A Rich Life Well-lived

Mr John Wooden 

(14 Oct 1910 - 4 June 2010)

I was inspired by his life as I read his book and his life - Mr John Robert Wooden (14 Oct 1910 - 4 June 2010)

John Robert Wooden was an American basketball coach. He was a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and as a coach.

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed, that he kept him moving on in life.

• Be true to yourself.
• Make each day your masterpiece.
• Help others.
• Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
• Make friendship a fine art.
• Build a shelter against a rainy day.
• Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Wooden also authored a lecture and a book about the Pyramid of Success. At the top of the Pyramid of Success was "Competitive Greatness" which Wooden defined as "Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day."

John Wooden met his wife, Nellie and they were married in a small ceremony. They had a son and a daughter. Nellie died on March 21 1985 from cancer. John Wooden remained devoted to Nellie, even decades after her death, until Wooden's own death. Since her death, he kept a monthly ritual, visited her grave and then wrote a love letter to her. After completing the letter, he placed it in an envelope and added it ti a stack of similar letters that accumulated over the years on the pillow she slept on during their life together. Wooded only stopped writing the letters in the last months of his life due to falling eyesight.

In mourning Nellie's death, Wooded was comforted by his faith. He was a Christian for many years and his beliefs were more important to him than basketball. "I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Saviour" Wooden's faith strongly influenced his life. He read the Bible daily and attended church.

As he aged into his mid-nineties, he suffered an increasing number of physical ailments. On May 26, 2010, Wooden was admitted and remained hospitalized until his death the following week. He died of natural causes on June 4, 2010, at the age of 99.