See Also:
Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero: The John Schneider Story.
Life Lesson #62 – Think Before You Act.
Josh and his friend were two sixth graders who loved football. Josh was a Cowboys fan. Josh’s friend had two favorite teams—the Washington Redskins and whoever was playing against the Dallas Cowboys at any given time! The two boys always had fun together, and most of the time when you saw them, there was also a football somewhere nearby!
One day they wanted to throw some passes and run some plays after school. So, about four o’clock that afternoon, they headed over to the practice field. There were some other kids out there, but there was also plenty of room to play. Josh threw a pass, and his friend ran long to receive it—a perfect completion! “This is going to be a good day,” thought Josh. Then as his friend went to return the pass, a third grader ran between them chasing a runaway soccer ball. Josh’s friend shouted, “Get outta here, kid,” and then he hit the boy with the football, knocking him down. Josh couldn’t believe what he had just seen! He quickly ran up to help the boy, all the while yelling at his friend about what he had done. Fortunately, the boy was not hurt, but he was a bit nervous about it all.
Josh said to his friend, “Hey man, I’m not doing that,” as he took his football and started heading home. His friend had never been challenged about his behavior before. “What do you mean?” he asked. “You’re acting like a jerk, dude! You hurt that kid on purpose, even if it was just hurting his feelings, and I’m just not doing that—period! Why don’t you try being a HERO instead and HELP other people?” Josh’s friend had a lot to think about, and Josh—well, Josh had already HELPED two people—the third grader and his friend who later did have a change of attitude and started following Josh’s example.
– Jim Lord