A while ago, I was watching a TV show on the NFL network about the Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s when Vice Lombardi was the head coach. The show is called A Football Life. Coach Lombardi had a habit of being very demanding with his players and constantly yelling at them, demanding perfection from them.
Jerry Kramer, is NFL Hall of Fame football player who played the guard position on offensive line for the Green Bay Packers teams in the 1960’s was sharing on the show how when he was being yelled at by Coach Lombardi for doing something incorrectly in practice or a game he would frequently be “checking his shoeshine.”
In other words, Jerry had has head down and was looking at his feet because he was feeling discouraged, had lost his confidence and enthusiasm because he was being yelled at so often. He was being yelled at so often, he was sure he was going to be cut from the team and was wondering what he was going to do with the rest of his life.
Click on thhis YouTube video to hear Jerry Kramer tell this story.
It is a fairly common reaction for a person to feel discouraged have a lack of confidence and enthusiasm and check their own shoeshine and continue with negative feelings about everything, walking around with their head down.
So when you are feeling down, what should you be doing instead of checking your shoeshine?
I have a friend Kimo Mahikoa, from Kauai, Hawaii.
Kimo is a Master Instructor of the native Hawaiian healing art of Lomilomi, a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist and Body Worker, Director of Golden Wings Ministry, a retired Lt. Col. in the U.S. Air Force and a was professional airline pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline.
Kimo told me one time during a class I was taking on Kauai that if you are feeling down for any reason, you will always start to feel better if you stand up, go outside, tilt your head back, look up in the sky and “check your sunshine,” by taking a deep breath and just slowly exhale and say, thank you.. You will always feel better by checking your sunsine as you are doing it from a place of light and gratitude. This technique works even if it happens to be a cloudy day.
Try it. It is simple, but it does work. So when you first experience any disappointments or discouragement in your life, immediately check your sunshine instead of your shoeshine.
When you are feeling down, you can also never underestimate the affect of kind, loving or positive words that someone else may say to you that motivates you to change your current point of view.
When you are feeling discouraged, are you “checking your sunshine or your shoeshine?”
Stephen Lesavich, PhD
Jerry Kramer went on to say, that one day after practice when he was checking his shoeshine, Coach Lombardi came into the locker room and said “Son, one of these days you’re going to be the best guard in football.” It was Lombardi’s statement, his approval and belief in him that caused him to have a surge of energy in his body and establish a belief in himself to become one of the best guards in football history and be elected to the NFL Hall of Fame.
Mr. Kramer also shared this same story during his enshrinement speech to the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 starting at time 9:54 of his speech. He shares the same story in a slightly different way.
When you feel discouraged and have a lack of confidence and enthusiasm, make sure you check your sunshine instead of your shoeshine. Then move forward with confidence and enthusiasm.
When you encounter someone in your life that feel discouraged, has a lack of confidence or enthusiasm, show that person how to check their sunshine instead of their shoeshine and share some kind, loving or positive words with that person. You just never know how your approval and belief in that person will affect the trajectory of that person’s life moving forward.
When you are feeling down, negative, you have lost your confidence or enthusiasm, what techniques do you use to “check your sunshine” instead of “checking your shoeshine?”
Checking your sunshine allows you to create a positive impact in your life and the life of others.
Let’s start a discussion on this topic. Leave me a message below.
FOUNDERS NOTE:
Stephen taught me how to Check My Sunshine. It has made a difference in my life. Love Infinity
Out There on the Edge of Everything®…
Stephen Lesavich, PhD
Listen to the podcast associated with this post.
Listen to the Copyright © 2019, by Stephen Lesavich, PhD. All rights reserved.
Award-winning and best-selling Author, Entrepreneur, Visionary, CEO of 2 different companies, Attorney, Tech Expert, Certified Solution-Focused Life Coach, Experienced Business Coach.