The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.
The quote above is by Muhummad Ali. I like it because it applies to any endeavor. For him it was about winning or losing a fight. For the pianist, the few moments in front of an audience are backed up by thousands of hours of private practice no doubt fingers swollen and bloodied by the ivory keyboard (okay, that's a stretch). For Alec it is about studying for laughingly difficult math and physics tests. For the artist who paints, draws, sculpts or makes music they all start as beginners. As I watch the Olympics, I am reminded of this and that the countless hours each of these people sacrifice to do something they are passionate about. It is, for the most part, a lonely sacrifice. I tip my hat to anyone who works to be the best in their field whether or not it's acadamia, sports, music, or the arts. As my boys will attest, one of my gold bricks I lobbed to them years ago is a simple piece of advice: work hard, do more than what is asked of you and don't ever, ever complain. Unless of course you want me to stick a boot in your rear end.
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