tryptophantastic

With a belly full of turkey, I’m writing to give some thanks – albeit some unconventional thanks. (If you want the traditional thank you list, it's here)

And now for something completely different:

I'd like to use this post to thank all the people who have ever discouraged, criticized, and doubted -- for you may very well be the best motivation there is.

Positive reinforcement always gets the praise (fitting, I suppose) for being a driving force in most people's lives. Not surprising, given how much people enjoy receiving it.

But what about the chip-on-the-shoulder-forming folks whose faces you envision on the dartboard? Personally, the people who motivate (intentionally or not) through negative reinforcement have always been an incredible impetus in my life.

A football coach I had (yes, I played football -- albeit for only a year) specialized in this type of motivation. Nowadays, there's no one in sweats blaring a whistle at me in between gruff curses and putdowns (despite my requests, Steve won't comply), but there's still plenty of motivation out there to prove all the believers right and all the naysayers wrong.

Thanks, coach.

//thanks for the title suggestion Connor, even though by "title suggestion" I mean "the text that I blatantly stole from your away message and used as my title."