Snoozing, losing, and practicing

Growing up playing basketball in a 5A high school (4A was the highest designation at the time) made me a little edgy. Someone was always pushing to get my spot. I started every game from elementary up until my senior year in high school when after the first few games someone actually pushed me from my position. During the rest of the senior year it was a game-by-game decision on whether I would start or be 6th man for the game. If the coach needed my skill set, I started. If the coach needed the other person's skill set, he started. I always got playing time, no problem, but starting was prestigious.

That idea of pushing oneself carried over into my adult endeavors. I always knew that others were pushing to take my place, so I tried to always do well whatever the endeavor. Even in blog writing, I try to convey ideas in a manner that is polished. There are millions of other blogs on blogger.com to read. The second mine is boring or incomprehensible, oops, I just lost a reader.

I guess the point of this being edgy idea because someone else is always pushing, is that I have to practice, practice, practice to be any good at something. In basketball, every weeknight excluding game nights, I went through 3-hour practices. In my adult endeavors, I have gone to some pretty great lengths to be at the top of the "game" I'm playing at the time. And even when I teach others to write, they have to learn the cardinal principle of writing: you never write it right first. Revision is necessary - always, for even the smallest of thoughts. The first thought out is the rawest thought out. Wit may be a little different, but people will let you know if you're witty or not. For all others, revise until you are blue in the face.

It seems as I look back on life, that much of it takes practice, that is, repetitions beyond the normal activity to be good at discerning the nuances that are happening. When my kids grew up, it was sometimes hard to catch the exact moment of their moving from one stage to the next. Sometimes I caught it, sometimes I didn't. When the job markets changed, sometimes I was just in time for a good job, at other times I missed even if just slightly. When friends would move away, sometimes I would be able to follow them to their new destination and life in spirit and in continued communication, sometimes not.

One of the principles I have found to be true with every venture in life is "If you snooze, you lose." And I have lost some big ones. And I am very sorry for that. But, for some of us, life is long enough for the next rodeo to come to town. Preparation is key. The Master Teacher even corroborated this idea in his telling a story of bride and groom getting married later than expected. The bride's maids that were still ready, awake, and watching for the ceremony to happen got to attend the wedding. Those who had fallen asleep and let their torches burn out got dismissed from the wedding. They weren't allowed to ride the coat tails of the others into the wedding.

Whenever the next rodeo comes to town, and who really knows when life will bring that to a person, I hope to be on top of my game. I've practiced discerning those nuances of life a little more than I used to.