The Duke Of York

We had a little tradition back in high school after our football team would win a game. After we won, a large mob of people would gather in the end zone around the football team as we chanted: "I am the Duke of York, I have ten thousand men! I march them up the hill, I march them down again! And when you're up, your up; and when you're down, you're down! And when you're only half way up; you're neither up nor down!" 

Our head football coach was a history teacher and I think he got a big kick out of hearing us share a bit of history following a football game... didn't matter, we loved it, and we shouted this with all of our might. We walked off the "battle" field victors, proud to have battled and won.

I was thinking about this chant the other day. There are so many people in life that are neither up, nor down. They live life in the middle, the safe, comfortable, wishy washy middle. If you're going into a battle you are either in it, or you're not. Leaders can choose to lead their "troops" forward or they can lead them backward - some "leaders" like the middle but you will usually end up inconsequential and dead there.