What will you do today, young driver?  Will you choose HOV or will you brave the beast and go against traffic?  You left the comforts of your home at the height of morning rush.  Was your bed too warm to leave its comfortable confines?  Did it make you forget the implications of leaving late or did you want to challenge what morning commute presents you? Young driver, as you press the lever to signal your willingness to enter traffic, the hairs on your neck raise, and your pupils dilate; you know the journey that this morning holds.

You make your turn and accelerate; an aggressive warning to all other drivers that you will not be denied on this fateful morning.  The Prius to your left hesitates and you take advantage, quickly taking her position and solidifying your spot in the steady moving traffic.  Like all mornings the traffic is a slowly moving monster with thousands of independently creeping parts.  This monster can swallow up your emotions, and it will chip away at your patience.  Like many other mornings your patience already begins to run thin, but you look to your right and make eye contact with a fellow competitor.  Time slows as you gaze into his eyes. The look on his face is of composed concentration, which radiates to your eyes, through your brain, into your heart and through your fingertips to the very steering wheel that will guide you through this morning mess.  You nod to your competitor acknowledging the unspoken challenge he has presented to you.  At this moment you know that this journey no longer dictates what time you will be arriving to work, or what time you will inevitably be on that call, but it will mean what kind of person you are inside, and what kind of person you show the world.

You assess the situation and the scene looks bleak young driver.  Brake lights all around; a bumper too close for comfort ahead of you and a follower who seems to be so close that he is sitting in your back seat.  As you observe your surroundings you try to become one with this beast but an ominous horn blast awakens you from your zone and you lose focus.  Your mind races. Which lane will you choose? The right seems to be moving quicker, but your current position will inevitably begin to creep, but will it creep fast enough?  The time you take to think wastes the moments you need to move and you lose position.  Poor decision young driver. You must regain the concentration you have learned from years of practice.  As you let yourself fall back into your trance you regain this foreign sense of consciousness.   You belong at this place at this time.  As your senses return you see a sea of red lights light up in procession in your lane and you know it’s time to move.  You see an opening to the right and you take that opening.  Young driver, you have made the right decision. Your car moves quickly as you pass those on your left.  As this chess match continues your senses become stronger and your intuition becomes lighter.

The other cars are only pawns and you are the queen.  The queen moves with effortless motion through the sea of other young commuters as if they sense her move before she takes it.  Don’t let your confidence control you, because you are not in control at this moment.  The beast is always in control, you are only allowing yourself to find the moments when the beast slightly opens itself to vulnerability.  One mile passes, two miles pass, then your vision becomes only a blur, cars become streaks of light and the white dotted lines are a path that has been laid before you by the gods.  You have been blessed but do not let hubris bring your vehicle to a stop; because this stop will reflect on your soul for ages.  You try to remember the humble respect you once had for this monster when you were yet a fledgling driver, too consumed by the individual personalities of passing drivers on this road to realize the true stakes of this morning game.

As you let yourself go, a humble resolve comes over you and you see a pair of yellow lights in the distance.  Do you have what it take to seize this moment, or will you stop short, a loser to this often familiar turn of events? Before asking yourself this question the answer has already been set in motion and your right foot presses that comfortable pedal to the floor and your head moves back and feels the comfort of the leather behind you.  Your competitors begin to draw their chariots to a halt but you see an opening to the left, you take the opening and you accelerate through the light.  As you look up you see the yellow flash to red and you realize that it wasn’t you that made this moment but it was the beast that has groomed you over so many years to make this moment.  And because of your unflinchingly powerful intuition you have beaten this stream of cars and you have won this battle: the morning battle. You devote this victory to so many others that could not make this battle or were not willing to take part in this battle.

As you pull slowly into your parking space, young driver, you realize this battle has given you the aggression and confidence you need to storm through your day of attending meetings, making phone calls and sitting behind your desk. Ah, this life could be so much more but what you have done on this morning has made it so much more. Congratulations young driver, you have made your statement today, but will you have what it takes when the clock strikes five?

My blood boils at a steady rate with rage as I sit quietly at my desk preparing for a different kind of battle today.  A battle that comes around once every generation; one that bestows itself upon an unknowing group of young professionals at a time in their lives where a battle like this could change them forever; one that comes and goes so quickly that it’s only heard as a whisper, and it’s only seen in the corner of one’s eye, and vanishes as they turn to see.  When a battle like this presents itself there are two options: fold and run, or step to the plate with an aggressive passion that only our ancestors have experienced; A kind of passion that freed this country from oppression, tyranny, slavery and greed; A kind of passion that our generation is lucky enough to hear from the mouths of our grandfathers and grandmothers.

Surprisingly my mind is clear and my heart is calm as I realize the enormity of this situation.  At other times in my life my confidence may have wavered, and yours may be wavering now too.  But take sanctuary in these words; our team is strong; our team is young, and most importantly our team is one.  I will be there for you when you begin to shake, and I know you will be there for me when I begin to shake.  This is the strength of our team. Let my quiet, calming rage pour through your veins as well.  Because my feelings are your feelings.  Allow your nerves to bubble up and consume your thoughts.  Feed off this anxiety.  It’s at our most anxious moments when we are at our highest consciousness. And it’s at our highest consciousness that we perform like champions.

Today, of all days, my heart is providing a steady beat that drives me forward; a beat that is usually drowned out by the monotonous work of a typical Tuesday, a beat that is present because of what my heart knows lays ahead of me.  My heart knows what is right and my heart knows that tonight is a special night.  Let your mind wander and let your mind be consumed by the beat of your heart.  Let it lead you like the drum beat of an army on a steady walk to take on an unknown enemy; an enemy that will be defeated before battle because of this steady, ominous heart beat.  As our hearts beat as one, let our feet move as one, and let us take this game as one.

As we take the field tonight as one unit, take heed my fellow brothers and sisters, tonight will be our greatest night.  We have prepared like champions, and we will play like champions.  Our faith in our brothers and sisters has brought us to this moment so let us TAKE IT from the hand of destiny and make it OURS.  It is only when we make this moment ours that we can truly become champions and truly play like the team that we have set out to be.  LET US GO FORTH AND TAKE IT, AND BEGIN OUR MARCH CORPORATE INTRAMURAL FLAG FOOTBALL LEAGUE VICTORY.