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Issue 290 - Passion doesn't last as long as love.


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 6	Issue 290
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PASSION DOESN'T LAST AS LONG AS LOVE Click here to watch Coach John Wooden video clip. Many success gurus say you must find something you are passionate about. Coach Wooden had a more cautious approach suggesting enthusiasm. He advises that: You must truly enjoy what you are doing. Coach is consistent in suggesting love instead of passion and makes a clear distinction. In his book Wooden with Steve Jamison Coach wrote: Love is more than passion. Passion is temporary. It isn't lasting. Love, real love, lasts. Coach continued with his thoughts on love this way: Love means many things. It means giving. It means sharing. It means for forgiving. It means understanding. It means being patient. It means learning. And you must always consider the other side, the other person. In both work and marriage you must be considerate and sincerely care about the welfare of the other person. Marriage requires that each partner listen to the other side. It's like what I say about leadership: "You must be interested in finding the best way not having your own way." The same is true in marriage. Don't be stubborn and insist on having your own way. Look to find a way that works for both of you. In his fantastic book Coach Wooden and Me Kareem Abdul Jabbar tells a remarkable story about Coach Wooden in a shouting match with one of his players Bill Sweek in the locker room after their victory over Drake in the semifinal game for the 1969 national championship. Sweek was unhappy with his playing time and general treatment and as Kareem entered the shower there was Coach Wooden being held back by his assistant coaches while Sweek reeled off his grievances and taunted: "You wanna fight me, old man?" Certainly this was a passionate exchange. The next morning at the team breakfast Coach Wooden addressed the team: "I've given a lot of hard thought to what Bill said last night. I can see that what Bill said was not all together without merit. Now, I certainly don't agree with the way he delivered his opinions or his behavior on the court any more than I condone the way I reacted. But I'm glad we got it all out in the open. I just want you to know how proud I am of all of you and how happy I am to have the privilege of coaching you." Coach then asked Bill to come up and they shook hands in front of the team. The next night, with Sweek playing, UCLA won its fifth national championship. For Coach Wooden love not passion had guided his actions. Coach summed it up this way: People asked if I raised my own family the way I ran the UCLA basketball team. I tell them no I ran the team pretty much like I ran my family. Coach wanted the forgiveness that love brings not the stubbornness of passion to be his guide. What guides your actions? Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 290. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 290. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE The One in Ten Nine passed him by with a hasty look, Each bent on his eager way; One glance at him was the most they took, 'Somebody stuck,' said they; But it never occurred to the nine to heed A stranger's plight and a stranger's need. The tenth man looked at the stranded car, And he promptly stopped his own. 'Let's see if I know what your troubles are,' Said he in a cheerful tone; 'Just stuck in the mire. Here's a cable stout, Hitch onto my bus and I'll pull you out.' 'A thousand thanks,' said the stranger then, 'For the debt that I owe you; I've counted them all and you're one in ten Such a kindly deed to do.' And the tenth man smiled and he answered then, 'Make sure that you'll be the one in ten.' Are you one of the nine who pass men by In this hasty life we live? Do you refuse with a downcast eye The help which you could give? Or are you the one in ten whose creed Is always to stop for the man in need? Edgar Albert Guest
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