Sunday Night With John: John and Scotty Don’t’s “9 Dos and Don’ts” (They’re more like guidelines)
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Scotty and I years ago when I still had hair ringing in the New Year. You have to look classy to ring in the New Year and to co-write a blog like this. No Idea who photo bombed us, but he is placed perfectly.
Over the years my friends and I have taken comments made by each other or family members and turned them into rules/guidelines for life. We are unbelievably giant nerds but I can testify these actually work for us, and cause a great deal of laughter when we offer each other the same advice. Why create new advice instead of sitting on the age old advice that has been passed down like patience is a virtue, good things come to those who wait, the early bird gets the worm, march to the beat of your own drum to name a few. Because we believe, just like everything else, quick advice can be improved upon, made better, and individualized to hit closer to our own hearts. Without further ado and with the help of my friend Scotty Don’t (Not his actual last name but it should be)...Here are John and Scotty Don’t’s “9 Dos and Don’ts” (They’re more like guidelines)
1) Rule #1: Wait It Out: In a bad situation don’t rush to a decision, wait it out. Take your time; most people will give up before you do, if you just stick to waiting it out. Now this doesn’t imply that you passively just wait out the situation hoping it improves. It’s a strategy. It means to actively keep pursuing what you want by understanding that having the will to not give up is a big part of the battle. I love this because it combines be patient, don’t give up, see your way through the problem into a simply Rule #1, Wait it Out. When I first started speaking publicly there were moments where I wanted to throw in towel, only to say, wait it out Derryberry, you will get there if you stick to it.
If you're playing real life "Where's Waldo" you need to wait it out a lot!
2) Rule #2: Two Shots, Last Letter: Our friend’s dad likes to play HORSE on local basketball courts when he is in town with us. Like a good dad he gave us two shots on our last letter when we were about to be eliminated. Hence the term two shots last letter. It’s a wonderful meaning about life giving you second and third chances to be successful. Just when you think you have missed your last shot, you get another chance. So don’t be afraid to shoot and miss. It also implies you can’t lose focus because of a mistake, because you get another chance, and if you are worried about your last screw up you won’t take advantage of your next shot. Also remember that it’s important to give others a second chance, because everyone deserves TSLL. Two Shots Last Letter: a great motto for life, and one of the names of a band I was in during college.
Scotty with a lay-up during a game of HORSE
3) Rule #3: Win Some, Lose Some: A quote I started muttering when something didn’t go my way. A way to say I will not win every moment. Life has a way of balancing itself out. How many times have we uttered to each other and ourselves when we make a dumb choice or mistake, “Remember John, you win some, lose some” It immediately allows us to strengthen our resolve to move into the next moment. I remember when I had a bad moment with a girlfriend in college, and Scotty witnessed my emotional moment, and he came up and said to me, “Well, John you win some and lose some.” I burst out laughing and realized that I would either have another a chance with the young lady (See rule 2) or I would chalk this up as a loss and move on. There are times you will lose whether you get a 2nd shot or not. Accept it. Learn from it. Win the next one.
Our bull dog friend Abby. I lost this hand but you know...win some, lose some!
4) Rule #4: Be Your Own Party: We discovered this one because it was written on a piece of paper hanging above a door in college. We liked it and made it our own. My brother has informed people that I’m the only person he has ever interacted with that really doesn’t care what most others think. I get that from my wonderful group of friends, because we always have and always will be our own party. We create our happiness instead of hoping and wishing to have others create happiness for us. Don’t get me wrong I love when others create happiness for me, but I don’t expect it. I’m in charge of my own well-being. Hopefully others join in my party, but if they don’t I will still be happy within myself. Detailing the numerous ways my friends and I have created our own happiness could certainly be its own blog but we will leave you with a little taste: a) Yearly camping trip/float down the river which we create themes for every year b) An annual Outdoor Living Room/Lawn Olympics contest c) Create a wiffle ball field in our college house backyard d) Founded the Super Fan club at Grand View University e) Dressed up for Halloween on a number of nights when it wasn’t Halloween... because dressing up is fun and needs to happen more than once a year. Scotty can attest to this as he has won 10+ photo contests and the attention of his now wife because of dressing up (all on nights other than Halloween). To hit the point home about being your own party we enlisted the help of this guy...
5) Rule #5: Don’t Just Stand There Bust a Move: Life was meant to be enjoyed and dancing is the embodiment of pure joy. Can anyone from our groups of friends win a dance off, NO, but we can have a good time while the music is playing (Be your own party). I can do a killer running man and have been known to karaoke Young MC’s song “Bust a Move” in numerous places. Scotty does a killer “pencil sharpener”, and my good friend Braden can do the “Humpty Dance” with the best of them. We have moved our feet, bodies, and hands to rap, rock, country, ballroom, and whatever beat moves our souls and our bodies. If there is a jam in the background one of us might start dancing and if you are worried about being embarrassed, refer to rule #4 and the video that goes with it.
Just Bust A Move!
