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CHAMPIONS ... all men can, and should, be champions to the people most important in his life… especially that special woman ... This portion of chapter 13 is excerpted from the narrtive portion of the chapter. I played high school football and one day the coach gathered the team together. Seems one of his players got one of the cheerleaders "in trouble" and he felt it was his obligation to talk to "his boys" about the responsibilities of being a man. In his talk he used some of the sports analogies you'll find here. Funny, but after all these years I remember that talk like it was yesterday. The last paragraph is very close to his words all those years ago. I include it here for "coaches" of all stripes. Imagine for a moment that you're a professional baseball player. Your batting average is .200, twenty hits in a hundred at bats. At that rate, you won't last a season in "the show." On the other hand, a .300 average, thirty hits in a hundred at bats, and you're in the Hall of Fame. Ten more hits in a hundred at bats, just 10%. Or try this, "Joe Nobody", the pro from "East Nowhere", shoots 300 at the Masters and ends up at the bottom of the heap. "Tiger" shoots 270, dons a green jacket and pockets a cool million bucks. Again, 10%. And those are the big differences. Winning and losing in track and field, auto racing, skiing, swimming, and most other sports is far less. On the playing field, whatever shape it takes, the difference between oblivion and immortality is often a mere 10% ... or less. Isn't it the same way with our own lives? Is the difference between being mediocre and excelling at our education, our jobs and careers, or our friendships a mere 10% ... or less? And is the same true in our relationships with women? Is the difference between saying no to laziness and self-indulgence so radically difficult than saying yes? Is the difference between spending your life with a woman of beauty, quality, and class a mere 10% away from just another worthless night spent seeking a profound significance in a hollow intimacy with someone you don't even really know? ... you know ... another meaningless one night stand.... No one has ever won a world championship by simply walking out of the stands, putting on a uniform, and stepping up to the plate or the foul line. Putting a racing saddle on a show pony doesn’t turn him into a Kentucky Derby Champion any more than putting on a new suit, changing one’s ride, or blindly following the crowd makes a man a leader, a man of character, courage, and strength. If a championship athlete grows lazy, he becomes weak, ineffective, and, eventually, no longer a champion. It’s the same thing with a man. Become morally, spiritually, and emotionally lazy, and your relationship with the women in your life, with yourself, and with your God will suffer … and die. There’s no big box store called “Character Mart” or “Courage is Us.” You can’t just go buy it; you have to build it. And that takes a choice. It takes time … and effort…. …Will you have the stones? ... …Will you be her champion? |
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