It has been said,
No Man can truly happy, unless they live with a sense of purpose.
This is the Story of my Purpose:
We live to honor those that have come before us and prepare the way for those yet to come.
This is the statement that all Saarloos' live by.
We surrender our lives in the pursuit of showing Love to our Fathers Mothers Grandparents Uncles and Aunts.
We do this with the clear knowledge that they have spent their lives Preparing the way for those yet to come.
About 20 years ago I was sitting in a Large hall surrounded by Men and Women Celebrating the 50 Years my Grandfather worked at our Business Called Ezell Sales.
As I sat there, person after person stepped up to the microphone and said publicly what Grandfather and in turn my Grandmother meant to them.
They told a group of people how My grandfather, Gave them their first job, took a chance on them, gave them something they dint really deserve, saw something in them they dint see themselves, and how they were better having known him.
A story my Cousin Bradley and I talked about recently while we were covered in mud cleaning picking bins, was how, My family lost 60% of their business in one day by losing their biggest customer…
My Grandfather, Father and Uncle... Looked at each other minutes after receiving this news, and my grandfather said, "We are not going to lay a single person off." "We are not going to take a salary, and every time a Salesman gets a new account were going to hand them a $100.00 bill" The $100.00 bill was not going to come out of the company, it was going to come out of the pocket of my Grandfather... My Grandfather who was not going to take a Salary...
And True to his word, at the next Sales meeting, My father and Uncle would ask,
"DID ANYONE GET A NEW ACCOUNT?"
And when the first person raised their hand, he asked them to come to the front... he then reached into his back pocket and took out a $100.00 bill and handed it to him.
He did this for EVERY NEW ACCOUNT…
and no one was ever laid off...
When I sat in that room 20 years ago,
I listened quietly, as the man I had always respected, became my Hero.
Then my Father and Uncle took the stage and thanked everyone for sharing what their father and mother meant to them.
And then they said, "Dad, you provided us the Gloves, the Batts and the Balls... You allowed us to build our lives with your tools...
You told us to go out there and play.... You never talked about wining, you talked about Working hard, being Fair, Taking the High Road, Treating people well.
You never told us how to live our lives, you lived yours and let us watch.
Recently, we found the old video tape of this event and we watched it.
I watched it sitting next to my Father, with my Son and Daughter in the room.
And we both felt our hearts beat out of our chest while my children played at our feet.
I know that If we had a Party For my Father and My Uncle today.
All of the words would be the same today for them.
My job is to make sure that my Son and Daughter know my Heros.
And every day, My heros get to hold them...
One day, my Heros will be theirs.
That is what it is to be a SAARLOOS
To live to honor those that have come before us and prepare the way for those yet to come.
Recently John Wooden passed away, and I heard and read about player after player tell the world what He meant to them.
The lessons he taught them.
He was a teacher, and he wrote down his words of wisdom.
But every time I hear or read one of them I Hear my Grandfathers Voice:
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.
Ability is a poor man's wealth.
Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Be prepared and be honest.
Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.
If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.
It isn't what you do, but how you do it.
It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.
It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.
Never mistake activity for achievement.
Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
Success is never final, failure is never fatal. Its courage that counts.
Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.
There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.
Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.
You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
A few weeks ago my friend Bill Craig said a new one to me, a statement of his own.
"Never say IT CANT BE DONE, say I AM FIRST THAT EVER HAS"
When he said it I HEARD MY GRAND FATHERS VOICE...
Loud and Clear.
son.