LEADERSHIP

Choosing Your Rut     Choose your rut carefully: you’ll be in it for the next thirty miles. -Sign on Alaskan wilderness road It’s true. I learned in African bush driving that the rut you chose is very difficult to get out of. During the rainy season, dirt roads became paths of deep mud. Whatever rut I chose to follow …

Leaving this World Better . . . “L.T.W.B.T.U.F.I.” Leave this world better than you found it! It’s a good motto to live by. Whatever we touch. Wherever we go, we ought to leave it better. I’ve always loved camping and hiking. Part of the joy is in setting up camp along a bubbling mountainside creek or under the tall pines …

 Honesty Catfish lies a lie will eventually catfish up with you    “No legacy is as rich as honesty.” – Quote beside my maternal grandfather, Sid Plott’s photograph in “The Gusher”, Byrd High (Shreveport) School, Class of 1926 Honesty, like lying, is a habit. Develop the fundamental habit of being a truth-teller in every situation. When is the truth a …

Each day in December, we’re spooning out a helping of Christmas Jelly. Today’s story features two illustrations of  forgiveness.  Christmas is a tough time for those with “issues”: hurts from the past, wounds that haven’t healed, bitterness, and regret. Christmas is also a great time for extending forgiveness. These two stories illustrate the strength and power of  pure forgiveness. On …

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is today. It’s a story worth retelling. His name is  John Stephen Akhwari and he had the dubious honor to finish last in the Marathon at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. John Stephen, a Tanzanian runner, finished more than one hour after the winner had …

A word from Curt November is NaNoWriMo. That’s National Novel Writing Month. I’m leading a group of six writers (I still have room for two more) to write a book (fiction or non-fiction) of 60,000 words. That’s 2000 words per day. The story below, “Sing Out Your Life Song” is from my November project, The Pineywoods Manifesto: Field Notes on …

    Know Those Who Serve. Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you. -Jesus in Luke 6:31 ESV His name was Raymond, and we met when we were both about eighteen. It was unlikely we’d cross paths, much less become friends. Raymond was an urban black man from Pineville, and I was a redneck fresh from the …

A word from Curt We continue with chapters from our upcoming summer book, The Pineywoods Manifesto. It’s written for my grandson about the values and priorities of the unique culture of western Louisiana. Our plan is to release end at summer’s end as an e-book and Audible audiobook. If there is enough interest, we’ll then print it in paperwork. You …

Be Kind.   Kindness: a language the blind can see and the deaf can hear.   Always be kinder than necessary. It’s a trait that both blesses the receiver and the giver. It leaves both with a spring in their step. All of my life, I’ve been the recipient of so much grace and kindness.  The old Dry Creek I …

  You are not defined by what you drive “The most important thing about you is not the things you achieve; it is the person you become.” -Dallas Willard The loaded flatbed truck crosses Hwy 28 as I wait at the light.  It is hauling unusual cargo: three stacks of smashed car bodies. I wish I’d had time to count …

Thoughts on Carrying a Lazy Man’s Load I’m guilty of it. Been guilty of it most of my life. That was proven again today when I was unloading my work truck and tried to bring everything in the house in one load. Just as I got in the kitchen, my iPad slid out from my armload of books, papers, and …

Pa’s Enduring Lesson on Anger They’ve both been gone for nearly half a century. I was seven and ten, respectively when my paternal great-grandparents died. We called them Pa and Doten, and they were center of our family’s solar system. They each left an enduring lesson that still reverberates in my heart. As I pass each of these two brief …

Rule 1: Think first, then shoot.  Rule 2: If in doubt, don’t shoot.   lynx liNGks/ noun a wild cat with yellowish-brown fur (sometimes spotted), a short tail, and tufted ears, found chiefly in the northern latitudes of North America and Eurasia.   There are some things that cannot be taken back. That’s a good reason to choose carefully what you …

“Son, there are two things you should never sell: a dog or a gun. You’ll regret it later.” -Louisiana Rural Wisdom Life is full of decisions, and each decision you make is a trade-off. You’ll gain some things while losing others. Seldom in life is any decision “a complete win.” To move ahead, you must necessarily leave something behind. The …