Dear Editor:
After the last Board of Election I took my defeat very personal. I truly believed I would win one of the three positions up for election. I am a diabetic, my sugar count went off the charts. I had a pain in my stomach. I thought I was getting an ulcer. Funny thing, me getting an ulcer. Most of my life I have been accused of giving politicians ulcers, not getting them. I blamed everyone for my defeat. I questioned the voters’ logic for not voting for me. I questioned those who said they voted for me. Did they actually vote for me? Some of my supporters told me that my frankness and honesty made me enemies in both the Elwell and Gonnelli camp. Some accused me of having ulterior motives, etc. I said to myself, who needs this, I will never run again. I will punish them for not voting for me. I’m not going to join the Secaucus Swimming Pool Club this year. I will make myself scarce, I’ll show them. That was going to be my way of punishing all who did not vote for me. Strange as that might seem, it did get a reaction. When people would inquire as to why I have been so quiet or would I ever again run for the B of Ed, Council or Mayor, my reply more or less was as I stated above.
This November in a phone conversation with The Secaucus Reporter’s Matthew Amato, over an entirely different subject, he raised the same old question, “would I be running for the B of Ed in 2009”? I told him definitely not and proceeded to give him a detailed version of my reasons. He suggested that I read a book by Kent M. Keith called, Do It Anyway. I did. It changed my whole prospective. I would like to share some of what author Kent M. Keith in his book calls, Living the Paradoxical Commandments.
No. 1. People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them anyway.
No. 2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
No. 3. If you’re successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
No. 4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
No. 5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
No. 6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
No. 7. People favor the underdog but follow only the top dogs. Fight for the few underdogs anyway.
No. 8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
No. 9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
No. 10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
For the record, I will be a candidate in the 2009 Board of Education Election.
Tom Troyer