climate of change, we are often being asked to change ourselves. We are being asked to change our careers, skills, behavior and expectations. While a lot of the change we experience is in our best interest, I still think that there are some things that should never change.
Faith, Principles and Values
When the winds of change blow, there are some things which helps us to remain grounded spiritually and emotionally. They include a consistent, constant adherence to our own faith, principles and values.
Faith includes a belief in a loving, nurturing God. It is a trust that there are higher laws at work than we always have the capacity to understand. It is a simple faith in the goodness of people as a whole. It is a child-like belief in final justice—when that which is wrong will eventually be made right. It is faith in ourselves. The confidence to do what is right even though it may not always be expedient or easy.
These are the rules we govern much of our behavior and human interaction with. It included principles such as “doing unto others as you they would have done unto them.” (The Platinum Rule, Tony Alessandra) It is following principles of wise finance, effective communication, servant-leadership, providential living, and tough love parenting. Principles to hold on to are laws of living which provide the best opportunity for happiness, security, love and contribution. These should be laws which never change. They should be principles which have been proven by centuries of practice and observation.
What are your values? What were you taught as a child? What values, if commonly shared, would give us all the best opportunity for a better world? Values of honesty, sacrifice, patriotism, family, life, fiscal stewardship, service, selflessness, kindness, chivalry, civic duty, reverence, thrifty, courage, and conviction.
Our faith, principles and values are the anchor of our souls. They keep us on a steady course despite the high winds and tempestuous waves change creates for us, personally and professionally. It is important that each us take time regularly to reflect on these anchors in our life. A reflection should include an evaluation whether our behavior is congruent with our heart-felt faith, principles and values. In the end it should stir a deeper resolve to hold to our child-like faith, follow the principles of providential living and return to the values we learned in kindergarten. Some things should never change.
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Art leads his Utah Extreme rugby team against the Canadian team in Phoenix, AZ.
McKenzie (7), Art, Dalton (4) and Dallas at home in Highland, UT.
Art speaks for the third time at Advocare's Success school in Fort Worth, Texas. This is their "Year of Destiny."
QUESTION: How do you play rugby in a wheelchair?
ANSWER: Wheelchair rugby (also called quad rugby) is currently the fastest-growing wheelchair sport in the world. It is now an Olympic sport and was played for the first time at the paralympics in Atlanta in 1996. The USA won the gold medal.
There are more than 70 teams in the US and another 40 abroad. We play it on a basketball court. It is played with four players on each side at a time (a team can have as many as 15 players on their roster). It is played with a volleyball.
A goal is scored when you cross the goal line at your end of the court. One goal equals one point. The game is full contact. However, while you can make as much contact between the chairs as you can create, it is illegal to touch another players body with your hands or body.
We have a motto in rugby: The hit isn’t real unless you bend steel. I have been playing since 1985. If you want more information about wheelchair rugby, go to http://www.quadrugby.com. Art |
