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How you start your day sets the pattern for how you’ll feel and what you will accomplish during the day. Your morning routine has a big impact on whether you have a good day, or a bad one. The tone for your entire day is set by your first couple of hours.
You’ve already experienced this phenomenon. How does you day go when you are late for work due to circumstances beyond your control? Perhaps you encountered much heavier than normal traffic, or the train or bus you were on broke down. When your day starts off wrong everything that follows seems tainted.
Some people seem to be immune to negativity. These individuals can fall into a mud hole and climb out unsoiled. Then there are those individuals who attract mud wherever they go. Everything they touch dissolves into disarray.
The difference between the two groups of people is attitude. The first group starts their day as one of opportunity, whereas the second group looks at each day as problematic. A shift in mindset is all that’s required to move from the second group into the first.
Your expectations determine the direction of your daily path. When you expect your day to be stress and problem filled that’s the direction it will go. On the other hand, when you look forward to the upcoming day with optimism and joy your results will be more desirable.
Starting your day full of fear takes you down a negative path. Fear clouds your thinking, impairs your judgement, and feeds procrastination. Fear is displaced with positive action. Instead of being afraid of what might happen, determine what steps you can take to bring you your desired results.
Start your day by acting the way you want it to go. Have confidence, determination, and a positive attitude. Your actions influence your emotions. So, smile to feel happy rather than waiting to feel happy before you smile.
Exercise your mind and body. Your mind, like your muscles, requires regular use to stay in shape. Solving problems is a great mental workout. The more problems you solve, the better you become. Start your day by formulating solutions for any problems you may be facing.
Your body requires movement to stay in healthy shape. Starting your day with just 15 minutes of exercise also boosts your mindset. Effective exercise can be as simple as a brisk walk. Regular, consistent exercise provides numerous life-long benefits.
Start your day with an open mind. Be open to new strategies, solutions, and approaches. Be ready and willing to change, adapt, and improvise as needed. Look to others who have successfully followed a similar path for inspiration.
Start your day with a can do, will do spirit. Set your mind to accomplish whatever is needed. Drive, discipline, and determination propel you forward. If one approach doesn’t bring you desired results, alter your strategy. Never, ever, give up.
You attract what you think about. Start each day focusing your thoughts on what you want, not what you don’t want. Put everything into positive terms. Look to where you want to go, rather than what you want to avoid.
Start each day being proactive. Have a determination to do whatever it takes to move closer to your goals. Don’t wait for things to happen, make them happen. You are in charge. If you are not happy with your current direction, change course.
Start each day on the right foot with a positive attitude, outlook, and determination. You have the power to shape each day into what you want it to be. Unexpected challenges and surprises will occur. It’s the way you start your day which makes the difference.

LAFAYETTE – Acadiana’s premier professional sports franchise is no longer a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
After 31 years of bringing world-class professional golf to the Acadiana area, the PGA Tour informed the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS last week that the tournament would not be a part of the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2023 and future schedules.
“We’re devastated,” said Louisiana Open executive director Danny Jones. “We have been partners with the PGA Tour for 31 years and have raised over $5 million for local charities and youth groups, so while we’re saddened by the news, we’re extremely proud of everything we’ve accomplished over the last three decades.”
The Chitimacha Louisiana Open has been part of the PGA Tour’s developmental and “proving-ground” tour since 1992 under several different Tour monikers – the Ben Hogan, Nike, Buy.com, Nationwide, Web.com and the current Korn Ferry Tour. Only four events on the Tour have been around longer than the local event including events in Knoxville, Boise and Springfield, Mo., from the inaugural Tour season in 1990 and the Wichita event in 1991.
The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana has been the lead sponsor since the Open’s second year as part of a national tour in 1993.
“We’ve been blessed to have incredible sponsors since 1992,” Jones said. “The Chitimacha Tribe has been with us through strong years and lean years. They may not be the biggest sponsor, but they’re one of the most loyal sponsors across the entire PGA Tour. We would not have lasted 31 years without them.”
