Title: Don't Just Show Up. Run to Win. (17)
Series: 1 Corinthians
Author: Robert Dawson
Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Cotton Fitzsimons coached the NBA's Atlanta Hawks back in the early 1970s. Fitzsimons, who is in the basketball hall of fame. He was a good coach, a great motivator and quite a character. One time his underperforming, young and not so talented team was playing the Boston Celtics, who were, well the Boston Celtics. So, Fitzsimons got his players together for pregame pep-talk. He wanted them to think beyond their current reality, to see the possibilities, so the theme of the pregame pep-talk was "pretend."
He said, "Men. When you go out there tonight forget that you are in last place. Pretend you are in first place. Forget that you have been in a long losing streak. Pretend you have been on a long winning streak. Forget this is a regular game. Pretend this game is for the championship.
They went out on that court fired up and the Boston Celtics mopped the floor with them. They came back to the locker room after the game and Fitzsimons was furious. One of his players came up with a big grin on his face, put his hand on his coach's shoulder and said, "Cheer up coach. Pretend we just won the game!" (J. Merritt)
Pretending is not enough. You have to perform. Showing up is not enough.
I try to get to the gym regularly. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in that endeavor over the last few weeks. You see a lot of the same folks each time and are friendly with them. Often the question is, "How's it going?" Someone will say, "I'm here." To which the other person responds, "You've won the battle. You are here." I understand what they mean. Showing up is good. It is a victory of sorts, but it is not enough.
There are those in the gym, like myself, who never get smaller. The weight doesn't come off. Somewhere deep down under all this there is muscle. Others don't get bigger. They don't get stronger or build endurance. They still ...
Series: 1 Corinthians
Author: Robert Dawson
Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Cotton Fitzsimons coached the NBA's Atlanta Hawks back in the early 1970s. Fitzsimons, who is in the basketball hall of fame. He was a good coach, a great motivator and quite a character. One time his underperforming, young and not so talented team was playing the Boston Celtics, who were, well the Boston Celtics. So, Fitzsimons got his players together for pregame pep-talk. He wanted them to think beyond their current reality, to see the possibilities, so the theme of the pregame pep-talk was "pretend."
He said, "Men. When you go out there tonight forget that you are in last place. Pretend you are in first place. Forget that you have been in a long losing streak. Pretend you have been on a long winning streak. Forget this is a regular game. Pretend this game is for the championship.
They went out on that court fired up and the Boston Celtics mopped the floor with them. They came back to the locker room after the game and Fitzsimons was furious. One of his players came up with a big grin on his face, put his hand on his coach's shoulder and said, "Cheer up coach. Pretend we just won the game!" (J. Merritt)
Pretending is not enough. You have to perform. Showing up is not enough.
I try to get to the gym regularly. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in that endeavor over the last few weeks. You see a lot of the same folks each time and are friendly with them. Often the question is, "How's it going?" Someone will say, "I'm here." To which the other person responds, "You've won the battle. You are here." I understand what they mean. Showing up is good. It is a victory of sorts, but it is not enough.
There are those in the gym, like myself, who never get smaller. The weight doesn't come off. Somewhere deep down under all this there is muscle. Others don't get bigger. They don't get stronger or build endurance. They still ...
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