Spontaneity

In his inspiring book Be A People Person, John Maxwell tells a true story about an important game of football that took place between two English schools. During the closing minutes of the contest, a boy named William Webb Ellis, more gifted with enthusiasm and school spirit than with experience, was sent into the game for the first time. Forgetting all the rules, particularly the one that says a player does not touch the ball with his hands, and conscious only of the fact that the ball had to be at the goal line within seconds if his school were to be victorious, the boy picked up the ball and, to the amazement of everyone, started the sprint of his life to the goal line.

The confused officials and players remained frozen where they stood, but the spectators were so moved by the boy's spirit and entertained by his performance that they stood up and applauded long and loudly.

This incident totally eclipsed the rest of the game's action. As a result, a new sport was born: Rugby. It wasn't because of carefully worded arguments and rule changes, it was because of one boy's enthusiastic mistake.

The bottom line is that sometimes spontaneity produces incredible results and enthusiasm is always an asset in life. Be spontaneous and enthusiastic and I'll see you at the top!