“Those ‘insurmountable opportunities’ that block your way can always be beat!”
My youngest son turns 24 today. How did this happen?
Both my sons are remarkable young men, and both have made their way into my stories on stage over a 25 year speaking career – because they have been so inspirational! And so this quote comes from Thomas and the ‘hockey blocker,’ a story I first began telling on stage in 2003 as part of my ‘What I Learned from Frogs in Texas’ business parable.
The quote comes from Walt Kelly and was used in a well known Pogo strip – ‘We are faced with insurmountable opportunities.’ A massive admission of helpless defeat – but the embedded contradiction in the phrase is meant to get you thinking.
Which brings me to the hockey blocker – as seen in this photo.
For many years, I told the story on stage of Tom and his hockey blocker. You see, when he was 3, he wanted one (a goalie blocker glove). We explained to him that we wouldn’t just go and buy one at the spur of a moment…
So he made his own. Out of a cereal box. While he was at his sitters for the day. Because we told him he couldn’t have one, he made his own.
What an inspiration! He kept it and used it for two years, until it was absolutely falling apart.
Around that time, I often used Tom and the story of his hockey blocker as part of my “What I Learned from Frogs in Texas” story — which eventually became a book of the same title. His part in the story was the power of initiative, determination and action. It remains for me a powerful lesson.
Happy birthday Tom! Always make sure that you construct the hockey blockers in your life – and always take the initiative!
No block is too significant to get in the way of success! Around that time, I often used Tom and the story of his hockey blocker as part of my “What I Learned from Frogs in Texas” story — which eventually became a book of the same title. Read more about that remarkable story – and in essence, how the hockey blocker story became a part of a 3 minute stage performance that changed my life.
Happy birthday Tom! Always make sure that you construct the hockey blockers in your life – and always take the initiative!
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