Unspoiled Motivation
My wife, Avis, taught a second-grade Sunday school class that was emphasizing the memorization of Scripture. One little seven-year-old, Christian, was beginning to get into the program and was working on his memory work at home. His dad was inquiring into the whole procedure and asked Christian, “Well, what do you get if you learn these verses? What’s the prize or reward?” Christian eyed him with that simple childlike look and said, “We get to learn more.”
Clear Motivation
People go to college for a variety of reasons, but Bob Kuechenberg, formerly of the Miami Dolphins, may have given the best reason yet in an interview with Newsweek:
“My father and uncle were human cannonballs in carnivals. My father told me, ‘Go to college or be a cannonball.’ Then one day my uncle came out of the cannon, missed the net and hit the ferris wheel. I decided to go to college.”
Motivation That Works
The loaded station wagon pulled into the only remaining campsite. Four youngsters leaped from the vehicle and began feverishly unloading gear and setting up a tent. The boys then rushed off to gather firewood, while the girls and their mother set up the camp stove and cooking utensils. A nearby camper marveled to the youngsters’ father: “That, sir, is some display of teamwork.” The father replied, “I have a system. No one goes to the bathroom until the camp is set up.”
More Powerful Communication
A citizen received a “Second Notice” from the IRS stating that his tax payment was overdue, and that unless it was immediately forthcoming, the IRS would be forced to take legal action. The very next day the citizen appeared at the IRS office with the overdue payment in hand, saying: “I would have paid sooner, but I never received your ‘First Notice.’” The clerk replied, “We ran out of ‘First Notices.’ Besides, we discovered that the ‘Second Notices’ are much more effective.”
The Gift of Motivation
Richard Halvorson tells the story in Leadership about the frog who fell in the pothole and couldn’t get out. Even his friends couldn’t get him to muster enough strength to jump out of the deep pothole. They gave up and left him to his fate. But the next day, they saw him bounding around just fine. Somehow he had made it out and so they asked him how he did it. They said to him, “We thought you couldn’t get out.” The frog replied, “I couldn’t, but a truck came along and I had to.”
Grave Matters
There was a young man who took a short cut home late one night through the cemetery. And he fell in an open grave. He called, he tried to climb out, to no avail. There was no one around to hear his cries or lend a hand. So he settled down for the night in a corner of the darkened grave to await morning. A little while later, another person came the same route through the cemetery, taking the same short cut home and fell in the same grave. He started clawing and shouting and trying to get out just as the first had done. Suddenly, the second fellow heard a voice out of the dark corner of the grave saying, “You can’t get out of here.” But he did!
Dangerous Waters
A wealthy businessman hosted a spectacular party in which he had filled his swimming pool with sharks, barracuda, and other assorted dangerous fish. He announced to his guests that he would like to challenge any of them to try swimming across the pool, and he would offer a first prize of either a new home in the mountains, a trip around the world for two, or a piece of his business. No sooner had he made the announcement than there was a splash and a man swam rapidly across the infested waters and bounded up out on the other side. The millionaire said to the dripping man, “That was a stunning performance. What prize do you want?” He answered tersely, “Right now I really don’t care about the prize. I just want to get the name of the turkey who pushed me in.”
Getting Credit for Stewardship
There’s the story of the careless Scot who tossed a crown into the collection plate thinking it was a penny. When he saw his mistake, he asked to have it back. The deacon refused, and then the Scot grunted, “Aweel, aweel. I’ll get credit for it in heaven.” The deacon responded, “Na, na, ye’ll get credit for the penny.”
Right Track
Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
Motivated to Do Her Best
The opera star Mary Garden, considered one of the greats of her profession, said there was one thing she always told herself before going on stage: “There’s one person in that vast audience who has made a sacrifice to come and hear me, and for that person I’m going to give my very best.”
Faith or Hunger?
My husband is a minister who conducts an expanded altar call at the end of his sermon. He asks those who wish to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, as well as those with prayers or other requests, to come forward.
To the surprise and delight of the congregation our three-year-old daughter, without a word to me, got up and made her way forward. She waited patiently while the others ahead of her made a request.
When her turn came, my husband leaned down to ask for her request. She whispered, “Can we go to the restaurant after church?” –Ellen Hammonds
One Hundred Percent
Everybody but Sam had signed up for a new company pension plan that called for a small employee contribution. The company was paying the rest.
Unfortunately, 100 percent employee participation was needed; otherwise the plan was off.
Sam’s boss and his fellow workers pleaded and cajoled, but to no avail. Sam said the plan would never pay off.
Finally the company president called Sam into his office. “Sam,” he said, “here’s a cope of the new pension plan and here’s pen. I want you to sign the papers. I’m sorry, but if you don’t sign, you’re fired. As of right now.”
Sam signed the papers immediately.
“Now,” said the president, “would you mind telling me why you couldn’t have signed earlier?”
“Well, sir,” replied Sam, “nobody explained it to me quite so clearly before.”