Be like a duck... but don't fret if it doesn't work out

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned in my lifetime, it’s that things may not always work out the way you would like. In fact, it can be a rarity that things actually do work out the way you think they should, and more often than not, it takes a lot of tough behind-the-scenes work.

I recently came up with what I considered a long-term plan to reach a goal that was important to me. Through a few weeks, everything was going “according to plan,” you could say. Up until recently, when the plan basically came to a screeching halt, which, as you can probably imagine, is a bit upsetting. It would be easy for me to get down and feel sorry about it, blah, blah, but I had to look at history and simply say, things happen for a reason, and go from there. I know that throughout my lifetime, this has happened on many more than one occasion.

My parents have always told me that hard work pays off. A friend once told me to always be like a duck: cool, calm and collected on the surface, but paddle like hell underneath. I took both pieces of advice to heart and have really tried to be like the duck.

I don’t usually touch subjects like what I’m about to say, but they say the Lord works in mysterious ways, and I believe it’s true. There have been plenty of times in my life when my plan didn’t work out, only to find out later that God had a much better plan for me.

For the first 18 years of my life, I practiced every day and thought I was going to be a professional baseball player. It was my plan. I ate, slept and breathed baseball. I lived it. But as soon as I got to college, for some reason the rigors of the sport just didn’t appeal to me and I decided not to play anymore. To this day I wonder about that decision, but I’m comfortable with it.

In economics, they teach you a very important concept known as “opportunity cost.” But it’s much more than just an economic concept. The idea is that basically, everything you do costs you something, whether it’s money, time or experience. For instance, if you’re faced with a decision of watching TV or going out with friends, and you choose to go out with friends, the opportunity cost of that decision was the TV program you missed. Every decision you make has an opportunity cost or consequence.

There is so much I would have missed if I had chosen to pursue baseball. During that time, I really came into my own as a person and found out who I was. Some people find this out sooner than I did, but when you dedicate so much of your life to one thing, it begins to define you. So for me, separation from the sport helped me redefine myself. And in this case, the opportunity cost of becoming me was very small, and for that I can honestly say deciding not to play baseball anymore happened for a reason, although I didn’t see it so clearly at the time.

Regardless of what happens to you in your lifetime, you have to keep in mind that when one door closes, another one usually opens up. You may have to search for it and it may take some time to find, but as long as you keep your eyes open, things will usually work out. It’s a comforting viewpoint to have, and it’s basically the same principal as believing in a religion that cannot be proven. It’s about faith – faith that if you work hard for what you believe in and what you want, things will work out in your favor.

But as you work, keep in mind that it doesn’t matter who you are, what kind of job you have, how much money you make or what you look like, some things just aren’t meant to be. And on the flip side, if it is meant to be, then there’s no need to worry.

Going green is easier than you think...

One of my columns from the Citizen of East Alabama earlier this year:

All the talk nowadays is about going green. The concern for our environment is growing very rapidly, as it should be. And the concern should not necessarily be for yourself, but rather for your children and grandchildren.

I consider myself to be one of the more “green” people I know of. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t own a hybrid vehicle and I still take long showers. But there are some little things each and every one of us can do to help out just a little bit. And together, WE can make a difference. The key to it all is this: the way I do it doesn’t really interfere with my everyday life.

It’s really becoming easier and easier to be green, as companies are actually catering to that “lifestyle,” albeit mostly for PR purposes. Clorox has its “Green Works” brand and Arm & Hammer has its “Essentials” brand.

Today, I’m just going to talk about soaps and paper, because I think those are the things you can change that are least disruptive to your life, plus I’m severely limited on space.

The first thing I did when I started to go green is replace my regular soaps with environmentally friendly soaps. That includes dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent and even shampoo. Soap is one of the worst things for the environment that people don’t really know about. The reason is because of the extremely high phosphorus (or phosphates) levels.

It makes sense if you think about it. When you wash your car out in the driveway or yard, what happens to the runoff? If you live anywhere near a water source like a stream or lake, I guarantee that soap will end up there. You might say, ‘but the ground filters it.” Maybe it does at first, but when it rains the phosphates seep farther and farther toward the watershed (or lake, etc.).

The same thing happens on a smaller scale when you’re talking about shampoo, laundry soap, etc. that dumps into the sewer system. It all eventually finds its way to large bodies of water. It’s a fact.

