Klarinet Archive - Posting 000242.txt from 2003/03

From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] gold medal
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 01:24:48 -0500

Rebecca,

I agree with Andy...

I think the best way of looking at things is to identify what is
"the gold medal" in your life. Be the best YOU can be, and the
rest doesn't matter. The older you get (and I'm not that old,
thank you very much) the more you appreciate that time spent
lamenting not being the best (whatever) in the world doesn't
really get you anywhere.

Even if you are what many consider "the best" at whatever you
do, there will be contention as to whether YOU are the best, or
someone else. Not worth the stress. I wish I had embraced
EVERYONE'S individual "best" a decade ago. It took years for me
to stop looking at doing better than others, and start looking
to do better than I was already. I have just started the journey
of becoming the best ME as opposed to the best at being
something else. Long way to go, but at least I am redirecting.

I practiced 7 hours today, and I have no sense whatsoever
anymore. Disregard whatever I say, and tell me the pretty lights
are not aliens coming to take me away again.

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds - New York City
--- Andy Raibeck <cactus@-----.net> wrote:
Rebecca,

This will pass. I imagine that you just got a good dose of
reality: that no matter how good you are, there is always
someone better. Tis certainly does not make you inferior!

I do not like the the world Olympics events for several reasons,
but a major reason is the spirit in which people compete: it
does not appear to be good enough for these athletes to just
make it to the Olympics, nor is it good enough for them if they
earn a bronze or silver medal. If they don't win the gold, then
they are losers. That is not my opinion, of course, but it is
the
attitude that I sense when watching the post-event interviews.
These people dedicate their very *lives* for one goal, and one
goal only: to win the Olympic gold. If they don't win it, then
their lives are finished. To peak before you're 20? I find that
sad, pathetic, and a waste.

Of course, you (or anyone else) should never make mediocrity
your life's goal. Keep your sights high and go for the gold! But
at the same time, don't let that goal overwhelm your life so
much that any other outcome means failure. It is just not
realistic. If your life's goal is simply to be number 1 (however
you gauge that), and nothing else is acceptable, then you will
be miserable.

You should also not obsess about your "standing" in the clarinet
world (whatever that is). The only "enlightenment" you need is
to remember what is truly important: be happy with what you are;
don't be unhappy with what you're not. And as long as you do
your personal best at whatever you set out to do in life, the
rest will take care of itself.

All the best,

Andy

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