Be Prepared…And Have a Backup Plan!
Yesterday I went to Spartanburg, SC to attend the Boy Scout Eagle Award ceremony for my nephew, Sam Mercer, my brother Mitchell’s son. It was a terrific ceremony and great to see teenage boys applying themselves to learn things and excel and develop great habits that will follow them the rest of their life.
My Dad was there as well. So it was even nicer when they asked any Eagle Scout to come up to the front and stand with Sam (and his friend Drew who also earned his Eagle). Both my Dad and I are Eagle Scouts. This year is the 35th anniversary of my Eagle Scout ceremony, down in Tampa, Troop 22, where I grew up.
On the drive back to Atlanta I got a call asking if I could sub in today for a spin instructor at the YMCA where I also teach a spin class. I agreed and when I got home, made a really great song list and workout for the 5:45 am spin class.
However, when I got to the Y this morning, there was something wrong with the stereo and sound system, and no music would come out of my iPod. It worked fine with my ear buds, but nothing with the stereo. A spin class without great loud music is pretty ugly!
So, I dug into my gym bag and found the 10 or so spin music CD’s that I made about a year ago. I have been carrying these CD’s around and never using them. Every now and then I thought about taking them out of the gym bag, but didn’t.
I grabbed one of the CD’s, put it into the CD player of the sound system, and voila, music! Of course, since I didn’t have a written song list on my spin bike, I had no clue what songs would play. So, as each song would start, I would quickly make up something for that song, and we had an awesome 75 minute workout!
I told my nephew Sam yesterday that the lessons he learned and skills he developed getting his Eagle would follow him the rest of his life. Little did I know that my “words of wisdom” to a 16 year old young man would follow me this morning.
So, like the Boy Scout Motto says, Be Prepared. I was this morning, but only because I had my backup plan stashed in my gym bag, extra CD’s. So, today’s updated lesson to remember is, Be Prepared….And Have a Backup Plan!