Hard Work

I think there is a Tiger Woods in all of us. When we watch him we are entranced, just like we used to be when we watched Michael Jordan. They aren’t much different in what they stand for. When I look at Tiger Woods I don’t see special golf clubs, special golf balls, special clothing, shoes, hats, tools or gear. When I watch Michael Jordan I don’t concentrate on his shoes, pants, shirt, bald head or socks either. Not even his Hanes. Both men are mesmerizing because they have been able to create greatness out of themselves, out of who they are naturally. I know that Tiger is better at golf than most people, naturally I think, and I believe the same goes for Jordan. But I think there are also other people out their with their same ability too, it’s something else that makes them better. They are great, it seems, because of their desire and their hard work. They embody the dream of the American people, who profess that anyone can become what they dream to be.
When I work on videomaking using my 2.00 GHz Pentium 4 processing, 768 Meg RAMing, Windows Movie Making version 2 running compy I think about other desktop computers, movie making software, photography programs, super RAM and virtual memory. I think about high end video cards and processors matched with miniDV camcorders that can create high powered, high digital quality video on a computer which can burn DVDs. I think about that top of the line movie making technology, its hefty price tag (≈ $1000) and that fact that it will be out of date in three years. Tiger probably thinks about this too sometimes, though I imagine the processor is replaced with some titanium/platinum shafted five iron and the super RAM is probably replaced by some super golf ball. But I bet Tiger is better at this than me. He is good because he works hard, he plays hard and he does what other people won’t do. He gives effort to his game that few professionals would ever consider, for one reason or another. Then, because of that effort, he wins for himself, his team and his fans trophy after trophy. What separates me from other people can be how hard I work, how hard I play and how much I desire to be the best in myself. I know in my heart that it’s not the program that fails me when I try to make a movie, it’s not my camcorder, my processor, video card or anything else but me. I have done some pretty impressive things when I gave all of my effort, and I’ve done things I don’t care much about when I didn’t care much about doing them. A new computer isn’t the answer to my difficulty in trying to become better, though maybe in ten years a new computer might make some things easier. A new program isn’t the answer either, the fact is that I just don’t try hard enough with what I’ve been given. Just like in Aesop fables, Disney movies and stories I was told when I was a kid, often the young character who thinks he or she is ready isn’t. In training, the young one is told to do simply tasks which they think below their ability. The fact is no task is below anyone and I am not ready to take on the best of the best, programs, computers, academics or anything, until I am good at taking on the simplest of tasks. When I become really really good at what I do, then I’m ready to move on.