I’ve always
admired a good quote….something that perfectly expresses a feeling or inspires
me to do better.
Years ago, I
started using a quote at the bottom of my e-mails. It was from a famous
American General.
“We are not
retreating---we are advancing in another direction.”---General Douglas McArthur.
McArthur was
the first to say it….and there have been some military types who have made it
their own over the years. I always identified with it. I was never ashamed to
use it in every one of my correspondences.
No one ever
said anything about the quote for almost ten years. Then, last week, I got this
message from a colleague. A trusted one…
“I have looked at the quote from General
MacArthur below your signature block several times and I always conclude with
the feeling that we got our butts kicked in battle and while it appears that we
are retreating, we are not, we are instead going in a different direction. Bottom line…we got beat!
I have heard many people here at the
college express the same feeling about that particular General MacArthur
quote. I am suggesting to you that
another General MacArthur quote would be more motivating and inspiring.”
Lose it, he begged. It gives the folks the idea that I am a
defeatist.
I won’t. It means too much to me. It symbolizes so much of
who I am…..I will never abandon it.
Starts with my Dad. He was (I’m sure) a brash high school
football player when polio attacked. He spent a year in the hospital and
recovered with no muscles in his right hand or left leg. The cruelty could have
defeated him….but it didn’t. Against the odds, he went on to become a police
officer and later the Police Chief. He made a new plan.
My high school football team won two games in our senior
year. There are three medical doctors from that team, saving lives and
contributing to society. On the field, we were pummeled….but we took the
beatings and made ourselves mentally tougher for the lives we choose to lead.
We didn’t retreat….we re-focused…..and went another direction.
I was essentially shown the door at SIUE as a junior where my
dream of a journalism degree ended. After some dismal time working on the
Granite City docks, I went back to college to become a broadcaster. And that
meant some serious struggling as I learned to be an effective communicator.
There hasn’t been anything in my life that I didn’t stink up
when I started it. I was a horrendous teacher in my first semester. The only
thing that saved me was good student evaluations….because I was somewhat
entertaining.
No, I like the General’s quote. Too many people around me
just quit if things are not going well. I know I have thought about it during
the bad days. But McArthur’s message is for anyone who ever wanted to succeed.
Getting knocked down isn’t the crime…….Not getting back up……is.
A few weeks ago I called my Dad on Father’s Day and said
this:
“You know, Pop-----two years ago you were in trouble-----you
couldn’t navigate in the house----you had injured yourself falling----and I
worried you might not be able to continue to live alone.
But two years later, you have found a way to work around your
mobility issues….just like you did when you were a kid.
Dad, I admire that. I’ve always have admired how you have
overcome the obstacles. Thank you for showing me how to do it.”
The Chief took the sincere statement and brushed it off.
“You do what you have to---Son. You do what has to be done to
survive.”
General McArthur was booted off the Philippines and had the
brashness to say, he would return. We’re not retreating……we are….moving in
another direction.
God Bless the General, Louie Dreith and all the other people
who sing from the same book.
Quitters never win….and they very often don’t go another
direction.
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