Jones said changes in the financial structure of professional golf brought about the decision. The Korn Ferry Tour will continue with a maximum 26-event schedule, with three new events replacing tournaments dropped from the 2022 schedule – along with the Louisiana Open, the Lake Charles Championship and the Live and Work in Maine Open in Falmouth, Maine. Jones said the Louisiana Open budget was about $500,000 short of where the PGA Tour wants its Korn Ferry Tour events.
“The long and short of it, the Korn Ferry Tour has outgrown the Lafayette and Acadiana market,” he said. “We exhausted every option to keep the event here locally, but unfortunately, this decision was made by the PGA Tour for what they feel is best for the future of their tour. While it’s a business decision and one that hurts, we understand it.
“The business of professional golf has changed more in the last six months than it did in the previous 10 years combined. If we’d never had a tour event and the PGA Tour were evaluating markets now, we wouldn’t be anywhere on their radar. We’ve been the little engine that could for a long time.”
The Louisiana Open existed for years as a regional event before becoming a part of the Ben Hogan Tour in 1992, a year in which the total purse was $125,000. Last March’s winner, Carl Yuan, pocketed $135,000 out of a total $750,000 purse, and it had already been announced that the 2023 event and beyond would be contested for a tournament-record $1 million purse.
Jones said that the biggest impact of the cancellation will be on the many local and regional charities that have been beneficiaries of the $5 million-plus raised by the non-profit Open organization.
“The Tour understands the impact of our 31-year history and how important our mission is to give back,” he said. “In staying true to our mission statement -- that we are first and foremost a vehicle for local and regional charities to raise fund -- we hope to continue to partner with the Tour in some capacity and continue to make a difference in our community.”
To that effect, Jones said the Louisiana Open organization would remain in place going forward, with new events and new fund-raising efforts with the goal to continue helping raise charitable dollars.
“To all our sponsors, volunteers and charities, this isn’t the end of the Chitimacha Louisiana Open,” he said. “We appreciate all their time and efforts that have been given since 1992, and ask them to be patient while we navigate our near future and figure out what that future looks like. When we know what that is, we hope they’re with us.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done for 31 years and the impact we’ve made. We’ve been through a lot of adversity with the downturn in oil, hurricanes and a pandemic, but we live in a special place and this doesn’t change that.”

The 2022 breeding season was a big success for Louisiana’s experimental whooping crane project as eight wild hatched chicks have fledged and been added to the Louisiana population. The eight chicks are the most in a single breeding season since the project was initiated by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) in 2011.
A total of 15 whooping crane chicks hatched this year with eight surviving to fledge. It brings the Louisiana population to 76, 16 of which were wild hatched in the state. The first wild hatched Louisiana chick came in April of 2016, the first to hatch in the state in more than 75 years.
Louisiana’s whooping crane reintroduction project began in 2011 when 10 juvenile whooping cranes from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center were released at the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in Vermilion Parish to initiate the non-migratory flock. This marked a significant conservation milestone with the first wild whooping cranes in Louisiana since 1950. Support of partners, including Chevron, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon Nature Institute, Coypu Foundation, Entergy, Cameron LNG, SLEMCO, International Crane Foundation and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, have allowed LDWF to expand its effort in Louisiana.
“Eight chicks is the most we’ve ever had and it’s also the most that have ever fledged in a single year from any of the reintroduction projects nationwide,’’ said LDWF Biologist Sara Zimorski, who oversees the whooping crane project. “We can’t point out exactly why this was our best year. It could be partly the age and experience of the birds. We certainly have birds that have gained experience hatching and raising chicks over the previous few years, but we did also have some new pairs who were successful for the first time this year.”
Zimorski said dry conditions during the breeding season, which runs from February until June, may have also been a determining factor.
