Jack’s Winning Words  2/7/20 “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”  (Zig Ziglar)  Some students at Wayne State Univ are trying to reintroduce words that have been “lost” because of disuse…like, perendinate, meaning to procrastinate for a long time.  Ziglar stressed in his sales workshops that the first sale is not made until the first call is made.  I remember the Watkins salesman who came to our house regularly on his bicycle.  He was no perendinator!  How about you…and me?  ;-)  Jack FROM THE FISH IN SCOTIA:  You had a door-to-door salesman for a British beer? That's class! I remember their radio ad in a Cockney accent--"Wot we wahnt is Watneys." About the same era as "My Goodness, My Guinness."  Don't think I ever had one, though.n===JACK:  I'm not an expert on beers...only root.  The Watkins man sold a lot of home products.  He kept sample of each in a little suitcase.  As I recall, we bought mostly vanilla.===FISH:  I have root beer in fond memory. My mother used to go off to rehearse with the KC Philharmonic and in my preschool years there we lived with my Swedish grandparents. My grandmother used to make us a snack of root beer and Cheezits (not sure of the spelling) and cautioned me never to tell my mother because I was not allowed to have them. I kept the secret for many years, but mentioned it to my mother in her late years and found out she had known all about it all along.  I remember that root beer as delicious. Late in life, I have always been disappointed in the root beers I have tried--they seem like caramel water. I wondered if what Gramma provided was actually brewed from real sassafras. Don't know what its commercial name was because I couldn't read at the time. Do you know if it was "real" in those days?===JACK:  "Real" root beer was A&W, straight from the tap into a frosty glass mug at the root beer stand. FROM WALMART REV:  Dad (a salesman in his own right) always said, you have to knock on eighty doors sometimes to get that sale you are looking for. A “door knocker” for Jesus, we are, Jack!! 0;-) ===JACK:  When I was starting the church in WB my ratio was one prospect for every ten calls.  The thought of that kept me going from door to door.  Even at non-prospects I left a card and asked the person to pass it on to someone who might be interested. ===REV:  God truly blessed your effort "in His Name" . . . I was happy those referrals you sent me when the charismatics would ask you about the name of the church and the dove on the stained glass window!! Always have been a great friend to me, Jack!! Thank you!! 0;- When I was starting the church in WB my ratio was one prospect for every ten calls.  The thought of that kept me going from door to door.  Even at non-prospects I left a card and asked the person to pass it on to someone who might be interested.  FRO BB IB CHGO:  My dad used to read Zig and Earl Nightengale – the power of positive thinking.===JACK:  I seem to remember hearing that from you.  Was he a salesman?===BB:  Yes, he sold printing services for Gregg Moore until opening his own print business when I was about 10 years old.  You have a great memory.  How has your winter gone thus far?===JACK:  For me, Groundhog Day signals the downside of winter.  I've heard that our January was among the warmest and wettest on record.  Curiosity will cause me to look up Gregg Moore. FROM GOOD DEBT JON:    It's hard to give up procrastination when over the years half the big things I have procrastinated on, turned out for the best. Like a version of "Thank God for Unanswered Prayers." Though in daily work practices it's a horrible practice. ===JACK:  I with your thoughts.  Some of my best work seems to have been done after procrastination.  Another quote that I like..."If it weren't for the ;last minute, a lot of things wouldn't get done. FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  i like zig on fb!===JACK:  I was surprised to read that he's on Facebook .  Then I looked and saw that he died in 2012.  ...and he was about my age.  I guess that he could be on Facebook, after all. FROM BLAZING OAKS:   I don't know about being great, as I've never been, but you do have to start to get anything done, and, most of us have a lot to do! :-)===JACK:  Not great?  Ha!  How about all of the plays and musical;s you've starred in?  ...and who has been the perfect pastor's wife, etc, etc?  I bow before you!