MESSAGE #642 BE GREAT-FUL…

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“Reflect Each Day On All You Have To Be Grateful For And You Will Receive More To Be Grateful For.”
-CHUCK DANES

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Bob Emmons at University of California – Davis.

I think that I’m a very happy person. I don’t need gifts for my birthday or special occasions. I don’t need to travel all the time. And I certainly don’t need a huge house or fancy car.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have my problems, and negative feelings come over me just as often as anyone. But long ago, I found a secret that changed my life and today I’m going to share that secret with you…

YOU HAVE TO BE GRATEFUL.

Being grateful is appreciating all that you have in your life, big and small, good and gad. Here’s what I want you to do: get a notebook and every day, write down five things that you are grateful for. If you write them down at night, before you go to bed, I feel that it is more effective.

You can be grateful for your gym membership or you can be grateful for your Uncle Jim.

When you’re grateful, you don’t need a special occasion to make you feel good – you feel good every day. Life seems to slow down and you start to live in the moment.

And for you athletes, I may be the first person to tell you that gratitude can help you in sports too.

My friend, Bob Emmons is the authority on gratitude in the emerging field of positive psychology. The first thing I ever asked Dr. Emmons, was how gratitude could be applied to sports. His answer was…

“Gratitude produces calm energy, so the grateful tennis player should make fewer unforced errors and have fewer poor mental decision throughout a match, among other positive benefits.”

Emmons also feels that gratitude could help solidarity and team unity.

So write down five things you are grateful for. Do it every day this week. Let me know your feedback.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #641 OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW…YANKEE STADIUM

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Babe Ruth played there.

Mickey Mantle played there.

Derek Jeter played there.

Muhammad Ali played there.

Pink Floyd played there.

Vince Lombardi played there.

Nelson Mandela played there.

John F. Kennedy played there.

It sure is sad to look across 161st Street at the old stadium, empty with the lights turned off.

Last night, I attended my first Yankee game in the new stadium. It was absolutely beautiful. I got off the D train, walked up the steps, and walked into my first souvenir shop. After checking out a couple shops, I headed towards my favorite hotdog stand outside the stadium (next to the bowling alley). Make sure you get one with onions and mustard.

After my treat, I took some quick photographs outside the new stadium. It was time to enter the new cathedral. We entered through Gate 4 and proceeded to walk down the Great Hall. Wow, breath-taking.

Next stop was Monument Park, which is back to it’s original location, behind the center field wall. I paid respects to the Babe, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and the rest of the gang. It was good to see my old friends again.

After that, we headed over to the Yankee Museum on the 200 Level. You walk in and see an autograph wall in between statues of Don Larson and Yogi Berra. There are signed baseballs by Babe Ruth, and players from the DiMaggio days up until the recent Jeter years. Seats from the original stadium were on display and a spectacular ball wall with autographs from almost every player who wore the pinstripes seemed like the main attraction. Last but not least, you can see Thurman Munson’s locker as you exit the museum.

We walked along the concourse, and I loved the fact that you can not only see the entire field, but also circle the entire stadium on the same level.

Our seats (thanks to Mike DeBlase) were Section 432B, Row 4, Seats 11 and 12 in the Grandstand in left field. As I took it all in, I was in awe of the new stadium’s beauty, but then I got a chill.

This was a new stadium, but there is something eerily familiar about it.

I could sense the pride and tradition all around me.

Do I miss the old stadium?

Of course, but nothing lasts forever. Sometimes you just have to move on.

There’s no sense dwelling on things you cannot change. Embrace the new. Live for today.

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #640 KILL WITH KINDNESS…

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“Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
-GENE BEDLEY

The best way to make yourself happy is to make someone else happy…

Compliment somebody.

Ask someone how they are doing and really mean it.

Call a family member and say you love them…

Do it today!


Thanks for reading.

*TENNIS ANYONE?*
TENNIS. FITNESS. NUTRITION. MENTAL TRAINING.
With Ed Tseng, Pro of the Year USTA/NJD 2005

MESSAGE #639 IT’S GREEK TO ME…

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EXCELLENCE…

Vince Lombardi said, “Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

Aristotle said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

Abraham Lincoln said, “Whatever you are, be a good one.”


Can we all attain excellence, or is it reserved for the select few?

I believe excellence is already inside of all of us.

But what does excellence mean to you?

I’ll tell you what it means to the Greeks – Dia Phoron.

I love it.

Why?

Because literally translated, it means “follow through.”