Phosphates stimulate the growth of algae in water, which deplete the oxygen supply in water, which in turn kills plant and fish life. More than half of the phosphorus in this country’s lakes and rivers is estimated to come from detergents and soaps.

I use soaps that are made of natural ingredients and are biodegradable. It should say something on the bottle. The brands I use are Arm & Hammer Essentials laundry detergent (yes, it cleans my clothes very well and it’s cheap), Palmolive dish detergent (it says on the bottle that it’s earth-friendly), Palmolive Pure & Clear dish soap and Suave Naturals shampoo. My hygiene is still top-notch.

Beyond soaps, I recycle everything I can – especially paper. It’s the easiest thing to recycle. And I don’t do it to produce less trash, I do it so that fewer trees will have to be cut down to make more paper. And the biggest culprit? Toilet Paper. Believe it or not, more trees are cut down to make toilet paper than anything else, especially in the United States. Obviously, I can’t recycle my toilet paper, but I can buy partially recycled toilet paper.

I’ve searched far and wide to find a brand that is satisfactory, and I’ll tell you what: not too many of them meet my standards. But I did find one brand that works for me (and my girlfriend, for you ladies). It’s carried at Wal-Mart and it is clearly labeled. I think it’s called White Cloud or something like that. Unlike most other recycled TP, it is soft, absorbent and most importantly, durable.

I truly believe that these minor adjustments in the way I used to do things will make a difference if everybody joins me. Every type of animal is important to our well being as humans, so we must do what we can to help them all survive. And if you don’t think it’s important to help save wildlife… have you ever seen “The Butterfly Effect?” Where do you think that term came from? 

The economy is probably worse than you think...

This is a column I wrote for the Citizen of East Alabama: It ran the week of April 19.

The economy is probably worse than you think

By Skip Hansberger

I thought this was supposed to be a capitalist/market economy, in which you either succeed or fail? Stupid me.

How can the government honestly justify giving bailouts to some of these companies? I could understand "bailing out" the individuals who work(ed) for these companies, who stand to lose their retirement options, etc. But giving the companies money with no real strings attached and expecting them to do the right thing is asinine. And what about the mom and pop stores that are failing? They don't get bailouts. But then again, the government doesn't have money invested in THEM... Ridiculous if you ask me.

The banks are one thing - as far as freeing up credit and loans - but come on, be reasonable (and responsible)!

All these bailouts are doing is sending inflation through the roof! Mark my words, inflation is going to be the biggest problem facing this country in the near future. You can't just keep making dollar bills to throw at (our?) problems.

It's basic economics - supply (effectively equal to the national debt) goes up and value or worth (demand) goes down. The single dollar will soon be worth, what, $.50?? That’s how much money the government has literally created to pump into the economy.

I think if the government honestly wants to help the economy and the future of the country it needs to pump money into education (since it seems hell-bent on pumping OUR money into something).

Also, most people think our jobs are all going overseas. But that's not true. The jobs are still here; they're just different. Technology is on the rise and we, in this country, have done a poor job, as a whole, teaching people how to work those jobs. So immigrants are coming in and doing the things Americans don't yet know how to do (like IT and tech support, etc.).

Jobs are not going overseas; overseas are coming to our jobs.

More of our schools' curriculums need to be expanded to account for this shift in the importance of technology so that the next generation will be ready. Then we (America) can again compete in OUR job market and unemployment will not be such an issue.

People don't seem to understand that there is no quick fix for the problems we are experiencing. Only with time and well thought out and properly invested money will things get better.

Right now, we are being robbed.

I am likely going to have to retire much later in life than the previous generation and even later than the one before that. At least, that is if I am going to rely on Social Security, which will probably not even exist in 30 or 40 years.

So the generation after me, what are they going to do?? Many people in this country are largely ignorant - blissfully ignorant. And most of those who aren’t ignorant are simply shortsighted. Unfortunately, some of them are ruining – I mean, running – our country. And that's a problem that is immeasurable.

Urban 'Crier' has issues...

Why on Earth would you want to play for this guy? I understand that you'll probably win a lot of games - so if that's what you're all about then by all means... but if you want to play for a quality person who understands the bigger aspects of life and the world, then I must ask, "Why?.."

