Bob Hurley's Commitment

Since my NCAA College Basketball Pool is shot, I want to go down a level of my favorite sport, basketball, and talk about high school basketball. Last Sunday 60 Minutes showed a piece I want to share.

Basketball is alive and well at tiny St. Anthony Catholic High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Coach Bob Hurley is running not only an incredibly successful winning basketball program, but turning out student/athlete leaders as well. The coolest part of this whole school is every student goes to college!

It is an incredible story! If you have not already seen it, check it out:

Do you agree with me? My favorite quote from Coach Hurley's interview was, "I think I'm where I'm supposed to be."

Can you say that about yourself? Are you where you are supposed to be? If you are, good for you. If you are not, what can you do to get there? Can you get there? There may become a time when I can say that about my current health situation, but not yet. However, When I am addressing an audience and they appear to be hanging on my every word, I can say, "I'm there!"

I know why I got hurt. I am supposed to try to make a difference in peoples' lives. Like teachers, I do not get a semester, or whole school year, or a lifetime like a parent does with her/his child(ren). I may only have a group for a half hour, an hour, or maybe more. So, I have to do a good job in my short time with them no matter their age.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Finally, A Post Not About Me

In most of my recent posts, all I have been addressing is me. It is time to change that. I want to introduce you to a teaching website about positive values. I believe the lessons are relevant and good reminders for people of all ages. It is called Values.com.

For you teachers, there is a lot of good information you may find useful in your classroom. Positive attributes like leadership, friendship, courage, honesty and respect, to name just a few are featured throughout the site. There is also a great deal of information for the rest of us. I know I have spent quite a bit of time already perusing the site. I even see a few potential handouts for future schools, conferences and possible pages for my Materials page on my website.

I first learned of them while watching television in these last long months of being bedridden; and seeing this commercial several times. You can watch the commercial by clicking here:

I do not think I would have handled the situation the way this young man did. For you student/athletes, what would you have done in this or a similar situation? For everyone else, what would you have done in this or any of the other scenarios they show?

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

To My Worthington Friends

I have a favor to ask of people who knew me when I had my accident. You do not necessarily need to be from Worthington, I just want comments from people who knew me before my accident, and have memories of that night.

I wrote a book, and with an editor are in the process of editing it and want to include a chapter of peoples' memories of the night I got hurt. The book is nearing completion and the editing process is going very well. I already have several comments following my post where I would like you to make your comments. Please identify yourself when you post your comment.

Here is the post from my blog on September 3, 2009 I would like you to refer to if you would like to make your comments part of the book by clicking here.

My editor and I believe your comments will be a valuable addition to the book which is tentatively titled Turning This Tragedy Into Triumph and I'm Not Done Yet. I Every one of my blog posts goes to my Facebook page so for all my Facebook friends who want to comment, please open my blog and make your comment on that link from above.

The cover of the book is the picture from the Daily Globe the day after my accident. It was taken by Jim Brandenburg. He was a photographer for the Globe at the time and has several pictures you can see by going to my website at patcom.com.

Please consider subscribing to my blog if you have not already done so. The subscription process is on the top right corner of the page when you make your comment. I am trying to build up my Subscriber numbers. I appreciate your help. Please contact me if you have any questions at mike@patcom.com.

Thank you for your assistance.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Acupuncture Rules!

I saw my wound doctor last Monday and it seems one wound is getting better and the other is not progressing and even getting a little worse. He put me on strict bed rest, so today is the first I have been up since last Monday. Hence, no post on surgery or not. The good news is: it looks like I will not need any more surgery, at least not in the near future.

The really good news is: I found out I can start seeing my acupuncturist again! So, I will start getting treatments at least once a week and most weeks I'm scheduled for twice weekly appointments. I just got home from my first treatment in months and feel great!

Many of you know I have been getting acupuncture treatment since 2003, and how much good it has done for me. If you have ever had acupuncture treatment(s), you know what I mean. If you have never experienced it, you do not know what you are missing! The Chinese and much of their Eastern or as we refer to it "alternative medicine" is quite extraordinary. I guess six thousand years has taught them something. I believe we could learn a great deal from the alternative medicine practices of the Chinese.

China has a lot to give us besides cheap labor to make all the products we now buy which used to proudly display "Made in the U.S.A."

Western medicine is slowly integrating many of their medical ideas like healing touch, biofeedback, herbal treatments, massage and yoga, among others at places like the the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing located on the Abbott Northwestern Hospital campus in Minneapolis. You can learn more about the Insitute by clicking here.

I could go on for a long time about my feelings on integrative medicine, but I see I have written quite a bit already. I think I will go lie down, take a nap, and enjoy the aftereffects of my acupuncture treatment. Besides, I devote most of a chapter in my book on the subject. FYI, the editing is going very well and we are hoping to have a finished product ready to submit to a publisher in the next couple months.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Later,

Mike