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It's
kind of funny to keep watching people who want things to
come easy to them in life. Many other people know of
this tendency among human beings, so they keep selling them
diet pills that let them eat whatever they want, job
information that will make them rich with no effort, college
"degrees" that require no study at all, and many
other "easy" fixes to their problems, easy
fulfillment of their desires. But over and over again
these people who want the easy ways out are disappointed,
for what they hoped and expected would help them simply has
left them still with their problems and now with a little
less money in their pockets and wallets.
I'm
coaching a high school girls' basketball team right now, one
that not only has a brand-new coach (me), but that also lost
most of their players from last year. We've adopted
the slogan "Nothing Comes Easy" for this year,
mainly because we all knew that we would have a long and
difficult road ahead of us--that is, if we wanted to
accomplish anything significant. We definitely could
have taken the easy road and doomed ourselves to a winless
season, or we could have worked very hard to try to become
more than anyone expected. And while we haven't come
out as a Cinderella team that in the movies would win all of
their games against much tougher teams, we have become a
team that's extremely competitive, and that already has won
more games than anyone expected us to.
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That
all comes from having a realistic perspective, I
believe. We know that we aren't a very experienced
team, and that means that we have to work harder than the
other teams, both on and off the court. We have to
work harder during games, and we have to work harder during
practice. And that's fine with us, because as long as
we know that nothing is going to come easy to us, we're
ready and willing to pay the price necessary to improve.
Saying
that "nothing comes easy" isn't at all defeatist
or cynical. It's a fact that's been proved over and
over in life, as major scientific breakthroughs come after
years and years of research and hard work; financial
stability comes after years of sacrifice and effort; great
movies and albums are made with the most effort and practice
and planning and preparation. Colonel Sanders had to
visit over 100 restaurants before he sold his recipe for
fried chicken, and that came after years of perfecting that
recipe. Richard Bach received over 70 rejections for Jonathan
Livingston Seagull, and that was after all the time and
effort it took him to write the book.
History
is full of examples of great successes and great results
after a lot of effort and time. There are, of course,
the exceptions--those people who have found success almost
immediately, with almost no work involved. But they
truly are the exceptions rather than the rule. And
that type of success rarely is lasting, either.
When
we remind ourselves that nothing truly worthwhile comes
easy, we can face our obstacles and problems with more
equanimity, and we can be much more calm in the face of
setbacks. When we know that it's going to take time
and work to reach a goal, we're much more likely to accept
delays as necessary elements of the process, and we're much
more likely to see obstacles as learning opportunities
rather than back-breakers. Keeping in mind that
nothing comes easy, we can give our best effort because we
know that it's that effort--as well as the time
involved--that's going to craft a fine finished product.
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