BACK OF THE PACK
In a small village a few miles away from a big city in Europe, one of the most popular pastimes was to raise pigeons. Keeping postal pigeons was a very popular pass time. The local pigeon club meetings were well attended and a main source of information & apart from pigeons, a variety of other topics. Discussions and decisions about club events were an integrate part of the club meetings. One of those was to collect pigeons from members, cage them and ship them to a far away location. Then they were released and started the 2 or 3 day flight back home. Upon safe arrival of a returned pigeon, the owner quickly made the trek to the club house & had the bird officially clocked in. The ID number on small ring on one of the bird’s legs was verified and entered and after all the pigeons had returned, the arrival times were tabulated, a winner was determined.
Youth of that small town joined in the fun as junior members. Sjefke loved pigeons and wanted badly to become one of the youngest members of the pigeon club. It was known in town that Sjefke was a member of one of the poorest families in town. It did not stop Sjefke's righteous desire to be part of the pigeon fun. Determined to pull all the plugs to join the pigeon club, he accomplished all the necessary preparations. He also needed to be very creative since money was scarce. Sjefke acquired a couple of fruit crates from the local grocer. Joined them together and covered the front with some chicken wire donated by a friend’s father, who helped him build his pigeon sanctuary. Friends helped him paint the inside with a special white paint that not only coated the cage, but killing bugs and other pests upon contact. A special entrance was added so pigeons could only get in and not leave without the owner opening up that flap to a small platform. The creation was attached to an outside brick wall of the house, facing the back yard. Now the only thing left was acquiring one or two pigeons. One of the best known & respected members, Toon, offered Sjefke one of his female pigeons that showed no promise at all to become a champion flyer. Sjefke was elated and very grateful for Toon’s generous gesture. Sjefke named his prized possession Victoria. She proofed indeed not to be the most active bird in town on the daily fly outs, but that did not discourage Sjefke at all. While aloft on the twice daily exercise flights with the pigeons from other pigeon keepers in the neighborhood, Victoria just watched the others in awe from the roof top above Sjefke‘s house, while all the others birds moved up & down high in the sky, banking left & right in a harmonious, coordinated way. Victoria neither ventured too far away from home either. Appeared to be quickly tired. Always being in the back of the pack & at times she attempted to join the crowd, flying by herself most of the time became a daily routine. Sjefke could care less. To him Victoria was the best bird of them all. Then one day Victoria stayed home and did not want to fly at all. She appeared more tired than ever. Sjefke gave her much extra TLC and did not force her to get out and fly. One morning Sjefke noticed that Victoria had laid an egg. She immediately & carefully attended to the egg. Both Sjefke & Victoria hoped that the egg would hatch. Not long after, Victoria must have made a clumsy move and had somehow touched the egg carelessly. Her unfortunate act left a small part of the egg bruised. She left the egg unattended. Sjefke noticed the bruised part. He picked up some cotton balls, spread them out and placed the egg on the soft cotton bed with the bruised part down. Instantly Victoria continued to care for the egg again & covered it carefully with her warm body. A few weeks later the egg hatched and a young pigeon arrived. Victoria proudly showed off her new born. Immediately Sjefke registered the bird with the club and Toon supplied him with a small & numbered ring as part of the official registration. The newborn was now officially recognized and added to all the club‘s registered birds. Both Victoria & Sjefke hoped for the best. Sjefke, not knowing on which paw to fit the ring, picked the one on the right. Since the bird was only a few days old he could still easily fit it. After some weeks of growing rapidly, the bird showed a checkered brown and white feather coat. Toon checked on the progress of the newborn frequently. He determined it was a male pigeon that, in his opinion, showed great promise. Sjefke decided to call it Freckles. Not long after Freckles won the club’s prestigious young bird rookie award. When Sjefke was offered the choice between a small shiny trophy or a big bag of pigeon feed, Sjefke decided on the latter.
