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Plant Yourself For Success

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A friend and mentor of mine once told me of a time when she was preparing to do some planting in her flower garden. She had heard of a place nearby that sold remarkable plants and flowers. Upon arriving one of the workers saw her and asked, “Can I help you ma’am?” The customer responded by telling the worker that she was interested in a particular kind of plant to place in her garden. She had heard from others that this particular location turned out some of the best of that particular type and that she had had trouble growing them before. The worker responded by asking her, “Well, what are you putting in the hole?” Caught off guard, she responded, “The plant.” The worker responded, “You can put a $2 plant in a $100 hole and get a $100 plant, but if you put a $100 plant in a $2 hole, you’ll eventually end up with a $2 plant.” While some of the details of this story may be a little off (since I’m not much of a gardener), the story makes a good point. I can’t count the number of times i

A Mechanic's Son...

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I'm no stranger to an automobile repair shop. I frequented the garage where my dad worked from a very early age. The aroma of metal, rubber, grease, gasoline, and antifreeze, were just a day in the life of my summer vacation and the occasional day of hooky from school. And, it didn't matter how old I got, I still felt like something special when Daddy said, "Hop in that car and give it some gas!" Among the 5,243,871 questions I'm sure I asked as an inquisitive youth (I know because my daughter is just like me), I learned very little about being a mechanic, but I learned a lot about life.  Remember those questions I that assailed my dad's ears? Well, one that I distinctly remember stays with me to this day. My dad had a huge toolbox and a ton of tools (and I don't just mean that it seemed that way as a kid). I remember being in awe as I opened and closed all kinds of drawers and cabinets and flaps, all the shiny silver tools: sockets, wrenches, hammers, scr