Tools
In one of my favorite "Peanuts" comic strips, a character approaches Snoopy, the dog, who is writing a short story. When asked why he stopped writing his novel, Snoopy replies that he only has one sheet of paper. It's funny to think of a dog writing a novel (or a short story, for that matter), but there's something important to think about in this strip. We all need equipment, tools, if you will, to do what we want to do. The tools can be physical or mental attributes, they can be assets of various kinds, but we all need something to pursue our goals. Athletes and intellectuals, lawyers and businessmen, musicians and salespersons, all need something to live their lives as they want to live them. Without the proper tools, no job can be done.
When we look at people we want to emulate, some of their tools were theirs at birth. I think of talented athletes, musicians, entertainers of all kinds, whose very talent is their essential tool. I think of Michelle Wie, 14 years old, who can play golf with the best players in the world. When asked why she was so good, she replied that she didn't know, it was a gift of God. I think of various television personalities whose most important tool is their appearance or their voice. I think of various child prodigies whose skills were obviously present at birth.
Then I think of those who weren't born with the necessary tools. They had to work all of their lives to acquire the tools they need. These people knew what they wanted to do, that they needed tools to do it and set out to acquire them. I think of Ben Hogan and Vijay Singh, golfers with the best reputations for hard work, and wonder where they found the strength to keep working in the face of adversity. I think of others who worked themselves to success. Were they more or less satisfied at the end because they weren't born with the gifts of others, because they had to work so hard to achieve their goals? I hope they felt more satisfied, knowing they truly earned their success.
Whether talented or not, whether blessed at birth with the necessary tools or not, we all have the ability to identify goals and work towards them. We can all look for the tools we need to reach our goals. We can all do the best we can with whatever we have. We can all at least achieve the goal of doing our best. As I've urged before, doing our best is the most important thing. Whatever we achieve, however far we travel, no one can criticize us if we do our best. At the end, those born with talent may envy us our achievements. Those who squander their talent will feel disadvantaged when they look at how well we did without the tools they had. And, if all else fails, we can follow the teaching of Snoopy: If we don't have the tools to achieve our initial goal, we can change our goal.
Set goals, determine what tools are necessary to reach the goals and do your best to find them. You'll never be sorry, you'll have no feelings of embarrassment. Do your best. That's what counts.
10-4-04
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