A year later Freckles had grown to be the biggest and fastest pigeon in the neighborhood. One day Sjefke decided to add him to all the other birds to be caged and transported to a town far away in the neighboring country. Needles to say that Freckles won his next trophy of fastest returned club pigeon. When Freckles went on tour, mom Victoria anxiously waited his return. Every time Freckles returned he acknowledged mom Victoria and shared his victories with her showing love & thanks to her for her tireless efforts raising him. Freckles became an instant hero and talk of the town. Freckles in the process also promoted Sjefke to one of the most successful pigeon keepers around.
Victoria had given her all and moved from the back of the pack of pigeon moms to be the mother of a champion. Freckles had inherited her champion blood lines nobody else recognized in her. It took a toll on her and one day Sjefke noticed a lifeless Victoria. He buried her behind a red rose bush in the back yard. On many occasions Freckles and other pigeons visited the spot behind the red rose. That way they paid tribute to a pigeon who was considered not to amount to anything good but through trial, error and determination became a champion, as well as successful pigeon mother.
The moral of the story:
You do not have to listen to negative opinions and perceptions that are aimed at you, that includes listening to those who bully you.
Opinions and perceptions, that’s what they are. Reality is that you are capable of doing many things you have set your heart on. Start with recognizing yourself in a positive way, Your specific talents, Your attributes. Your circumstances. Your options. Take notes. Compile them. On that basis, make a plan. Discuss them with someone you can trust and get off the couch & drawing board. Give it an honest attempt. Do not give up when challenges appear to be insurmountable. Succeed, fail & persist. Try to be the best you can. All champions have failed at one time, got up and tried again many times before they succeeded. Remember, not every body will represent a country at the Olympics. Even fewer will become professionals in athletics. All can become the best they can be. The mark of a champion is one who failed , got up and tried one more time. The 3Skatter basic exercises will supply all able youth a platform or basis to work from and form a solid encouragement to move ahead with a set plan. Does this sound like a plan? Check it out on my website; www.3skatter-pe.com
Henri Charles (Hans) Schmid
In a small village a few miles away from a big city in Europe, one of the most popular pastimes was to raise pigeons. Keeping postal pigeons was a very popular pass time. The local pigeon club meetings were well attended and a main source of information & apart from pigeons, a variety of other topics. Discussions and decisions about club events were an integrate part of the club meetings. One of those was to collect pigeons from members, cage them and ship them to a far away location. Then they were released and started the 2 or 3 day flight back home. Upon safe arrival of a returned pigeon, the owner quickly made the trek to the club house & had the bird officially clocked in. The ID number on small ring on one of the bird’s legs was verified and entered and after all the pigeons had returned, the arrival times were tabulated, a winner was determined.
Youth of that small town joined in the fun as junior members. Sjefke loved pigeons and wanted badly to become one of the youngest members of the pigeon club. It was known in town that Sjefke was a member of one of the poorest families in town. It did not stop Sjefke's righteous desire to be part of the pigeon fun. Determined to pull all the plugs to join the pigeon club, he accomplished all the necessary preparations. He also needed to be very creative since money was scarce. Sjefke acquired a couple of fruit crates from the local grocer. Joined them together and covered the front with some chicken wire donated by a friend’s father, who helped him build his pigeon sanctuary. Friends helped him paint the inside with a special white paint that not only coated the cage, but killing bugs and other pests upon contact. A special entrance was added so pigeons could only get in and not leave without the owner opening up that flap to a small platform. The creation was attached to an outside brick wall of the house, facing the back yard. Now the only thing left was acquiring one or two pigeons. One of the best known & respected members, Toon, offered Sjefke one of his female pigeons that showed no promise at all to become a champion flyer. Sjefke was elated and very grateful for Toon’s generous gesture. Sjefke named his prized possession Victoria. She proofed indeed not to be the most active bird in town on the daily fly outs, but that did not discourage Sjefke at all. While aloft on the twice daily