"You have to do your best while you still have a chance. Life is short" - Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig said those words on July 4, 1939 as he benched himself after playing 2,130 consecutive baseball games in a row. A record that would stand for 56 years. Lou was made of iron. He played no matter what. He played through multiple broken bones, pulled muscles, rolled ankles, and never let it minimize his performance. One day he took a wild fastball to the head and it knocked him unconscious for five minutes in the batters box and he was rushed to the hospital (this was before they played with helmets). Once he regained his senses he left the hospital and started in the game the next day. He said "One crack on the head isn't going to keep me from playing baseball." He was all about team over self. He did this in an era when there were virtually no rules to protect the players or limit the number of games in a specific time period like there are now. For example, he played 36 games in a 35 day period in five different cities.
As the Yankees continued to gain success they upgraded the wooden bench in their dugout to padded seats. Gehrig was spotted by the team's manager tearing the pads off of one of the seats. Lou said "I get tired of sitting on cushions, cushions in my car, cushions on the chairs at home, every place I go they have cushions."
Lou understood how to perform to the level of his best despite whatever situation or injury tried to slow hime down. His internal drive made up for any deficiency of his body until his body literally couldn't do it anymore. He truly gave it his all. Do we give it our all? Or do we stay home from the office when our throat hurts, or we don't feel our best, or fill in the blank. Do we love what we do enough or love the people we work with enough to truly give it our all. Will we show up?
One thing to note about Lou. The only reason he benched on himself on July 4, 1939 was due to the fact that he developed ALS. His muscles had shriveled, his hands began to curl too bad to put his hand in a glove, and he drug his leg too bad to continue making plays at the level he needed to. He played through it as long as he could. I believe if ALS wouldn't have set in he would still hold the record for most consecutive games played to this day.
Lou understood that getting comfortable was the enemy and that success is an endless series of invitations to get comfortable.
We get one life to live here on this earth, rip the pad off the seat of life and stay uncomfortable!
Lead NWA well this week!
- Dr. Keith McDaniel
