Congratulations! You all made the observance that the golf ball was the similarity in the pictures in my last post. This is my golf ball, and I keep it with me at all times, not in my pocket or bag, but carefully held in my hand or laid in my lap. I guess all are curious as to why I am carrying a golf ball with me. I loved hearing all of your guesses! Read the following to find out!
(copied from the Patriot Academy student app)
Your Golf Ball & Your Character
The time at Patriot Academy (PA) is intended to offer the tools and techniques necessary to prepare young leaders to accept the torch of freedom and to keep it burning brightly until handed down to the next generation. No knowledge, talent or earthly wisdom will be successful in improving our nation until the new generation of leaders understands and embraces the principles of righteousness, integrity and humility.
For that purpose, each participant in PA is given a golf ball as a visual reminder that their character is on display at all time. Like a golf ball, character is easily mishandled – left laying on a desk on the House floor, rolling under a table at dinner, forgotten in a hotel room, or just dropped in a hallway and lost in the shuffle.
Like your personal character, the expectation at Patriot Academy is that your golf ball will always be with you and in plain sight and under your personal control. It is not intended to be put in a coat pocket or carried in a briefcase or purse.
The phrase, “Where is your golf ball?” should be one you are prepared to answer for the remainder of your life. It will give you accountability with fellow Patriot students who will know that you have been carefully instructed in the vital importance of protecting your character.
Be prepared to give a ready answer.
Should you lose your golf ball during Patriot Academy, you will have the opportunity to retrieve it during mealtime or between sessions by quoting from memory one of the “Character Quotes” below. You are strongly encouraged to memorize one of these quotes BEFORE Patriot Academy starts,otherwise you will find yourself working to memorize one in front of the whole Academy in order to get your golf ball back. It is not possible for a student to proceed in Patriot Academy without retrieving their golf ball because one’s character must be in tact for principled leadership.
“God made me for a purpose…and when I run I feel His pleasure.” - Olympian Eric Liddell
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” - John Wesley
“Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing!” - John Wesley
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." - Colossians 3:23
"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." - Proverbs 16:9
“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” - Zig Ziglar
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” - Prov 29:2
“Until you have a purpose greater than yourself, don’t expect to get beyond yourself.” – Dr. John Demartini
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” - Zig Ziglar
“The true purpose of goals is to compel you to become the person it takes to achieve them.” - Jim Rohn
“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.” - John Ruski
"Delight thyself also in the LORD,and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. - Psalm 37:4-5 (21st Cent KJV)
“I don't care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don't harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you're never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants." - Zig Ziglar
"You cannot consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself." – Zig Ziglar
"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self." - Aristotle
"Greatness is frightening. With it comes responsibility." - Seth Godin.
"So, you want to storm down the doors and change the world. Good. First live the change that you want to see in the world, then you’ll be ready to lead it." -David Hanson
"Oh, it is excellent to have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant." - Shakespeare
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." - Helen Keller
"An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise." - William Dean Howells
"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us." - John Dryden
"The world loves talent but pays off on character." - John W. Gardner
"Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on what he is made of." - Josh Billings
"Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it…We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate ones, brave by doing brave ones." - Aristotle
"The price of neglect is much worse than the price of the discipline." - Jeff Olson
"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny." -Unknown
“Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.” - Senator Henry Clay
“I’m convinced that 90% of failures in life are character failures, and not ability failures.” - Stephen Covey
"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society." - Theodore Roosevelt
"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." - Theodore Roosevelt
"Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike." - Theodore Roosevelt
Then, after finishing their official business, the actual state reps. simulated some debate for us, to show us how it was done!
