Day three of the car project. Visit the "73 Stingray Project" tab or click here.
A High School Football Coach in Texas has been accused of bullying. The accusation has not been made because of how he treated his players or non athletes at the school. Instead, the complaint was filed from the parent of a player on a losing team. I understand that parents are protective of their children, but at what point are we going to draw the line between looking out for and babying. Despite the fact that the accused coach, Tim Buchanan, pulled his starters, ordered kick returners to fair catch and had a running clock starting in the third quarter the score ended up being 91-0 in favor of Aledo High School over Western Hills. If any readers want the exact details of what transpired, visit this link. I only have two comments on this head scratching incident. First, should a mercy rule be instigated in High School Football? Is a mercy rule actually more degrading than taking a beating for the full game? "Don't Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort" - Mark Cuban Mark Cuban, most famous for being the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has a very interesting and probably extremely accurate take on what one should do with their life. The entire article which can be found here, says basically that we all have a large number of passions. What most of us have less of is the ability to put effort towards most of these interests. His point is very simple, look at what you like and then see which things you are willing to give your all for. If one of your passions meets this criteria, then that is what you should pursue. This makes a bunch of sense to me, yet leaves me with a lingering question. Why are we willing to put effort towards things we do not have a passion for in the first place? What I mean is most of us go to work, usually working for someone else and we are willing to put forth effort to do things that we may not even like at all. Do we do this simply because we need a paycheck? I suspect that is the answer for a large portion of people and there can be no denying that we all need money to live, I am not debating that. I am also not saying anyone should quit their job. I am just asking why don't most people use their free time to work on the things they love instead of watching TV or wasting time on the internet. Are we scared of pursuing something of our own, too tired from a day of work or maybe its that most people do not have these thoughts. It is a strange thing, the fact that we will slave away for others with tremendous effort but will not lift a finger to help ourselves. Maybe we are just conditioned that way? I suppose for a good number of people the thought of working for themselves never arises and they do not have these crisis of identity. For those of us that are dreamers and want to be in charge of our own destiny however, why do we not put all of our effort towards our passions instead of those of others? Going back to the original point, maybe the question is not only one of effort versus passion, but also a case of misdirected effort? What if everything we seek to acquire in regards to possessions, relationships, jobs and security is truly what keeps us from reaching our goals. Is our reluctance to risk any of these things holding us back. Some people work and strive for these things, some people simply fall into them, but either way is a person's progression limited by them? Is the feeling of security and consistency so enticing that we change from dedicated and driven people with an entire world before them into drones destined to repeat the same activities for the rest of our lives? I can only speak for myself, but as I look at my surroundings, I think that maybe I am not accomplishing my dreams because I am afraid to lose my house. Maybe my girlfriend will break up with me if I spend the time I need to on my goals. My job might take up too much of my time and leave me mentally or physically drained to the point where my own plans suffer. I like my air conditioning and I like my car and my cable TV. However, deep down I think I like my dreams even more. I believe that is the major question that any dreamer must ask at some point. What is more important, comfort and mediocrity or struggle and the pursuit of what you really want? Maybe it is at the start of their journey where it might be time to leave the comforts of home, maybe it is towards the end when a final push is needed and everything they have ever worked for is at risk? There will come a time in your life when the question will be asked of you. "Will you risk the comforts of your current existence for greater rewards or will you be content in your current standing, able to watch as your dreams fade away?" What will your answer be? Admittedly I am nothing more than a casual fan of tennis, however, today I learned about Venus Williams' crusade to get equal prize money for the female players at Wimbledon. After reading the essay Ms. Williams wrote expressing her points and the outcome of doing so all I can say is well done. Obviously this happened in 2006/2007 and I just learned of this story today, but I think it is worth revisiting and I also believe that people can be inspired from the past just as much as the present. I have included the essay by Ms. Williams below. Hopefully someone will read it and make a similar stand for their beliefs.
I stumbled upon this video today from Elliott Hulse and I think the message that it provides is clear. Do what you love regardless of what others may think. It seems that more and more advertisements are using the phrase "you deserve it" while trying to sell a product. The very word deserve seems to have a meaning that has been lost to the people of our nation. From Websters Dictionary, the meaning of deserve is "to be worthy of". Let’s look very closely at this definition and how it relates to our society. Basically a company creates a commercial that tells us that we are worthy of owning or paying for their product. The product in question is usually some tangible thing such as a new pair of shoes or maybe even a luxury automobile. I think by examining this marketing technique an alarming trend in our society is revealed and is shown to exemplify the attitudes of my generation. In my mind being professed as being worthy by someone other than myself should be reserved to things such a recognition of service, acknowledgement of a good deed and maybe even elected into a sporting hall of fame. A member of the military who receives the Medal of Honor has performed a self sacrificing deed in the face of danger with no regard to their own safety and they deserve to be acknowledged. Buying a new video game simply because I worked forty hours this week does not equate to being deserving. True rewards are achieved by doing things that make people worthy of the honor. Simply pulling out the credit card and performing retail therapy does not mean we deserve whatever we are buying. My point to this is that all of us, me included have stopped trying to achieve great things that are rewarding on many different levels and have replaced it with simply buying a few minutes of happiness in the form of materialism. There is nothing wrong with wanting the finer things in life; in fact we should strive for the financial stability that allows this. However, this is just one area that our goals in life should benefit. People need to also do things that they can be proud of regardless of the reward. On a spiritual or emotional level we should strive for enlightenment instead of a quick high from buying the latest "thing". This "I deserve it" attitude is just a microcosm of the current state of a culture that once prided itself on being innovators, achievers and people who could overcome adversity. By taking an honest look at myself, I admit I have fallen into this trap. I was content for years to work a decent job in order to make enough money to have the things people say I deserve. It is as if my eyes have been opened. I realized I have done nothing of note in my three decades of life. I have not even remotely changed the world for the better, I have no legacy that will be remembered and I only have a few things that I have accomplished that I am truly proud of. Instead of having a goal to accomplish these things I have been content to fit in my little niche, making middle class money and spending it on things to make myself happy. The good thing about this introspection is I still have time to change. Thirty is young and I can still make my mark and feel worthy of something more than the sum of my possessions. I am not trying to change the world by ranting about our materialism, I simply hope a few people take a look at themselves and decide they do not like what they see and try to change for the better by striving for goals they once had. My challenge to my readers is this, take an honest look at yourselves and decide if you are where you want to be. If you are not, cast off the content "I deserve it" attitude that our current culture bombards us with and embrace the spirit of generations past. Set goals that are beyond what society says are possible and strive for them. Find out where you want to be in life and work towards it. |