Monday, January 21, 2013

Limitations...

One of the hardest things to swallow in life is the realization of your own limitations. There are just certain things that we cannot do very well or at all. What makes it such a defeat is that we are told throughout our lives that we can be anything we desire, only to find out later that this is untrue. It is hard not to be disappointed that I cannot be a rock star, tight-end for the Packers, or a double-naught spy (think 007).
I can't help but wonder that by filling kids with the notion that they can be anything they  set their minds to be, that we aren't crippling them emotionally. Since our potential, by definition,  is something that is never realized, otherwise it wouldn't be 'potential', but 'actual', aren't we then relying on becoming a version of ourselves that we can never truly bring into being? I think of the entertaining crazies that somehow make it onto 'American Idol', that screech out a version of 'pokerface' or whatever, only to be absolutely crushed that they aren't the next Justin Bieberlake. Somewhere along the way you'd think a loved-one would have slapped them to one knee and told them to rethink their future? But I digress.
Somewhere in our lives there needs to be balance.
Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this a few years ago when we compared the grades of kids in advanced placement classes. The brightest ones weren't necessarily the ones with the best grades, but the group of kids with the best WORK ETHIC. The ones that spent hours more on homework, possibly because they were told that they were smart, but that smarts alone just doesn't cut it.
Lessons Learned
As a kid, all I wanted to do was play football. The summer before my senior year I work hard enough to win the top award for being in the best shape before the season. I ran with the defensive coach, never missed a weight session, and even ran pass plays with quarterback, something no one else was doing back then. I was a receiver on offense, a linebacker on defense, played special teams and snapped the ball on punts and extra points-I never left the field, and then I got hurt. I thought all of that prep was wasted.
I was wrong of course. Learning how to prepare yourself, to work hard, give everything you do your absolute best is biggest lesson I ever learned. As a karate student, I wanted to kick like Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, and so my instructor told me to train like he does - do 1000 kicks per day. I thought he was kidding. I mean Wallace is a natural, why would he have to work so hard at it? 'How do you think he got that way?'
Preparation & Opportunity
Whatever it is that you do, or want to do, commit to hard work. The more work and preparation you put into your life the more you will come to understand your gifts, and limits. You will have tremendous talent in certain things, and be flat-out awful at others, so dump the bad, and focus on the good. Set your mind to making the good into great, and the great into the best. Potential is fine and necessary to get started, but it is the stuff of high school guidance counselors, and late-night infomercial hucksters who will make your dreams come true with no money down and 'only in your spare time'. To be prepared for one of those opportunities that come into your life prepare yourself with a single-mindedness only seen in a champion.
The World Needs You!
You have been given a unique set of gifts, skills and shortcomings, how you use them is your choice, and so choose wisely. A young boy came up to me and told me that he was working out 6 days a week to make his martial arts better. Is there any doubt in your mind that this kid is going to succeed?

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