Rudyard Kipling’s beautiful poem “If,” which was written as advice for Kipling’s son, is about toughness and virtue, honor and duty. But there is one line that doesn’t get as much attention, maybe because it’s a bit confusing: If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run Kipling is talking about the importance of giving your all to something, physical or otherwise. There is an expression in sports about “playing through the whistle.” In boxing and martial arts, you punch through the opponent until you hear the bell. In baseball, you swing through the ball. In running, they talk about running through the finish line. It’s about completing the action. Giving 100 percent. Playing the right way.
This is an important lesson to teach our kids. We don’t stop at the finish line. We give our all to something. We concentrate on a single task until it’s done or until the clock runs out. We fill that unforgiving minute.
It’s the proper way to play . . . and to live.