It’s the day after Christmas and a funny, completely un-holiday related question keeps tugging at my mind. Today I’m wondering, how is your Buck Smith working for you? It’s a curious question that almost certainly has caused you to ask in return, "Who is Buck Smith and why would I have a Buck Smith anyway?"
Well, Buck Smith is, at least in the personal history of my 85-year-old father, a fierce competitor (and often victor) of schoolyard footraces run in the 1930's South Georgia of his childhood. On a grander scale, Buck Smith is, for all of us, a belief in ourselves, a willingness to “do the hard work” of preparing to meet a challenge and the realization that we can prevail! And for that reason, your personal "Buck" is worth knowing
My father, with whom my sister and I have spent seemingly endless hours in hospital rooms over the past five weeks, recounted (in a feverish and sedated state shortly after Thanksgiving) the story of how he finally bested Buck Smith. It was a story that reminded me of the cycle of believing, becoming, and benefiting. It’s a cycle we all can choose to step into. Today, I’m inviting you to become acquainted (or reacquainted) with your Buck Smith. What follows is how I suggest you prepare for your meeting – illustrated (in italics) by my dad’s story:
Believing: In your life, you have approached something difficult – something that, upon initial consideration, caused you to doubt your capacity or ability to accomplish it. Recall that instance. Now remember what is was that helped you to develop a belief that you could prevail. It may have been some positive self-talk. You may have drawn strength from the faith or encouragement of others. You may have read stories about individuals who approached the same task and triumphed. However you worked it out, you likely started with an idea that “I can do this!” My dad had challenged and lost many a footrace to Buck Smith before he got in his head that he could win. This thought that he could win was different from thedesire to win. No doubt at each start line, dad always wanted to win. And he was always close – so close that he drew a crowd of believers who began to lay bets on his ability to beat Buck Smith. A prophecy was growing and generating the energy of belief – dad not only wanted to beat Buck Smith, he was starting to believe that he could.
Becoming: Now go back to your own past challenge. When the ground swell of belief began to grow, you probably found that you could channel some of that energy into action. And so a plan of practice and commitment began to foment. Your head and heart “had your back,” so to speak – and so you were ready to put in the hard work. What energy of becoming did you put into your plan? As the wagers grew and my dad could see himself the winner, he put more time and effort into becoming that winner. He developed drills and exercises to improve his start, his speed and his finish. He practiced by running everywhere he went. He raced shoeless around his small town on every errand and to each destination. He was becoming that which he believed he could be.
Benefitting: Are you firmly in touch with your own memory of accomplishment at this point? Even if you haven’t thought about this success in a long time, the achievement is likely the sweetest part of your memory. Any notion of doubt or specter of hard work probably fades in the richness of accomplishment. The hard-earned “A,” the long-coveted title, the thrill of the finish or the exaltation of the summit – they are the immediate reward, which in turn produce the lasting benefit of self-efficacy. Success creates power. That power propels us to the next challenge with greater confidence. We identify increased willingness to step into the slightly impossible (because without ever stepping into the apparently impossible, how will we ever come to know the possible?). So my (shoeless) dad lined up toe to shoe on a heel-scraped line etched in red clay on a late summer afternoon in the waning days of the Great Depression. A small pack of grimy, pinched-faced, penny-ante schoolboy gamblers lined a straightaway for the 100-yard dash. With the shout of a classmate, the race was on. Dad, got the start he had practiced and sped down the lane with his familiar desire (now laced with belief) that he could beat Buck Smith. With each powerful stride, he knew this was his race. His betting pals cheered him on with the knowledge that a few coins would jingle in their pockets on the way home that night. And as he knew he could, and as he trained for, my dad beat Buck Smith that day.
I think this story came back to my dad late this November in an ICU room of blinking, beeping and chirping monitors to remind him that in this current challenge too, he could prevail. He found strength in the belief that he could regain health and strength and walk out of the hospital. He set his mind to practicing all prescribed exercises to strengthen his lungs, true his balance and fortify his muscles to walk again. He began to talk about places he wanted to visit and foods he wanted to try. He drew strength from having beat Buck Smith (and all of the subsequent “Buck Smith’s” in his life) and benefitted from the human power of can. And so, after five weeks, although in a wheelchair and bound for rehab, my dad left the hospital the week before Christmas.
And reconnecting with you all now, I am encouraged to share the story of Buck Smith as a gift for the new year. No matter how challenging that next race appears, conjure up your Buck Smith. Consider how you have triumphed in the past. Recall how you came to believe in yourself. Reach back to what steps you took to prepare to prevail. Rejoice in how that accomplishment pushed you to try the next thing. Link arms with your Buck Smith and start now to set your goals for 2013! Sign up for a race. Plan a journey that you will come to call your “trip of a lifetime.” Make that change at work or at home that is beckoning just beyond your comfort zone. By next Wednesday, you’ll be swept over the hump and into the new year . . . and you won’t be alone if you choose to take old Buck with you.
