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Pregame Speech (October 2003)Thoughts, stories, examples and ideas on challenging your team to perform at their highest level possible. THE
VALUE OF TIME (A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door. What a great story to tell your team when talking about taking advantage of the time you have together, this time in their lives, the competition, the practices, the games, etc.)
It
had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and
life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There,
in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and
often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and
nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh,
sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry,
but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him. "I
loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said. "He's
the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business
if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were
important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr.
Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and
most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing
in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another
dimension, a leap through space and time.
The
house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every
piece of furniture.... Jack stopped suddenly. "What's
wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said. "What
box? " Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said. It
was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except
for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom." It
had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day
Jack discovered a note in his mailbox.
"Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read. Early
the next day Jack retrieved the package.
The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr.
Harold Belser" it read.
Jack
took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the
gold box and Jack's
hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon
my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing
I valued His
heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There
inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over
the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.
Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! Harold Belser." "The
thing he valued most...was...my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?"
Janet, his assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh,
by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!"
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away." YOUR
BANK ACCOUNT WITH $86, 400! There
is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out ALL OF IT, of course!!!! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each
day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE-SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal
in the Olympics.
Treasure
every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with
And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!!!
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