In an interview with famed author Stephen King, he was once asked, “How do you write?” King’s reply was, “One word at a time.”
At face value, King’s answer may seem a bit snarky. But take a minute to think about it. King’s reply was more about being patient than being sarcastic. We’ve all heard the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Well, Michael Jordan wasn’t born the greatest basketball player of all time either. It took drive and determination. Going back to King, he also said, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
Hard work and patience go hand and hand. New seasons equal change. Spring more so than others. The weather is warming up. Cabin fever is nearing epidemic proportions. Maybe you’ve spent winter researching something new to try this year. Maybe obstacle course racing, that’s a thing now, I hear. Or maybe you can’t wait to take your laptop to the park and get started on that novel that’s already written in your mind. Whatever you choose to tackle this spring, just know that to be successful, you’ll need to work hard, and be patient.
You ran your first obstacle course, but you finished at the bottom of the pack. Guess what? You finished. Be patient and work harder.
You published your first novel, but it’s not selling as well as you imagined. Guess what? You published a novel. Be patient and work harder.
The unofficial theme for this issue of Showcase is hard work. In our cover feature, we take a look back at forty years of the Festival in the Park, an event that wouldn’t be nearly as successful today without the hard work of volunteers. The Nutrition Paradigm delves into what it takes to get healthy. Want a hint? Hard work. Remember, for every Michael Jordan there are dozens of JR Riders. I’ll let you figure out what separates them.
Enjoy March.