Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 11, 2009
View from the Cheap Seats
Drive
Bill James
WmJamesJr@aol.com
One of my favorite movies is “Vision Quest” which is a movie about a wrestler who goes into his senior year wanting to drop two weight classes and wrestle the undefeated beast from a neighboring town. He meets with resistence from several directions: The wrestler at the weight class he is dropping to; his coach; and, of course, his own body. Losing the weight is very tough on him and there is little support from anyone. While his other teammates work out with him, the star of the movie works twice as hard as anyone else. Others win, but he reaches the pinnacle of the mountain.
Of course, it is only a movie, but it brings a question to mind: What is it that drives some to excel while others do just enough to get by? What is it in some people that will make them work tirelessly until they reach a goal while others are simply satisfied with where ever they end up?
It is easy to argue that it is something you are born with. There may actually be something to that theory. I believe that there are a lot of folks that simply do not have the gumption to get up and climb the mountain. Some are lucky to make it to work, if at all. That, however, is not most of us.
Then, there are those that have quit. They have tried and were beaten down in some way. It may have been some type of competition or simply being told that they are not good enough. No matter the cause, they believe they are no good and do not try.
Some are given all the gifts available and waste them with the satisfaction in being merely above average. They can do whatever task is put in front of them, but will do no more than they have to do or no more than is expected. They want no more than what basic effort will bring to them as long as it puts them toward the front of the pack.
There are those that are good in a sprint, like the star of the above-described movie. They can do singular things to the extreme while letting the remainder of their life go into the toilet. They may accomplish one or two things in their life and nothing more simply living off the glory of their past accomplishments.
Of course, there are those that fall everywhere in between. Maybe the simple answer is that drive is a combination of ability and desire. Few can excel on one or the other, but most need a combination of the two in order to reach beyond what comes natural. Isn’t reaching beyond what comes natural the meaning of personal success? I guess it is if that is the way you choose to define it.
If you are not doing your absolute best, are you wasting your time? Should personal failure be defined as failure to maximize the results you obtain while living your life? Maybe personal failure should be more simply and honestly defined as failure to try.
We all have an opportunity in life to do the best we can. That is not the same as being the best. It is a personal measure that is based on you alone. Are you doing the best you can? If not why not? Why not start your own personal “Vision Quest” today? It doesn’t matter whether you succeed or not. What matters is that you try. If you try, you may be surprised with what you can accomplish. That is true even if you are starting in the CHEAP SEATS!
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