Whose responsibility is it anyway?
Some people make things happen, others watch what happens and the rest wonder what happened. Trouble is, the majority of folk fall into the third category, and a miniscule percentage comprise the first. This has nothing to do with the human capacity for imagination, it has everything to do with the human will. And all too often, our will finds itself subordinated to issues of convenience and security instead of opportunity and challenge. Most people encounter at least one worthwhile opportunity each day of their lives. Some people find no more than a handful in their entire lifetimes - a bit like a diver doing a "big blue" dive and complaining afterwards that all he saw was a jellyfish. That's what happens when you spend the whole dive only looking down. The more focussed divers will have noted a school of Eagle Rays passing by to the left 5 metres above our friend, later an inquisitive pair of Hammerhead sharks circling overhead for all of 3 minutes and later still a giant leather backed turtle swimming lazily past on the right. There's no lack of opportunity in life, but we do see it better when our eyes are open and we're actually looking out for something.
This raises the following question. Whose responsibility is it to identify the opportunities and select which ones to act on? Well, it's yours of course. But we approach life armed with a quiver full of excuses and bags of difficult circumstances, the most common one being deprivation (of affection, education, looks, time - and oh yes I almost forgot the big one - money!) And often these arguments are so compelling we succeed in robbing ourselves of a chance at anything even before we've exited the starting blocks.
We all know that there's plenty of tough competition out there. Seemingly impossible odds faced a young American golfer called Ben Curtis when he teed off in the 132nd Open Golf Championship last Thursday. Few thought he would make the cut at the midway stage. But make it he did - and within range of the leaders. On day 4 he burned up the first 11 holes moving from +1 to -5, before dropping 4 shots on the last 7 holes to end on -1. Once back in the clubhouse, Ben waited nervously. Tournament leader Thomas Bjorn cruised to the 15th with a lead of 3 strokes having birdied the 14th. And then, bogey, double bogey and bogey. Bjorn now needed a birdie on the 18th to tie for the lead, but could only manage par to tie in second place. Only one golfer out of over 1000 initial entrants managed to beat par - the young and unfancied Ben Curtis. While giving thanks during his brief acceptance speech his voice choked with emotion when he came to mention his family and his fiancé. How proud they must have been of him! What gave Ben Curtis the right to win the 132nd Open this past weekend, edging out scores of more fancied golfers? Some may say that he was lucky because Thomas Bjorn "choked." Others will say he showed courage by keeping his nerve and playing his game consistently over 72 holes. He saw an opportunity, kept his head and took his chances to beat the best the world has to offer. And now he's a superstar.
Sometimes we don't see the opportunity because we're not looking for it. Sometimes we see it but we procrastinate until it's too late. Sometimes we just see the obstacles. Other times we see it and act, but don't believe in ourselves enough. And sometimes we only wake up when somebody else, who heard about it long after we did, has done it. Being a real winner is about taking responsibility for your decisions and taking charge of your life. It's about preparing yourself for the abundance of opportunities that life has to offer. One day, you too will cross the finish line in first place. Depends how badly you want to. It also depends on what your first place is - in other words how you see it.
Every day we set aside a good chunk of quality time to invest with the kids, no matter how busy we are. This morning I felt like the world's greatest winner. My 22 month old daughter rushed into my arms, squealing with delight, and hugged me as hard as she could.
Paul du Toit (21 July 2003)