“I don’t think we’ve had a nesting season during a drought like we had this year,’’ Zimorski said. “Intuitively it doesn’t seem like that would be good, but according to some colleagues from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other species of water birds often have really good breeding success in drought years that follow wet years, which we definitely had last year. It’ll be interesting to see how the weather patterns correlate with breeding success going forward.’’
Whooping cranes are slow to mature and only lay one to two eggs during a nesting attempt, typically raising only a single chick even if both eggs hatch. So reproduction can be a slow process. The cranes normally don’t reach sexual maturity until they are 3-5 years old and the captive reared cranes, when introduced into Louisiana, have been less than 1 year-old. Louisiana cranes have had some success at young ages with several of this year’s successful parents being 5 years old. Additionally this year, for the second year in a row, and for the third time since chicks first hatched in 2016, a pair was successful in fledging twins.
Anyone encountering a whooping crane is advised to observe the bird from a distance and to report the sighting to LDWF at: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/report-a-whooping-crane-sighting-or-v... . Whooping cranes are large-bodied, white birds with a red head and black facial markings. Birds measure a height of five feet and have a wingspan of seven to eight feet that makes them very distinctive. In flight, whooping cranes display black wing tips and a fully extended neck, and legs, which extend well beyond the tail.
For more information on the whooping crane project, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/subhome/whooping-crane and https://www.facebook.com/lawhoopingcranes/. To see how you can support the project, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/support-whooping-crane-conservation or http://www.lawff.org/.

Mike Hardy is not a college football coach.
However, like a college football coach, Hardy has spent a good bit of time on the recruiting trail.
Since his return as Abbeville Chief of Police on July 1, Hardy has actively sought to bring new people into the department. That included a stop by the Rotary Club of Abbeville’s weekly meeting last Wednesday.
“This is happening right now,” Hardy said, “I am actively recruiting, everywhere I go. If I speak at a meeting, I’m going to ask if you know anyone between the ages of 18 and 78.
“We’re promoting Abbeville Police everywhere we go.”
Hardy took over a department that, like many in other municipalities, had a shortage of officers. Again, like a football coach, Hardy crafted a plan to best utilize the talent he had available.
“We were short when I took over,” Hardy said, “mostly with patrol officers. I took everybody, lieutenants, sergeants, everybody who has been to the academy, and put them on a (patrol) shift. They are still on that shift.”
That allowed Hardy to increase the size of the shifts.
“When I took over we had two and three-man shifts,” Hardy explained. “Now, we have five-man shifts, each with a supervisor.”
Hardy said that increased presence has led to some positive results.
“We don’t have gunshots every night of the week anymore,” Hardy said. “We don’t have shootings weekly. We have had one homicide since I have been in office. We’ve already made an arrest. It’s not a good thing, but the proper work was done.”
A positive presence is something Hardy, who previously served as Abbeville chief from 1990 to 2002, wants from his officers.
“I want the officers to ride in the neighborhoods with their windows down,” Hardy said, “where people can see them. I encourage our officers to stop and visit with people. You want them to build trust.”
While Hardy is looking to add manpower to the department, he would love to add “man’s best friend.” He said at the top of his “wish list” is a K-9 officer.
“I’m a big believer in K-9 units,” Hardy said. “I say a K-9 unit can do the work of four men. A well-trained dog can search a building in the 10th of the time and provides great security.”
Those units do come at a price.
“I have a quote from a K-9 trainer,” Hardy said. “Two K-9 units, trained, all you have to do is provide the officer...$21,000. When I first started in ‘90, that cost was $6,000.”
One thing that hasn’t changed is how the department works cold cases. That is by gathering information. Hardy said there are open homicide cases where every bit of new information helps.
“We are working them and getting information,” Hardy said. “We do have people who stop in and give more information. I have stacks of papers on my desk.
“It helps a lot.”
Everywhere Hardy goes, he’s looking for help for the department.
“Recruiting is tough,” Hardy said. “The Abbeville Police Department is looking for officers.
“I’m looking to hire anyone who is willing to better their community and serve their community.”