A Ramble on Admiration

"What a wonderful God-given talent you have!" These words have upset me over the years, when directed toward me, for many reasons, and especially when I have heard them directed toward others, for reasons I will elaborate upon. It has nothing to do with belief in God. Here is a hint. I prefer another saying: “God helps those who help themselves”.

Glib words like “you are so lucky to have such a gift” flow from the tongues of the uninformed. Such is the world for those who do not understand single-minded devotion. Striving toward ones hearts-desire is less a gift and more a (sometimes pleasant) burden. I understand that this is “preaching to the choir” for the large portion of you.

Not being a “this or that” sort of person by nature or upbringing, I have always been very conscious of shading. The kind of people who I find attractive are generally very accepting, not to mention talented and hard-working. That is not to say that I reject the idea of privilege, but rather to point out that I do not believe in hard and fast delineations. There are talented, hard working people in my world who are “somewhat privileged”. There are far too many talented and hard-working individuals who because of circumstances, cannot fulfill their potentials.

Many of my friends are highly skilled artisans. 'Gifted' with the physical characteristics, time and finances to receive training, they made the most of privilege. Understand that many thousands of hours of work went into each 'gift'. Without that energy expenditure, no number of lucky breaks would have resulted in the art they produce. 

I especially remember a school chum who for years practiced piano at least five hours a day at home, and spent every lunchtime at school for the three months before his degree performance working specifically on the third movement of Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata. His fingers must have ached. At the age when most of his classmates were busy lining up their next weekend 'bash', his single-minded devotion to that craft gained him the result he most desired; a career in music and a reputation as one of the finest pianists around. How lucky is that? Luck – zero. He 'had' to do what he did. It was a choice at some point, but once he started down that path, it was simply his road. Only a major life crisis would have diverted him. As a sports celebrity once observed, “The harder I work, the luckier I get”.

It is with this in mind that I read blogs here. The devotion and sacrifice one makes to put a life right is not a 'gift'. I do not feel sorry for you or myself, any more than I did for my pianist friend, doing something you have little choice but to do. My admiration however, is quite the same.