110% 24/7--Is this the world we want?

I Give 110% 24/7


I was in Starbucks in the West Portal district of San Francisco the other day, grading papers and saw a woman with a very cute little boy(of about four or five) come into the café. He was a bit shy, pulling on his mother’s hand and asking if he could have some chocolate milk. She let him get it. He then dropped the milk box and then quickly picked it up and turned around. When he did, I saw his t-shirt. It said, “I give 110%” and had a picture of a football. The football picture was fading, but the words glared from the small boy’s chest.

110%? The thought of it made me want to curl up in my bed and sleep for a long time.((I was particularly tired that day anyway). And he’s only four years old? Wouldn’t the energy of 110% suck away the life from his small body?

I then thought about the 24/7 lives that have been thrust on us(or some have chosen to live) and couldn’t help but combine the two phrases. Sundays are no longer boring days of rest where teenagers complain about nothing being open and families and friends gather for a weekend meal together. I remember that time when stores were closed in NYC. Those days have a sweet luminescence in my memory now.

Also, why do we always have to give so much—110%-- to try and be the best, the greatest, the top of the game? Determination, yes, motivation, yes, but having had two daughters who played soccer-- many times the intensity of the game when they were still small seems so far away from the races, ping pong games and jacks that we used to play in Playground # 2 in Peter Cooper Village. No uniforms or referees.

Maybe I’m overreacting? My kids loved their soccer teams. Determination is a good quality as is motivation. But the constant pressure—I don’t think that’s good. If you feel like giving 20% one day—that’s okay. I remember a teacher one of my daughters had who said the pressure is too great. “We’re human beings not human doings.” I remember that phrase when I see a small boy with a t-shirt that says, “I give 110%.” It’s okay to take a day off and rest.