Finish what you start.

Do what you say you’re going to do.

And be excellent.



Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #638 LIPSTICK IN SCHOOL?

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According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips on the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back… Finally the principal decided that something had to be done.

She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine all the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.

Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers. . .. and then there are educators.

-Source unknown

MESSAGE #637 THE PEFRECT GIRL…

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“In like the fourth inning I kind of knew…then I just tried to keep doing what I was doing and not try to mess it up.”
-MACKENZIE BROWN

Recently, Mackenzie Brown became the only girl to throw a perfect game in Bayonne Little League history. Read the article below for more details.

There are any number of boys today who wish they could throw like a girl.

That is, they would like to throw like Mackenzie Brown.

Mackenzie, 12, pitched a perfect game in the Bayonne Little League. She retired all 18 boys. It’s a rare achievement for a baseball player of any age or gender in any kind of league.

“In like the fourth inning I kind of knew,” she said, sounding like her male pro counterparts in the Bronx or Queens. “Then I just tried to keep doing what I was doing and not try to mess it up.”

Her feat has drawn national attention, including TV appearances, a highlight reel of her performance on ESPN — and today she is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Mets and Washington Nationals game at Citi Field.

Glenn Regan, commissioner of the Bayonne Little League, said Mackenzie has kept her feet on the ground as the spotlight raised her profile around the country.

It’s always nice when sometime takes success in stride. It’s also a pleasure when someone turns conventional wisdom on its head. In this case, a playground taunt has been upended.


Throwing like a girl never looked so good.

(The Star Ledger, April 25, 2009)

Congratulations Mackenzie Brown. Not only did she throw a perfect game, but she didn’t let it get to her head. I would like to make an adjustment in her quote though. She said she tried to keep doing what she was doing – I like that. But she also said she was trying not to mess up. Remember, the brain doesn’t know the word don’t. If I said, don’t think about a pink elephant, don’t you think about a pink elephant? So instead of thinking don’t mess up, think about what you do want to accomplish. Focus on your strategy, targets, attitude, effort, and energy.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #636 FORGEDABOUDIT…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to Carolyn McCann and Rick Weiss of Princeton Living Well.

Yesterday I was at Communiversity in Princeton promoting my book, “Game. Set. Life.” It was a beautiful day and as a blogger on the Princeton Living Well wellness website, I was invited by Director, Carolyn McCann and founder, Rick Weiss to participate in this great event. (See photo above)

One of the keys I talk about in my book is staying in the present – focusing on the process instead of the product. This is a secret that all the greatest athletes in history have used. And guess what? It doesn’t just have to do with sports.

A friend of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, once reminded her of an especially cruel thing that had been done to her years before. But Miss Barton seemed not to recall it.
“Don’t you remember it?” her friend asked.
“No,” came the reply. “I distinctly remember forgetting it.”
-Think

When the match is over, whether it was a win or a loss, learn from it.

Then forget about it.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #635 IF YOU DO THIS…

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“Turn NOWHERE into NOW HERE.”
-GURU PITKA

Stay focused on the task at hand.

It doesn’t matter where you’ve been.

Don’t worry about the past.

Don’t worry about the future.

The power is in the present.



Ed Tseng will be at Communiversity today from 12:30pm-4:30pm in Downtown Princeton @ the Princeton Living Well Booth (in front of Olive’s Deli on Witherspoon Street) Come on by and say hi – signed copies of “Game. Set. Life.” will be available.

MESSAGE #634 FOCUS, AGAIN…

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FOCUS – Follow One Course Until Successful

We all need focus in whatever we do.

Today’s message is about focus.

But first I would like to tell you about the amazing green tea I am drinking – it has many health benefits, including preventing many diseases and reducing allergies. It also is a natural breath freshener.

Also, I was just introduced to these great relaxation CDs by Steven Halpern. One of them has great techniques for relaxation and stress reduction.

I feel that today is going to be a great day.

I’m hungry.

Should I go for a run before I eat?

Oh, I forgot to get broccoli yesterday at the grocery store!

Anyway, so what was I talking about?

I can’t remember.

Oh well, see you tomorrow.






I just lost focus, and I see it happen all the time, on the field, in the classroom, and at work…don’t let it happen to you.

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #633 WHAT’S YOUR GAMEPLAN?

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I love quotes, but there’s something I love more…and that is, making up my own quotes. Here’s one I came up with recently…

“Every gameplan works for someone. NO gameplan works for everyone.”