The 33rd annual Covington 5th and 6th Grade Overnighter has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The above statement may not mean much to you but for me it is extremely disappointing.
When I got sober many moons ago, I had a vision of having a program for kids in my home town that would help them with their decision-making process and in-turn steer them away from harmful behaviors.
The Covington 5th and 5th Grade Overnighter was birthed in April of 1988 and has continued until this year…a year like no other.
Lots of things have been postponed or canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It sucks.
My heart aches for family members who’ve lost loved ones to this horrible virus.
My heart aches for the family leaders, who just six weeks ago had plenty of food to put on their tables but now are being forced to humble themselves and accept handouts in order to keep their family fed.
My heart aches for those on the frontline who are working endlessly in our fight against this pandemic.
My heart aches for the seniors who won’t get to experience graduation and prom.
My heart aches for the students and student-athletes who just found out this week that their University (Urbana in Ohio) has been closed permanently.
My heart aches for all the athletes who had their seasons come to an abrupt end.
My heart aches for the small businesses that are closing their doors for good.
I could go on and on and on.
Every kid who went through the Covington 5th and 6th-grade Overnighter heard my story.
I created my P.E.A.C.E. acronym for The Overnighter…
Successful people have a Purpose and a Plan.
Successful people are willing to put forth the extra Effort it takes in order to fulfill their purpose and execute their plan.
Successful people have a contagious and effective Attitude.
Successful people surround themselves with a strong Community of people…nothing good happens by doing it alone.
Successful people take care of their spiritual, mental, and physical being in order to have the Energy it takes to be successful.
Of the five areas of the P.E.A.C.E. acronym, I always spent the most time on Attitude.
I would stress to them that their attitudes would determine the altitude of their lives.
I explained the concept of making lemonade out of lemons…of which my wife is a pro at doing.
I always explained the self-fulfilling prophecy to them–what you think of yourself and see yourself doing will happen. Therefore think good thoughts and imagine positive outcomes for your dreams.
I told them their attitude would elevate or lower to the level of the collective attitudes of the people they surrounded themselves with…
Small minds and people talk about things
Average minds and average people, talk about other people.
Great minds and great people, talk about ideas, concepts, goals, and dreams.
Then I would end the attitude portion with a statement like this…
The best thing you can do for your attitude is to understand that life is not fair. No one ever said it would be and I can tell you first-hand that it is not.
Throughout life, you will be thrown curveballs and changeups.
Crazy stuff will happen either because of your own doing, someone else’s doing, or just because.
Successful people adjust, adapt, and overcome.
Losers sit around and cry about life not being fair…I should know because I used to be a loser and would medicate my feeling of “unfairness.”
This is a very tough time.
Even though it gets old hearing it–it is an unprecedented time.
It would be really easy to get stuck into the scarcity mindset and focus solely on everything we are losing.
Accepting the fact that life is not fair and never will be is a huge step in adjusting to our new “normals” and making lemonade out of all the lemons that are being thrown our way.
…kind of like me gaining a bit of fulfillment by giving my Overnighter presentation to you instead of 5th and 6th graders at this time of the year. 🙂
The quicker I get into the solution the quicker my perception of the enormity of the problem shrinks.
Proverbs 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.co
