Training a Pleasure, Says Veteran Coach.
Training, instead of being a great act of self-denial, is in reality a pleasure, according to Coach Joseph H. Thompson, of the University of Pittsburgh football team, who brought out this fact in an address delivered by him before the Men’s Brotherhood, of the Eighth United Presbyterian Church, Perrysville Avenue, Northside, Pittsburgh. “The value of training as an element of success,” was the subject assigned to the famous coach, who said in part:
“A man is trained to be a physician, a painter, a veterinary surgeon—why then should he not be trained to develop his own faculties? Many persons make the mistake of believing that training is a great self-denial, but on the contrary, it is not. It[{65}] is in reality the highest element of pleasure in which a man can possibly participate.
“What is more pleasing than to be able to walk erect, to look your fellow men straight in their faces, to feel so good you cannot avoid getting up on your toes and stepping out at a lively gait, your face radiant, eyes glistening and so full of life and hope and joy, that all mankind is made happy by coming in contact with you? This is what training does, and surely such things are certain elements of success.
“The cigarette is the greatest curse the young man of the country has to contend with to-day. If he wishes to excel in anything, he must eliminate this habit. The cigarette is as deadly to success as the most deadly poison is to the body. To train is to regulate the body and all its functions. One must sleep regularly, eat regularly, and, in fact, eliminate all things that would in any way interfere with regularity.
“When a man enters his home with a radiant face and a beaming countenance, he is always sure of a welcome. That which is pleasing to your own wives and families is also pleasing to your fellow man. The greatest factor in a man’s happiness is regularity. Regularity is training. Training under proper conditions is the one factor, in my opinion, which will produce absolute and genuine happiness.”