“Many people die with their music still in them.”
– Oliver Wendell Homes, Sr.

There has been a lot of heavy stuff happening of late. Let’s lighten up — just a bit — with another visit to the poetry corner. Here is a 2007 poem by X. J. Kennedy:

Time is inevitable; character is possible. Rust is optional. (photo credit: Russ McCabe)

In a prominent bar in Secaucus one day
Rose a lady in skunk with a topheavy sway,
Raised a knobby red finger–all turned from their beer–
While with eyes bright as snowcrust she sang high and clear:

‘Now who of you’d think from an eyeload of me
That I once was a lady as proud as could be?
Oh I’d never sit down by a tumbledown drunk
If it wasn’t, my dears, for the high cost of junk.

‘All the gents used to swear that the white of my calf
Beat the down of the swan by a length and a half.
In the kerchief of linen I caught to my nose
Ah, there never fell snot, but a little gold rose.

‘I had seven gold teeth and a toothpick of gold,
My Virginia cheroot was a leaf of it rolled
And I’d light it each time with a thousand in cash–
Why the bums used to fight if I flicked them an ash.

‘Once the toast of the Biltmore, the belle of the Taft,
I would drink bottle beer at the Drake, never draught,
And dine at the Astor on Salisbury steak
With a clean tablecloth for each bite I did take.

‘In a car like the Roxy I’d roll to the track,
A steel-guitar trio, a bar in the back,
And the wheels made no noise, they turned ever so fast,
Still it took you ten minutes to see me go past.

‘When the horses bowed down to me that I might choose,
I bet on them all, for I hated to lose.
Now I’m saddled each night for my butter and eggs
And the broken threads race down the backs of my legs.

‘Let you hold in mind, girls, that your beauty must pass
Like a lovely white clover that rusts with its grass.
Keep your bottoms off barstools and marry you young
Or be left–an old barrel with many a bung.

‘For when time takes you out for a spin in his car
You’ll be hard-pressed to stop him from going too far
And be left by the roadside, for all your good deeds,
Two toadstools for tits and a face full of weeds.

‘All the house raised a cheer, but the man at the bar
Made a phone call and up pulled a red patrol car
And she blew us a kiss as they copped her away
From that prominent bar in Secaucus, N.J.”

I once heard my friend Bob Shank say that five years from now, the person you are then will be determined by the books you’re reading today.   That made an impression on me, and whenever I pick up a book, I think about this idea.

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx

Given the investment of time and attention required to read, comprehend and retain, it is not surprising that books would have such influence.  As a result, to be the best version of himself a man should definitely read books — but he should make it a point to read really good books.

I have a backlog of books I haven’t yet gotten to this year, but here follows a list of my favorite books read in 2014:

• Live Like A Narnian by Joe Rigney — If you’re a fan of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, this book extracts some of the character traits worth emulating, and does so without quenching the joy of the original stories.  In addition to reminding me again why I love Lewis’s stories so much, it made me want to sit down and read them again.
• Evernote Essentials by Brett Kelly — I’ll admit it: I love Evernote, and I think you should use it, too.  Kelly’s ebook is an entertaining instruction manual written in a conversational style.  I haven’t even implemented all of the suggestions, but reading this book made Evernote even more useful.
• How The World Sees You by Sally Hogshead — Marketing expert Sally Hogshead explains the science of fascination, specifically the attributes that can make each one of us fascinating.  Part of this book is an explanation of the 49 personality archetypes that are discerned from the author’s Fascination Advantage online assessment.  (For the record, my primary advantage is Power and my secondary advantage is Innovation, making me a Change Agent.)
• Drucker & Me by Bob Buford — Bob Buford, author of the leadership classics Halftime and Game Plan, tells the story and shares the lessons he learned from his friendship with the father of modern management, Peter Drucker.   We should all have such mentors.
• 10/10/80 Living: A Practical Roadmap for Financial Success by E. John Wood — If you didn’t come into the world with a good grasp of money management, this book lays out a simple plan for mastering your money.  As the title suggests, you’re encouraged to give ten percent (the Biblical tithe), save ten percent, and live on the rest.  This is easier to say than to do, so Wood explains how to set up — and live on — a budget.
• Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day by Todd Henry — The author of The Accidental Creative lays out the rationale for delivering our best — in terms of effort and results — by slaying what he dubs the seven deadly sins of mediocrity.  The title is inspired by Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poem “The Voiceless” in which Holmes wrote: “Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!”  Henry says we need to plan to go to our graves with all our latent gifts fully expressed.

As you can see, I need to make time over the holidays and next year to read more fiction.  Even so, I have quite a stack to read or re-read, including Tony Robbins’ newest book, Money: Master the Game, and one of my favorites, Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy.

So how about you? What book or books made an impact on you in 2014?  Add a comment below and tell what made them your favorites for this year.

Some men are fans of the high school game, uncorrupted so far by money. Others are partial to the unpaid professional college game which combines the opportunity to engage with both the sport and the university fielding the team.  Still others are obsessed with the pro game — installing satellite TV to be able to catch every game, decorating house, car and wardrobe in team logos, and even participating in fantasy leagues.  As intense as some fans are, one would think that the men with the greatest love for the game would be the ones who played it for a living.  In at least one case, it isn’t so.

Nobody loves the game as much as the guys who play it for a living, right?

Meet Curtis Martin
Curtis Martin played ten seasons in the NFL as a running back — first for the New England Patriots, then for the New York Jets.  During his career, he amassed the fourth highest career rushing yards of all time, and in 2012, Curtis Martin was inducted into the pro football Hall of Fame.

Why Are We Talking About Football?
What is remarkable about Curtis Martin was that he was never a fan of football at any level.  Growing up without a dad in the house, in a violent Pittsburgh neighborhood (he lost several loved ones to murder), his mother made him choose an extracurricular activity just to keep him away from the danger he faced just by being in the neighborhood.  So Curtis joined the football team for the first time as a high school senior.

That success led to a scholarship which in turn led to a successful college career, which led to his being drafted by the New England Patriots.

In his Hall of Fame induction speech, Martin recounted receiving the phone call from Patriots coach Bill Parcells asking if he’d like to play for the Patriots.  Although he answered yes, he said, he hung up the phone and told his family he really didn’t want to play football.

A Timely Word
That evening, Curtis’s pastor, Leroy Joseph,  was visiting the family.  When he heard Curtis say he didn’t want to play football — that he wasn’t even sure he liked football enough to make it his livelihood — Leroy Joseph took  Curtis aside for a talk.  He asked Curtis if it was possible that football was the means God was using to enable Curtis to help other people.

“That became my connection with football,” he said, “and I don’t know if he wouldn’t have said that to me if football would have gotten out of me what it got out of me.”  He said from then on he understood that his success in the sport would only come from his having a purpose greater than himself and greater than the game.  His desire to help people spurred him to excellence.

In a previous post, I encouraged you to develop passion for the tasks in front of you rather than waiting for a job that enabled you to follow your passion.  Perhaps your day job enables you to finance your passion.  If so, keep that connection clear in your mind so that you excel at both.  Curtis Martin is an example of exactly that strategy.

By the way, you don’t have to love football.  Curtis Martin didn’t — and it landed him in the Hall of Fame.

So how about you? How are you discovering your purpose?  What are you doing to remain motivated? Add your comments below.

h/t Todd Henry and his book “Die Empty” for bringing Curtis Martin’s story to my attention.