Check out this article from ESPN.com:

Meyer: Ex-Gators need to support us

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ESPN.com news services

Shane Matthews played quarterback at Florida and says he supports the Gators and coach Urban Meyer.

But when Matthews criticized Meyer's game strategy during Florida's upset loss to Mississippi on his radio show last fall, Meyer was not happy. And though he didn't mention Matthews by name in a recent Gator Club appearance, it seemed that his comments about ex-players pledging allegiance to the orange and blue were made with Matthews in mind, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

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"If you want to be critical of a player on our team or a coach on our team you can buy a ticket for seat 37F, you're not welcome back in the football office," Meyer said, according to the report. "You're either a Gator or you're not a Gator."

The rift apparently started when Matthews criticized the offense following the 31-30 loss to Mississippi -- the game that produced Tim Tebow's now-famous postgame speech.

"When I watched the Ole Miss game and Ole Miss played our wide receivers about 90 percent man-to-man, it was a slap in the face to our wide receivers and passing game. I can't understand why we didn't take advantage of that," Matthews said at the time, according to the report.

The Sentinel reported it could not reach Matthews for comment to respond to Meyer's remarks. But in a recent appearance on a radio show in Birmingham, Ala. -- hosted by two former SEC players, Al Del Greco of Auburn and Jay Barker of Alabama -- he stood up for his remarks.

"If [the offense isn't] attacking the weakness of that defense it drives me crazy, that's what set me off early in the season," Matthews said, according to the report. "I am a supporter of this program no matter what, but I'm going to give my opinion when things go wrong. When things go well, I state that as well, but a lot of people don't hear that."

“

If you want to be critical of a player on our team or a coach on our team you can buy a ticket for seat 37F, you're not welcome back in the football office. You're either a Gator or you're not a Gator.

”-- Urban Meyer

Other former college football players in the media came to Matthews' defense, but added that former athletes turned commentators need to be honest to do their jobs.

"Shane, because he bled and sweat for the Gators, has a right to say whatever he wants about the program," former Miami defensive lineman Dan Sileo said, according to the report.

"Urban Meyer's not a Gator. He's a caretaker of the Gator program," Sileo said. "Most times these coaches think they're the programs, but really, the program is the players. That's the problem I have with coaches whose egos get too big for their britches. If Urban doesn't like it, that's too bad."

Meyer came to Florida from Utah after the 2004 season and has won a pair of BCS national championships, in 2006 and 2008.

Matthews says he'll keep supporting Meyer and keep voicing his opinions, according to the report.

"The last thing I want to do is stir up anything because there's nothing there," Matthews said, the Sentinel reported. "It's almost crazy when I sit 

Tiger Prowl came through Phenix City today...

For those of you who are unaware, the Auburn coaching staff has taken an unprecedented approach to recruiting. Instead of using this time period, which is generally alloted for seven coaches to go out on recruit evaluations, to send coaches out to as many schools as possible, the Auburn staff has decided to group all seven together and send them in a stretch Hummer (decked out with AU magnets, flags, etc.) to select schools around the state. 

They say this sends a message that Auburn is no longer going to be beaten in Alabama. And I AGREE.

I got the awesome opportunity to meet and speak with all seven coaches for about an hour and a half today as they went about their business in the school. I was only able to get an interview with Luper because they were so short on time, and only had time for a couple questions; I wish I could have asked about ten more... But anyway, They are absolutely as cool as can be. 

The plan was also for them to go to Smiths Station High, Auburn and Opelika Highs, Stanhope Elmore and Prattville High today. I know they made it to Smiths Station (for about 10 minutes), but I don't know about the others.

Basically what they did at Central High (Phenix City) is sit and talk with different coaches (about them, their families and different players/prospects), meet administrators, tour the facilities and watch kids if they are working out or practicing, etc. A few kids tried to converse with the coaches but all they replied with was War Eagle before the HS coach took them aside and explained the rules.

Today, coaches Luper, Taylor, Roof, Lolley, Malzahn, Rocker and Thigpen were on the Prowl.

Oh, and by the way, I asked Coach Roof why he had a different shirt than everyone else yesterday and the day before and he said he spilled coffee on it (haha!) and his wife had to get it dry cleaned. So that's that.

Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDvFrQLh4TU