Our high-school football team had a tradition on Game Day mornings. We would gather in the gymnasium wearing our jerseys, but without shoulder pads and helmets. We’d run through the plays for the upcoming game. There was no talking, just a motivational mix tape of music blaring through whatever sound system was commonly in use then. The only other sounds I remember during those sessions were the quarterback barking the signals, the squeaking of sneakers on the varnished gym floor and some clapping after the proper execution of a series of plays.
The smell of newly varnished wood takes me right back there, 50 years later, as do many of the songs on that tape. The sense of smell is directly wired to the brain’s emotional and memory centers. It has been shown that songs also light up the same regions of the brain. They both can trigger vivid memories – especially those from our formative teenage years – which feel highly emotional as they transport us back in time.
I heard one of those songs while working on a varnishing project recently – an anthem to self-empowerment and resilience – Stand by Sly and The Family Stone. So, in that moment I had a turbo-charged launch back… the unmistakable smell of varnish and that song.
“… Stand
In the end you’ll still be you
One that’s done all the things you set out to do
Stand…”
I thought about that simple, powerful word – stand – and how we use it, often when something really matters.
Stand up.
Stand up for what is right.
Stand up to…
Stand your ground.
Stand tall.
Take a stand.
Make a stand.
Stand for something you believe in.
Stand out.
Stand by me.
I’ll stand by you.
Stand together.
United we stand.
Stand firm.
Stand strong.
Stand guard.
Stand the heat.
Stand the test of time.
Stand before God.
What’s the most important thing you’re being asked to stand for right now? Who will you stand with? Who most needs you to stand by them? How will you respond? We all must overcome the lethargy of standing idly by, standing aside, standing back or, in exasperation, throwing our hands in the air while announcing that we just can’t stand it any longer.
Sly ended his song with a simple command – Everybody Stand.
The time is now. Not some of us. Not when we get around to it. Not when it’s more convenient. Now.
Everybody Stand.