In these difficult and dangerous times, one must ask the question, "What is my role in all of this'"
Speaking to a room packed with Redstone senior military leadership, community leaders and Soldiers from the 59th Ordnance Brigade, NFL hall of famer John Stallworth, guest speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast held at the Officers and Civilians Club on Feb. 11, spoke about the power of a positive attitude and how the words that we say can turn disappointments into strengths.
Amanda Tapley, Miss Alabama 2008, was also a guest of honor and sang the national anthem and a rendition of Nessun Dorma shortly after the breakfast. Nessun Dorma, meaning "None Shall Sleep Tonight," is one of the operatic songs from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot. Tapley, crowned Miss Alabama on June 7, 2008, is an accomplished pianist and vocalist and currently a pre-med student and piano major at Samford University in Birmingham.
Her personal platform this year, Music for a Cure, has raised money for the Children's Miracle Network benefiting the Children's Hospital of Alabama. She also created a CD fund-raising project and hosted a concert benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
More than 400 tickets were sold or given away for the National Prayer Breakfast. The annual event, celebrated for more than 65 years, has expanded to incorporate members of the Redstone/Huntsville community.
"It strengthens you as a person," Garrison commander Col. Bob Pastorelli said
during his welcome remarks. A time to listen, learn and receive guidance, the breakfast included reading passages from scriptures and prayers for the nation, armed forces and for Soldiers and their families.
Stallworth thanked all the Soldiers and civilians on Redstone who he said are the people that "make our nation safe."
"We live in a difficult time," Stallworth said. "We face economic issues we've never seen before." If you're like me, he continued, these issues leave you with questions such as how do we survive, keep America strong, continue to support our families and all the while, have hope and maintain a positive attitude. More importantly, Stallworth said, "What is my role in all of this'"
"I think the answer comes from all of us individually," he said, adding that the answers come when we work together.
Think positively in your thoughts, words and actions. "Toxic people are losers," Stallworth said. They hammer away on things that cannot be done, focusing on the negatives instead of the positives. Instead of focusing on the solution, they focus on the problem. On the other hand, nourishing people are positive - they nourish growth and solutions. Stallworth described positive people as the "energy bandpipes that make you feel encouraged and inspired."
Great commanders have this trait in common, he said, and it is important for commanders to have a positive attitude. Alluding to an experience he and his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates had years ago, Stallworth recalled a statement that was made about the team - "You are not as good as you want to be" - which had a powerful effect on the team's perspective. They began to feel the stress of this statement. But in Pittsburgh, they encouraged each other to be positive to win games, Stallworth said. "We accepted that statement as a challenge and won our fourth Super Bowl."
"The power of life and death is in the words that we say," Stallworth said. It takes special people to say positive things. Positive attitudes encourage, inspire and enable people to work through the challenges.
"Choose to be positive," Stallworth said. "Turn disappointments into strengths. It is important to recognize and respect the whole team."
"I think we are all role models," he said. He cited his parents who gave him time and attention and taught him how to come of age. "From them I learned to keep the faith."
We are role models in every respect, Stallworth continued, in the roles we play in our families, in the roles we assume when we wear our uniforms, and in our roles as friends and co-workers. "Choose to be a role model for everything that is good," he said.
"Enjoy life's process, not just its rewards," Stallworth said. "Measure yourself not by what you've done, but what you could have done."
The Blue Note Five, a five-member a cappella group from the Huntsville Police Department, sang a musical prelude and provided breakfast entertainment. Garrison Chaplain James Benson provided the invocation and presented Stallworth and Tapley with a plaque at the end of the breakfast.
Prayer Breakfast Groups were inaugurated in the Senate and House of Representatives since 1942, to discuss their individual spiritual needs and the diverse but uniform dependence of this country on God. In 1953, members of the Senate and House prayer groups and President Eisenhower established the first Presidential Prayer Breakfast to seek divine guidance for the national leadership and to reaffirm faith and dependence on God. In 1970 the name was changed to the National Prayer Breakfast, which is celebrated by military installations worldwide.
Social Sharing