2-7-25

Navy Seals have a saying that “the only easy day was yesterday”……meaning that

one’s behind you, but today…..today is going to be hard - you got through that

one, quit whining, face today……Army Rangers are taught to memorize and live

the Ranger Creed which says “Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully

knowing the hazards of my chosen profession….” Meaning that every Ranger

knows that they are in something that comes with hazards, comes with difficulty,

but they volunteered anyway…..I heard once that golf legend Tiger Woods was on

the driving range and someone commented that they wish they could hit a drive off

the tee like that and that he responded, “no you don’t. Because if you did then you

would be out at 5am every morning hitting 3 buckets of balls before breakfast like

I have for years.”…..point taken…..the bottom line is that if it was easy everybody

would do it……

I saw an interesting interview with Hall of Fame Quarterback Tom Brady a while

back…..not what I expected from a sports interview to be honest…..Brady has

some advice on how to be successful: he said, Stop blaming everyone else…..The

seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback spoke to NFL writer Peter King for

an edition of "Football Morning in America"  and took issue with those throwing

up their hands and blaming everyone and everything when things don’t go their

way…..at one point Brady said this, “"Life is about always changing and adapting

to different things. Today, the world wants to blame, and shame, and guilt, and

fear everything all the time," he told King. "We would never teach our kids that,

you know? We would never say, ‘This is how you’re gonna get through life the best

— you’re gonna blame everyone when things don’t go right.’ Or, ‘I always get it

my way but you should never get it your way.’ It’s not how to live a joyful life.”

And he’s right…..joy is not all about work…..our salvation is not based in

work….but I can also tell you that joy never came from complaining….and you

will never be saved by laziness….so today, I’m talking about doing the hard

stuff….even when its hard…..It’s about hard work. The best stuff…..the most

rewarding ……the things that stay with you….the things that give you what you

need to make it through the hard times…..the things that build your

character……the things that establish your bona fides …….they don’t come easy.

Hard work….. If it was easy….everyone would do it.

One of my personal heroes is Truett Cathy…..founder of Chick-Fil-A…..my first

real job was clocking in and slinging chicken at the Chick-Fil-A in Parkway City

Mall in Huntsville back in the 80’s…..Truett Cathy…. Wow, you talk about

defying the odds…..he had an idea for a restaurant that would sell chicken

sandwiches but that would not be open on Sunday’s…..he was told no one would

come to a restaurant that only sold chicken sandwiches…..especially not in a

mall…..especially not closed on Sunday…..won’t work to always say the customer

is valued over profits……today Chick-Fil-A is the premier of fast food and a

multi-billion dollar business…..those beautiful chicken sandwiches are

everywhere…..customer loyalty like no other…..Truett Cathy said in his book,

“How did you do it Truett” that “Chick-fil-A is what it is today because of its

people, purpose and product.”…..it wasn’t easy…..shoot, if it was easy everbody

would’ve done it…..

I remember a great story about Charlene’s grandfather…..his name was Charles

Stoker…..in Louisville KY…..and I love this story…..it has inspired me many

times…..way back in the middle of the last century he took all of his savings to

start a poultry supply company…he spent all he had on an old delivery wagon and

bought a load of chicken to deliver to restaurants…but during his first delivery the

car broke down in the heat of the day and all of the chicken went bad…..everything

was gone…..he had no idea what to do next…..so the story goes that he called his

sweet wife, Charlene’s grandmother that everybody in the family called

“Muz”…..Muz had been working as telephone operator and she told him that she

had some money saved up in a coffee can at the house and he was not done and he

would take that money and start over…..it wasn’t easy….but he put yesterday

behind him, took the money out Muzzies coffee can and built a multi-million

dollar business called “Stoker’s” that still exists today…..I’m telling you if it was

easy….everyone would do it.

I’ve had my own “Muz experience”…..it must be in the family genes…..I like to

say that I’m an Army Ranger because of the lovely Charlene…..As a young Army

Officer I had the honor of attending the US Army Ranger School – for several

months I waded through swamps, climbed mountains, went without sleep, rarely

ate…..I lost 30 pounds, had trench foot, frost bite, was hospitalized at one

point……450 tried to get in my Ranger class…..250 made it past the first few

days….roughly 98 graduated….but there came a moment when I didn’t want to

keep going….I was told that I would have to repeat the swamp phase….a do over

that meant an agonizing second month in chest deep cold water and misery…..right

before the decision of whether to accept the chance to keep going I had a rare

opportunity to call home….Charlene would have loved for me to be home…she

was there at the house by herself with a 2 year old and I told her I didn’t know if I

could do it again…..if she had said quit I would have packed my bags…..but she

didn’t….I’ll never forget her saying “don’t do it”….. “she said, if you quit now

you will always regret it”…..and she was right….it put some steel in my

spine…and I went on, and finished strong, and she pinned on my Ranger tab…...it

was one of the worst best experiences of my life!....98 of us made it through….if it

was easy everybody would do it…..

If it was easy….everyone would do it.

Truthfully, all of these things I’ve just cited…..sports figures, business, military

training, …..I don’t care what you’re background is…..I don’t care if you think

that it looks too hard…..it is hard….accept it….but “too hard”….that’s a state of

mind…..If you don’t like what you’re seeing in the world around you right now

then it is time to exercise those talents and gifts you’ve been given and realize that

the only easy day was yesterday…..and do the hard thing.

And that includes our politics as well….right now we are watching a watershed

moment in politics…..the MAGA movement its called….the restoration of

common sense politics…..the return of values based political discourse and

conservative legislation…..but Lord, if you’ve been watching, or participating,

then you know this did not come easy…..Trump himself has been through more

than any one man should ever have to endure to just be allowed to put his name out

there and run for office…..and he has assembled a team on our behalf, many of

whom could also share their own stories about defying the odds….about

volunteering for their work fully knowing the hazards of their chosen

professions…..and the attacks are going to keep coming….they are…..because the

only easy day was yesterday….and our role is to not let it be taken away…..our

role in this hard work is to champion the good stuff, point out the bad stuff,

demand accountability, and do the work…..and let me tell you, it is not enough to

muster up some keyboard courage and type in a retort on social media. It is not

enough to just yell at the TV news….

Our world needs Rightside Ruffians……we can bring this ship back around…..we

have to…..we can do the hard thing…..and we can’t just say “oh good, Trumps got

it” because it takes an army to fight what the general directs….he may be a key

figure, but we are all key players…..so what I’m saying is the only easy day was

yesterday…..Pick your battlefield…..stake your claim…..make your

stand….choose your cause….get involved….do the hard thing….make yourself

uncomfortable for that which you believe in….fully knowing the hazards of your

chosen profession…..

And in the end…..look back with satisfaction and say “I left it all on the table”….I

did not go quietly into the night….Stories are not told in reverent tones of those

who sat idly by…..history will look back on this time and note the social and

political upheaval and will label the various actors as based on their actions…..or

their inactions…..What will you say to your grandkids…..what will the history

books say about you?

Do the hard thing. If it was easy….everyone would do it.

That’s a wrap for the Rightside Way