View From The Treatment Room at Hednesford Town FC

I guess that during difficult times at any football club key people have what is termed PMA.  Manager Dean Edwards and Richard Walker

has it. It would be good to see our players to believe in themselves and have it too. 

What is it?  Well it is called Positive Mental Attitude (PMA)

It can bring success, even to a team like ours, who go through regular losing streaks.It is basically about thinking be successful and removing any negative thoughts. Negative thoughts are like `cobwebs` and need to be `blown` away.

Ironically we learn more about ourselves from failure and adversity. Failure is actually a stepping stone to success. Trouble is sometimes we just do not know this. Ask yourself this when was the last time you had strived to be successful in a venture and you had given up. Did you realise know how close you were to succeeding?

 Take the story of Clem Labine for instance. He was known throughout the baseball world as a pitcher for Los Angeles Dodgers. He could throw one of the best curved balls in America. When Clem was a young boy he broke the index finger of his right hand. The finger was not set correctly. It healed but there was a permanent crook between the first and second joint. Clem had a live time ambition to be a top athlete in Baseball. This injury discouraged him and he thought this was the end of his dream of having a playing career.

His coach later told him “Sometimes the things that seem like disasters turn out to be blessings in disguise. It all depends on how you regard the troubles that come your way. It is said that every adversity has the seed of a greater benefit”

Clem took the advice to heart and kept playing. Soon he discovered that he had a natural pitching (throwing) arm and as he practiced he found that the crooked finger could be put to good use. The bend in the finger gave the ball a twist and a spin that no other pitcher in his team possessed. Clem was encouraged. Year after year he worked to develop this spin until he became one of the best players in the sport.

How did he accomplish this? Through natural skill of course but also with lots of hard work. More importunately through a change in mental attitude. Clem had learned to looked for the good in the unfortunate situation with his broken finger. By being positive he attracted success.

So we are the masters of our own fate because we are masters of our own attitudes.