WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

Greetings!

I recently came across a story that I want to serve as a source of inspiration this week and remind you to always remain humble and true to your upbringing despite whatever wealth and fame you may achieve.  This article I read was reflecting back on the life of a fisherman name Phil Harris who passed away three years ago (Feb., 2010). You might remember him more as America’s favorite Sea Captain from the popular television show “Deadliest Catch”. I am a big fan of the show and have long admired the men, women and families that go to work out at sea.

Deadliest Catch debuted in 2005 and follows the lives of fishermen on the vast and brutal Bering Sea as they go crab fishing.  It’s about real people toughing it out in the world’s toughest sea, under the toughest circumstances imaginable. Many a fisherman have said that “Columbus would not have discovered America if the Atlantic were the Bering Sea!”

These are brave men that go out on their boats hoping to reel in a big catch! They do so in sub-zero working conditions, with life threatening waves that reach the levels of a four-story house and hurricane-force winds that, at times, can toss their ship around like toys.

 

Along the way, their crew members (or teammates) get injured. They’ve broken noses, ribs and ruptured discs. Once a deck master had the tip of his ring finger sliced off when it was caught between the launcher and a crab pot. There was a crewman conversing with a shipmate that got hit by a massive block of ice. These men face potential fatality every second they step foot on deck, some dodging a 900-pound crab pot that will decapitate a human in a matter of seconds or some getting accidentally caught in a cable that holds the pots and potentially getting pulled into the deep frozen sea.

There is no such thing as a DL (disabled list) with their job fishing deep out into the open sea. Many just tape up their wounds and get back to work.  “Every time we leave the dock and we’ve got gear on, I can’t sleep. I’m afraid. I’m conscious 24/7 about that,” said Zig Hansen, captain of the Northwestern boat. Captain Phil once told a reporter that his blood pressure would spike upwards to around 170/120 during his trips.

When boats heads out to sea, every person’s life is in the hands of their leader.  At any time, one of their crew members could die or one mistake could kill an entire ship’s crew and destroy families that await back home. All hands on deck must work together in tandem around the clock every day in order to make it back home at the end of the fishing season. If you watch the show, you’ll see that the Bering Sea will humble the hardest soul or challenge the most experienced  crewman. It’s a physical and mental test with no seconds to rest or let your guard down.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from this story is to never give up when the game’s statistics don’t add up in your favor.  Like the brave fishermen, you have to meet every challenge with strength. Have a game plan in your mind, work it and have no excuses. As Captain Phil once said: “You either want it or you don’t and if you do, go after it. The only person stopping you is you.” Enjoy the journey ahead. Everyone – be it a fisherman or an athlete – goes through a learning curve and an immense amount of training to ultimately become skilled in your craft.

All the best!

Jim Loria

New E-Mail: jimloria0309@gmail.com

----------------------------------------------------------------

“History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats” – stated by Bertie Charles Forbes, founder of Forbes Magazine

                                                        
---------------------------------------------------------------

TORONTO BLUE JAYS’ MANAGER JOHN GIBBONS ON NEW YORK YANKEES LEGENDARY RELIEF PITCHER MARIANO RIVERA: "It's just the way he carries himself. The dignity. There's no fanfare. He doesn't rub anything in. He just goes out and beats you and walks off the field. And then you hear the music."

----------------------------------------------------------------

“Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it” – stated by C. JoyBell C., Poet, Novelist, Philosopher

-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die” – stated by Brian Vaszily, Author and Columnist

----------------------------------------------------------------

“When you visualize, then you materialize. If you’ve been there in the mind you’ll go there in the body” – stated by Denis Waitley, Best Selling Author and Motivational Speaker

###