Positive Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

"... let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate,

and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
…Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,

 just as in fact you are doing."
(1 Thessalonians 8-11)

In my high school years of football, our coach was a negative motivator. It seemed that everything we did was wrong. The best complement we ever received was a "good job, but...”. The criticism after 'the but" was all that most of us ever remembered. None of us believed that we were very good and we were not having any fun. In 1956, three of us quit the team to go to private schools for a variety of reasons. There was a large article in the local paper about how significant a loss it was to the local high school team because they lost some great players. All three of us were really surprised at the compliments given to us by the coach.

        At my new school, I found my way to a swim coach named Al Houston. Al was caring man, a positive motivator and would have two or three swimmers at each Olympic games. Receiving positive motivation was a wonderful experience. The team all felt good, worked hard, we liked Al and each other. We were also the best team in the northeast. We learned to care about excellence, not letting each other down and generally care about each other.

        This is a strong message. We are in challenging political and economic times right now and there is a lot of negativity our country and the world. Each day we read and see bad news. To stay positive we need to follow the lead of Christ and demonstrate our love and caring.   We need to show our fellowship toward others.

Thought for Today: Today we will have the opportunity to be negative. School teachers will have a mischievous child, salesmen will lose an order, the weather may not be good... and we will want to whine. When that happens, stop and meditate, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up". Let us all have a positively great day.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly father, today we pray for those with negative ideas, those with aggression toward humanity and their victims. We pray for them and the opportunity to influence with them in a positive way.
Amen