6) Rule #6: That’s How You Wiffle: During one of our yearly camping trips a rainstorm moved in. Oddly it was the year we made a giant tent out of tarps. We scrambled to fix the tarp tent so no water would get into the tent, and then some of the group decided to start a wiffle ball game, (See rule 1 and see 4) Rule 1 because we were going to actively wait out that storm, and see rule 4 because it doesn’t rain our on parade…we made the rain part of our parade. At one point during the game our good buddy Ranger Rott (not actually a Ranger, but he should be), a nickname earned for all the camping know-how, rounded third and was heading for home. The relay throw came too late as Ranger Rott slid head first through the mud into home plate and was safe. Rott popped up, caked with mud all over him, and began yelling, “That’s How You Wiffle!” It began the signature saying of the camping trip that year. “That’s How You Wiffle” is our way of saying if you are good at something share it with the world. Let others know what you are good at. We all have gifts and too often we are afraid to say that’s how I teach! That’s how I throw down on the grill! That’s how I give a talk! That’s how I save a life! That’s how I be a dad! Celebrate what you are good at because THAT’S HOW WE WIFFLE!
That's how I wiffle
7) Rule #7: Put It On a T-Shirt: Life is short and we get so few genuine moments with people, because life gets in the way. We often forget to commit our wonderful moments to memories to remember later. We have solved this problem by commemorating our wonderful events by putting them on t-shirts to wear when we are together or to share with others when they ask questions about the shirt. My brother called my friends the happiest organized dorks that he has ever meet. The shirts we have created have been our ten-year anniversary camping trip (we even made some for the owners of the campground and the girl that is always working at the convenience store where we get breakfast pizza), we have Outdoor Living Room shirts, and my favorite shirt is a shirt I created for the friend-a-versary party we had with my two best friends Braden and Kyle. Most of us have waited to get married meaning we missed out on all the anniversary parties married couples get. We decided to apply Be Your Own Party and celebrated our friendship at the Outdoor Living Room with t-shirts for the event. Scotty even has his own line of birthday shirts with his face on them. There was one year that his entire birthday month (October) was packed with fun activities, so he implemented Rule 4 and started “Scottoberfest”. Naturally, it needed a t-shirt. Now there are 6 years of his shirts with last year’s having a list of 30 awesome things he has done…Rule 6. It doesn’t have to be a t-shirt but we need to find more ways to celebrate and rejoice in the wonderful moments we create for others and ourselves. We all will experience enough hard times in our life, creating a way to remember the good times just makes too much sense.
My Favorite T-shirt!
8) Rule #8: Fake It Till You Make It: No one masters anything the first time out. It’s a mantra that if you want to start doing something it’s best to start doing it, and worrying about mastering it as you go. We often underestimate the importance in our ability to belief in ourselves. Saying I will fake it till I make it, implies I will make it one day, and I will learn while I do. When I started public speaking, landing talks and going through my first couple of events I wasn’t sure I was doing things correctly but I knew I could talk. I knew I could connect with people from interactions in my personal life. I had a belief in myself that one day I would make it, so until that day came, I had to fake it a little. The great thing about that though wasn’t that I was faking it but the belief and confidence in myself that I could change lives, I could have an impact. We never start at the finish line, but acting like we will reach the finish always helps move us toward that ultimate goal.
9) Rule #9: Make and Share Your Own List: To be completely honest I dislike most of the internet articles that dumb down life to a list of ways to improve your life. I find them a complete simplification of life that fails to take into account how hard it is to enact change. Scotty and I wrote this article with a little tongue-in-check in mind. What I will say about this blog post is this list means a lot to me because I created it with my friends. But my list may not work for you; just like the old cliché lists didn’t work for my friends and me. I would encourage you to create your own list of guidelines; everything means more when we take ownership over it, when it comes to us organically. That is the greatest part about the dorky things my friends and I do together and our list of rules that have all come from our moments and our lives. We can’t underestimate the importance of our own life experiences and that’s why you need your own list. You can steal from ours but make sure it applies to you. Once you have your list begin to share it with the world. The great thing about sharing these things with others is you don’t know the impact it might have on the person who is listening.
I know these two guys will listen.
We underestimate the impact sharing has. We often think if we share something it will be embarrassing for us. From my group’s experience sharing has led to even better stories, some new friends, and yes, some rare embarrassing moments we didn’t want. But life is made for living and experiencing. So decide to BE YOUR OWN PARTY…get out there and BUST A MOVE…show others HOW YOU WIFFLE… if you are worried about the outcome FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT… hopefully others will join in, otherwise use RULE #1, WAIT IT OUT…because everyone deserves TWO SHOTS, LAST LETTER…but you will WIN SOME, LOSE SOME…so chalk the losses up to gaining experience and celebrate the wins with T-SHIRTS!
There you have it, John and Scotty Don’t’s “9 Dos and Don’ts “(They’re more like guidelines).
Everybody knows the saying, “Sharing is Caring,” So please comment with a rule that you follow and why.