"A year from now you may wish you had started today."
~Karen Lamb
I do have friends, some who live in other states (even foreign countries) that I would like to know better. If there is one of any number of intangibles that can happen (namely death or serious injury) to the person you want to know better and you’ve not met yet, Karen Lamb’s statement makes perfect sense. Procrastination was big in my academic life, but IO tried to account for it by telling myself that I worked best under pressure. My life took an abrupt turn five months before high school was over, and for a number of years after that I had to start tasks very early for it took awhile to get things done.
A lot of people think that unlikely outcomes that happen in school, sports, jobs, or anything in life occur because of luck, and they are partially right. But that word partially means that they are semi wring, too! I’ve investigated this carefully and ran across the following quote which says it like it is:
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Darrel Royal
Have you ever noticed that hard working folks who are dedicated and determined are the ones that fortunate things happen to? Good fortune, or luck as it’s commonly referred to as, occasionally happens, but more often than not good results come to those who work the hardest. By that hard work I mean those who do the preparation so they can reach their personal goals for success. However, success is not always measured by grades received, games won, or money made.
In my own personal opinion, I find luck actually accounts for only five percent of academic success. Intelligence in your genes not jeans means next to nothing. Because your parents, siblings, or cousins received excellent marks in certain subject areas at school holds little relevance to your chances in conquering the same subject when you were in school. Likewise poor scores by relatives do not doom your future. Don’t t fallback on family history to explain your grades in school. Now parents do hold a larger stake by creating an environment that applauds success and/or encourages hard work, but as individuals we determine our own happenings (once we reach the age of being able to do things for ourselves.)
Luck is often mislabeled as the reason for athletic success, too. Now in amateur athletics luck, I believe, is more prevalent than in the academic side of things. Athletes can only play high school and/or collegiate sports up to four years each, with that said the talent level changes accordingly. Talent level of the opposing team and yours therefore plays a more significant role in sports, but hard work plays a large role here, too. Some athletes were gifted at birth with skills beyond those of other children, but with hard work you can improve your shot or ball handling skills. Your team can congeal and work to play better as a unit, with practice and camaraderie Sometimes it takes a little more than luck and players to make a winning team.
Hard work is also a key characteristic of a successful coach. Ohio’s high school basketball coach with the most all-time wins is Dick Kortokrax. He is a friend of mine, and I catch much flack for that by people from every town in Putnam County, in Kalida. When Columbus Grove plays the team Kortokrax coaches I always root for my hometown Bulldogs, but I make a point of it to talk to Dick Kortokrax and that comes with demise from friends. I love basketball, though, and I’m proud to all coach K. my friend. Joe Paterno is like Kortokrax but in football at the Division I collegiate level.
Joe earned the all-time coaching wins leader on Saturday as Penn Sate won. I like to compare Dick and Joe. They both are elderly only Joe is older. Both of them are familiar with wins, believe in family, and exercise daily. Both of them need luck, as is the case with sports, and must have healthy players, but luck seems to come to those who are prepared.
Opportunity meets preparation in the job world too. Say you and your buddy are working your hardest and getting the same amount of work done in similar positions at the same place of business, but when the promotions come out there is only one in your department which your friend gets. The upper management may have had to roll the dice to determine who got the easier position and you lost. That is time where you need to seize the moment and work just as hard if not harder than before, because another promotion may come tomorrow or your buddy man not pan out in the new position. You need to be prepared when the situation presents itself.
How long is long enough to attempt the completion of a task? Let’s try to answer that with a quote:
"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task"
~William James
Don’t think that I am urging you to stop clinging to hope, because that is the initial appearance of this week’s final tidbit of information. Read carefully! First and foremost I’m saying that prayer is often the most beneficial, simplest, and cheapest thing that can be done, and to pray is having hope and/or trust in the Lord that everything will turn out for the best. It all comes down to having faith in God and whether you realize it or not; He comes through! As the Garth Brooks sings in his acclaimed song, some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
William James is basically saying that nothing is as tiring as pursuing, relentlessly; trials while not getting what is sought after. His quote gets easily misconstrued as trying is not a good idea because it’s exhausting, but what gets overlooked, as seen by the behaviors of many, is the quote is playing into the minds of its’ readers, because the human nature is to not want to struggle. Mr. James says that nothing fatigues a person like reoccurring attempts done while a task remains incomplete. Finish what you’re working on until the goal is attained, is what I’m urging.
Thank you so much for being my friend. If you suggest your friends for me that would really be great. Can you also please invite your friends to join my Facebook group, "The Rest is Up to You” (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_46959448480?) Please share this message!
Matt~ Failure is the first step to success. Think about that one.
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