exercise flights with the pigeons from other pigeon keepers in the neighborhood, Victoria just watched the others in awe from the roof top above Sjefke‘s house, while all the others birds moved up & down high in the sky, banking left & right in a harmonious, coordinated way. Victoria neither ventured too far away from home either. Appeared to be quickly tired. Always being in the back of the pack & at times she attempted to join the crowd, flying by herself most of the time became a daily routine. Sjefke could care less. To him Victoria was the best bird of them all. Then one day Victoria stayed home and did not want to fly at all. She appeared more tired than ever. Sjefke gave her much extra TLC and did not force her to get out and fly. One morning Sjefke noticed that Victoria had laid an egg. She immediately & carefully attended to the egg. Both Sjefke & Victoria hoped that the egg would hatch. Not long after, Victoria must have made a clumsy move and had somehow touched the egg carelessly. Her unfortunate act left a small part of the egg bruised. She left the egg unattended. Sjefke noticed the bruised part. He picked up some cotton balls, spread them out and placed the egg on the soft cotton bed with the bruised part down. Instantly Victoria continued to care for the egg again & covered it carefully with her warm body. A few weeks later the egg hatched and a young pigeon arrived. Victoria proudly showed off her new born. Immediately Sjefke registered the bird with the club and Toon supplied him with a small & numbered ring as part of the official registration. The newborn was now officially recognized and added to all the club‘s registered birds. Both Victoria & Sjefke hoped for the best. Sjefke, not knowing on which paw to fit the ring, picked the one on the right. Since the bird was only a few days old he could still easily fit it. After some weeks of growing rapidly, the bird showed a checkered brown and white feather coat. Toon checked on the progress of the newborn frequently. He determined it was a male pigeon that, in his opinion, showed great promise. Sjefke decided to call it Freckles. Not long after Freckles won the club’s prestigious young bird rookie award. When Sjefke was offered the choice between a small shiny trophy or a big bag of pigeon feed, Sjefke decided on the latter.
A year later Freckles had grown to be the biggest and fastest pigeon in the neighborhood. One day Sjefke decided to add him to all the other birds to be caged and transported to a town far away in the neighboring country. Needles to say that Freckles won his next trophy of fastest returned club pigeon. When Freckles went on tour, mom Victoria anxiously waited his return. Every time Freckles returned he acknowledged mom Victoria and shared his victories with her showing love & thanks to her for her tireless efforts raising him. Freckles became an instant hero and talk of the town. Freckles in the process also promoted Sjefke to one of the most successful pigeon keepers around.
Victoria had given her all and moved from the back of the pack of pigeon moms to be the mother of a champion. Freckles had inherited her champion blood lines nobody else recognized in her. It took a toll on her and one day Sjefke noticed a lifeless Victoria. He buried her behind a red rose bush in the back yard. On many occasions Freckles and other pigeons visited the spot behind the red rose. That way they paid tribute to a pigeon who was considered not to amount to anything good but through trial, error and determination became a champion, as well as successful pigeon mother.
The moral of the story:
You do not have to listen to negative opinions and perceptions that are aimed at you, that includes listening to those who bully you.
Opinions and perceptions, that’s what they are. Reality is that you are capable of doing many things you have set your heart on. Start with recognizing yourself in a positive way, Your specific talents, Your attributes. Your circumstances. Your options. Take notes. Compile them. On that basis, make a plan. Discuss them with someone you can trust and get off the couch & drawing board. Give it an honest attempt. Do not give up when challenges appear to be insurmountable. Succeed, fail & persist. Try to be the best you can. All champions have failed at one time, got up and tried again many times before they succeeded. Remember, not every body will represent a country at the Olympics. Even fewer will become professionals in athletics. All can become the best they can be. The mark of a champion is one who failed , got up and tried one more time. The 3Skatter basic exercises will supply all able youth a platform or basis to work from and form a solid encouragement to move ahead with a set plan. Does this sound like a plan? Check it out on my website; www.3skatter-pe.com
Henri Charles (Hans) Schmid
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