Life Paradox

Ever noticed how happiness and fulfillment in life never means that life is easy?

Suppose you have more money than you could ever spend, don't have to work, and could just hang out in your mansion or yacht all the time. To most of us, that sounds like a pretty good life, right? Sure, having the financial security to be able to do whatever I want would be great. And it might be fun for awhile to hang out in some monstrous mansion on the ocean, walking on the beach or swimming in my private pool.

But it would get boring within a couple of weeks. No challenges, no stimulation, no reason to get out of bed in the morning. If 100 million dollars dropped out of the sky tomorrow, I'd have quite a celebration. I'd buy a new home, a new car, and take a vacation. But then I'd come back to work and invest some of that money in my business, then see how far I can take the business.

Growing up in the 70's, the popular wisdom was "Don't worry about the money, just follow your passion." Sounded pretty good at the time, and so many of my friends and I did just that. We went to college to study music, art, history, and other liberal arts programs just because we bought the philosophy.

Then we graduated and faced the "real world". My complaint from those days is well remembered today; "Why didn't anybody tell me?". They didn't tell me that even though money isn't everything in life, it sure helps. How demoralizing to be struggling to make a subsistence-level living on my $10K teacher's salary, while seeing almost every low-level factory worker making 50 to 100 percent more for sweeping the floor or screwing widgets on dohickeys.

That's why I like sports. Sports is a metaphor for life. For example, let's say you're a member of a basketball team; high school, college or professional level are all relevant. You join the team with great dreams and expectations, as well as a love for the sport. You've spent lots of time in the driveway honing your shooting and dribbling skills, and it's paid off in a coveted spot on the team.

But it's difficult to be on that team - far more difficult than you ever expected. The coach is a jerk and a sadist. Practices are like torture sessions. Some of your teammates are arrogant jerks that you would never willingly hang out with otherwise. But you persevere, and somehow the practices become a little more bearable as you start to develop strength and stamina.

Then the season starts. You're on the bench, watching with increasing frustration as your teammates lose games that you know are winnable, if only the jerk coach would let you on the floor. You have a choice at this point; you can either sulk about the unfairness of being kept on the bench and give minimum effort at practice, or you can step up your dedication in practice and do extra work to help the team and develop your own skills.

Eventually, you get a chance on the court. If you make the most of that chance by playing solid fundamental basketball, hitting the open teammate for scores, rebounding, or sinking a few shots yourself, the coach is likely to try you again. And your court time begins to increase over time, and the wins begin to come - not because of your talent and contribution, but because the whole team is beginning to develop as an effective unit.

There are a select few key games that allow you and your team to test yourselves against the best. Somehow the team comes together and puts personal differences aside in order to achieve their shared goals. Maybe at first you just have to take some satisfaction in being competitive with the best, but one day you beat a team you really shouldn't have.

Then the tournament comes, with each successive win getting you and your team that much closer to the championship. If you can win through to the championship, the satisfaction of that achievement will remain for the rest of your life as a proud achievement nobody can take away from you. Even if nobody else really remembers that magical season, you know what a huge effort and sacrifice it took to achieve.

That's the essence of life. It's not just about you, but about those you journey beside. About the trials, difficulties, disappointments, sacrifices, and obstacles you endured along the way. And even if you didn't achieve the ultimate victory, you can feel good about the fact that you gave it everything and tasted success along the way.

Here I am at the age where I can look back and see a mixed bag of success and failure. And I realize that the successes were never mine alone and the failures were as much mine as anyone else's. But the biggest realization is that it's not over; I still have challenges I must face and give my all toward the next big victory or disappointing defeat. Either way, I'll persevere until I accomplish that next big victory, then begin working on the next season.