John Wooden defined poise as, “Just being yourself. Being at ease in any situation. Never fighting yourself.” John Maxwell relates a story about him at one of his ten NCAA Championships in basketball.
“There were thirty seconds before the game was to end, with his team ahead by about eighteen points, Wooden called a timeout for his team. He told his team that in about 30 seconds that they would be national league champions. He told them not to make fools of themselves. He said walk like a champion, go over and shake the other team’s hands. Live above all the hysteria of the moment, because a true champion always has poise in the midst of any type of situation.”
Poise is the gift of being in control of yourself during times of life’s most challenging moments. It is not indifference, rather, it is a calmness, quiet acceptance and pause. Its impact is a perceived confidence and self-control in your response to a frenzied happening. Paul Brown said, “The key to winning is poise under stress.” It is the success achieved in your restrained adaptation to a changing environment. It is the beautiful “just being you”, calm and balanced, not hurried and agitated. It is your poise that gives a magical balance in your moving forward. May you remember Florence Scovel Shinn’s counsel, “Fear and impatience demagnetize. Poise magnetizes.”
Have a beautiful day and a magnificent week!!!
