The Smile

If you have been around me a little bit you will discover I have my nose into a self-development book or I am listening to an audible book.  I've been listening to Dale Carnegies book "How to Win Friends & Influence People".   Once you get to know the principles, you can practice your Jedi mind tricks.  Watch out my friends.   Anyway, one of the principles is to SMILE more.  In Scouting, if you look at the ranks from Second Class on up... there is a Scroll.  The scroll is to remind us Scouts to smile regardless of the task.

There's a lot of success principles being taught to our scouts. 

So get out there and do something with a smile!

Scoutmaster vs Coach

I was recently talking to some friends about being a Scoutmaster.  It dawned on me that a Scoutmaster is like a coach.   A coach teaches fundamentals of the sport.  Things like how to kick a soccer ball on the inside or the outside of the foot.  How to pass that soccer ball to teammates.  A Scoutmaster teaches fundamentals about how to set up a campfire and how to be safe around one.  Coaches can be tough on their players to get them to perform.  At times Scoutmasters have to be tough on the scouts for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes its for safety reasons and sometimes its for the deeper life lesson. 
I know some sport coaches will teach character, teamwork, and leadership.  In scouting, we teach so much more that the Scouts will be able to use in their life... First Aid, Community Service, Personal Managements (time and money), Physical Fitness, Chemistry, Nature, Cooking, and group leadership and project management... to name a few.

I recently read in a troop guide that meetings are like practices and campouts are like games.

Below in the picture... teaching the fundamentals of throwing a tomahawk.

A Scout is thrifty

Scout is thrifty...  I ask my scouts the question "What does it mean to them to be thrifty?"  I get all kinds of responses about recycling, saving money, not running the water while they brush their teeth.  All good stuff.

Today is Black Friday, in the past my wife would go hit the stores and be in line before the stores open.  Some years, she would convince me to go with her.   I have to admit the battle was a bit fun.  She always had a strategy.   With it being Black Friday, I wonder, do you really get a good deal.  I think the answer can be Yes, but you need to know what you are getting.  There's some good deals out there and some deals with cheap products with cheap prices.  Being thrifty doesn't mean be cheap.

A Scout can be thrifty by paying attention to how, where and what they are purchasing.

Flag Retirement

For Veterans Day, we retired several flags.  It is interesting to me that each year we have just as many flags to retire as the year before.  What I like about this ceremony is that all of the Scouts can participate.  At the next Court of Honor, those that participated will receive garments from the flags.