1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:05,720 Speaker 1: Everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: unless your stop talking. Number twenty four, ding ding Ding, 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: Alex ding ding Ding, Belle, number twenty two, number twenty three, 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: and number twenty four were all recorded in the same 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: your time stamping this, and I don't think that's appropriate 6 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: for our listeners. What happens when you call me out 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: like this? You're not making fair fine guys. Today, Shop 8 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 1: Talk is going to be a brief discussion of accepting 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: failure when you do hard work, because it's going to come. 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: I got a story about it in my own life, 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: so I guess we could say this is on perseverance, 12 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: but more it's about just understanding the realities that the 13 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: hard work that we as normal folk need to go do. 14 00:00:54,080 --> 00:01:18,039 Speaker 1: Right after these brief messages from our general sponsors, everybody, 15 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: Shop Talk number twenty four. I'm not going to use 16 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: names in this because you will understand when I go 17 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: through it. But here's the setup. When there's areas of 18 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: need that our army of normal folks need to go 19 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: in and fill. The reason there's need is because it's 20 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: wrought with issues. Sometimes it's poverty, sometimes it's lost, sometimes 21 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: it's sickness. I think of the people at Saint Jude 22 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: that every day go to work with a smile on 23 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: their face and battle childhood cancer full well knowing that 24 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: many of the little, young, innocent patients that they're serving 25 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: will And how how you have to just keep going 26 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: even knowing failure is just part of the mission. But 27 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: if you weren't doing that work despite the failure as 28 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: part of the mission, the successes wouldn't happen. Consider this 29 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: that fifty years ago kids that got cancer had a 30 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: ninety six percent death rate. Today because of Saint Jude, 31 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,839 Speaker 1: it has completely inverted to ninety six percent success rate 32 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: and only sixty years because of the research that Sant 33 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: Jude is done, the work they've done, and the research 34 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: and data they've shared with the world, children now with leukemia. 35 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,679 Speaker 1: Once only four to one hundred lived, now only four 36 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: to one hundred die. Now that could have never happened 37 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: without an acceptance of failure, understanding that when you go 38 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 1: into tough situations, you have to understand there's going to 39 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: be failure, but the successes are worth it. A clear, 40 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: but maybe a disturbing example of this involved a kid 41 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: who is talented enough to become one of my starting linebackers. 42 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: He wasn't the biggest guy on the team, but he 43 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: was quick and extremely determined and tough. We were in the 44 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: middle of practice one afternoon my third year at Manassas 45 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: when a member of his family pulled up next to 46 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: the field and like waved her arms and urgently motioned 47 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: him towards the sideline. I had no idea what they 48 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: were saying, but the middle practice, he just ran off 49 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: the field, but I could see that the conversation was 50 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: really animated. A few minutes later, he came over to me. 51 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: He said, Coach, I gotta go. And I said, what 52 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: do you mean you gotta go? Dude? You just don't 53 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: leave practice. He said, Coach, I have to. My sister 54 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: was picked on in the neighborhood. I said, fine, is 55 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: she hurt? He said no. I said where is she now? 56 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: He said she's back at the house. I said, well, 57 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: then you don't need to go finish practice. Then you 58 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: can go deal with it. He said, I can't, coach, 59 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: this is my sister. I have to take care of 60 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: this right now. That was it. He ran to the 61 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: locker room, put his stuff up and left. And I 62 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: need to tell y'all, this is a good kid. Always 63 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: had a smile on his face, always yes, sir, no, sir. 64 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: I never had a bit of trouble out of him. 65 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: Always at practice, always on time, excited to be on 66 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: the football team. But I'll never forget the look in 67 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: his eyes. He was fully aware that he shouldn't leave, 68 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: but a football coach he'd known for only a couple 69 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: of years was no match for the world he knew 70 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: so much better, the only world he'd known, and certainly 71 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: not his mom. Off he went, and I remember having 72 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: a nod in my gut. I knew all too well 73 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: what could happen in these situations, and yet there was 74 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 1: nothing I could do about it. I was really concerned 75 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: the rest of practice, and I remember going home and 76 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: telling Lisa that, you know, I don't know what this 77 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: kid's being pulled into, but it just didn't feel good. 78 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: The call came at seven am. This kid was in 79 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: the hospital with two bullets in his stomach. The same 80 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: guys who called trouble for his sister jumped out of 81 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: vehicle and shot at him several times while he was 82 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,919 Speaker 1: playing basketball in the park. He thought he'd resolved the 83 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: mitter by warning them and told them to stay away 84 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: from her. But all he'd done was kind of made 85 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: him angrier. Of course, I went to the hospital and 86 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: when I got there, I walked in and he just 87 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: started bawling, and he said, Coach, I shouldn't have left practice. 88 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: His voice was weak, he was weak. It was barely 89 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: above a arristler. And I said, man, that you can 90 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: do about it now. I mean, what else could I say? 91 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: The part I had the most difficulty with was that 92 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: it was an adult who dragged him into the fray, 93 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: someone who should have shown more. Since the kid ended 94 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: up with a colossmy bag could never play football again 95 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: and had to move out of the neighborhood. And the 96 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: last thing I knew is he moved with some other 97 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: family down to Florida. Y'all, these are the kind of 98 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: obstacles we're up against when trying to work in disadvantaged communities. 99 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: In many cases, the adults are no more mature than 100 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: the kids, if anything, envisioning no real future for themselves. 101 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: They're more bound to the code on the streets than 102 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: the children are. We have to have an army of 103 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: normal folks that are willing to employ their passion and 104 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: their abilities in areas of need, and many times those 105 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: area need are wrought with people who are surrounded by 106 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: danger and sadness and disenfranchisement. And we have to go 107 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: in with the full knowledge knowing that there are going 108 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: to be setbacks. We have to go in with a 109 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: full knowledge knowing that there's going to be trials. We 110 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: have to go in with full knowledge knowing you're never 111 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: going to save everybody, and a full knowledge knowing that 112 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: there is evil on the other side of the good 113 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: work you are trying to do that is working just 114 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: as hard as you are to win the hearts and 115 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: minds of the people you seek to serve. But nonetheless, 116 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: one life changed is worth the effort. Saint Jude went 117 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: from a four percent survival rate to a ninety six 118 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: percent survival rate in three generations. What could we do 119 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: to poverty in this world if we had an army 120 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: of normal folks for three generations, willing to accept the 121 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: defeats that are there for the good of the cause, 122 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: and working across our world to fill voids in areas 123 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: that need it. It's worth the risk, It's worth the setbacks, 124 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: It's worth the effort to persevere because we can change lives, 125 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: and we can change this country. That's shop dot number 126 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: twenty four. I hope you go to work. I hope 127 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: you go in with your eyes wide open. I hope 128 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: you'll have the good sense to accept the losses and 129 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 1: keep on trudging through and persevere, because at the end 130 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: of the day, that's how we change. I'm Bill Courtney, 131 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: thanks to our producer iron Light Labs. If you have 132 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: any ideas of stuff to talk about, email me at 133 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: Bill at normal folks dot us and if I think 134 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: I have some value to add, we'll have a chat 135 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: about it. I'll see you next week.