Facing The Harsh Truth - What If You Just Suck?

 

  Everyone has their limits. Every single human being on the planet. It doesn't matter who you are or who you think you are. You have limits. It doesn't matter if you're Ronnie O'Sullivan, Cristiano Ronaldo or Gordon Ramsay. Nobody is inhumanly fantastic at everything. If you manage to find that one thing that you excel at, then you are one of the lucky ones. Some people spend their whole lives searching for that one thing they can do better than most people and fail to find it.

  But what if you've already found your passion, that one thing that you love doing more than anything else and you're determined to be the best of the best? You're not one of those nobs that profess passion and are happy to coast along on the easy path of mediocrity. No, you pour your heart and soul into getting better, learning new tips, trick and skills. And you do get better. But after months, maybe even years of commitment and dedication, you hit a brick wall. You write it off at first, everyone faces setbacks when it comes to self improvement. But, weeks go by, then months and you're still where you were. It's at this point the demon of self doubt starts to creep in...

  This little story could pretty much be my own. Now, all of you should know by now, unless you are a newcomer, that my passion is Yahtzee. But that little factoid is pretty irrelevant, this story is as old as time itself and could be applied to any passion you could name.

  In a perfect world, every passionate human would find the very thing they excel at before endeavouring on a lifetime of it's mastery. But the world does not work that way does, does it? So what do you do if you have found that passion and subsequently meet that aforementioned brick wall?

  Weeeeell... firstly, get a mirror. Yeah, you heard me right. Get a mirror and take a good, long, hard look at yourself. Now is the time for some serious introspection. Ask yourself some questions. Firstly, "is this temporary?". Have you just stalled or is it just a blip on your journey? And secondly, "Is this as far as I can go? Is this as good as I can get? Should I give up the ghost and move on?". The beauty of these questions is that there is only one answer for each of them! You need to give yourself the most intimidating look you've ever given yourself and tell yourself YES to the first question and NO to the second question. Even if it's untrue!

  Let me offer a personal perspective; I have played Yahtzee much longer than anyone I currently play competitive Yahtzee with under the banner of the BHO. When I created the BHO, I hate to admit it, but I was one cocky son of a bitch! I had absolutely no doubts that I would dominate most, if not all competitions we played. But... nothing could be further from the truth! The actual truth is, as much I might have begged to differ at the time, that I am merely an average player, Now, I am by no means shite, I always find myself in the mix. I'm usually in the top five, at least! Trouble is, for the last six months, that is literally the best I have been able to say about myself... IN ALL COMPETITIVE GAMES! Online games are different, mainly because there is no pressure. There is something about the consequences of the matches that just has the ability to mess with my brain.

  My point is, even after all this, and the fact that my progress has become pretty much non existent, do I give up? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! So why don't I just cut my losses, call it quits and find something else to do? And truth be told, I'm just the kind of person to do such a thing. But not this time. Yes, my progress has all but come to a grinding halt and perhaps I have hit my peak, never to improve again. But the thing is, I don't know that for sure. Progress could be just around the corner, or perhaps a week or a month away. Championship titles could well be coming my way. If I was to just throw in the towel and walk away I would never find out what awaits, be it good, bad or ugly.

  So, yeah, maybe I do suck at Yahtzee. Maybe you do too. But y'know what. Who gives a single shiny shite? Passion overrides all of that. If you're passionate, about anything, then don't just give up because you've realised that you're not going to become the grand master and dominate all those that stand in your way. There will ALWAYS be someone bigger and better than you, but that is no reason to clutch your pearls and run for the hills. Hold your head up, face your challenges head on, if you fail you fail. So what? Maybe you won't next time.