Quote of the Week...from Pelé

Success is no accident.  It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.                       ---Pelé

Pelé, from Brazil, is one of the greatest...and most beloved...soccer players in history.  His above quote not only accurately describes his own approach to the game he excelled in, but goes beyond it to apply to me in any challenging area of my life for which I want to achieve success.  The truth is that it's easy to get excited and motivated when starting new projects, and equally easy to coast on successful outcomes.  But when the going is rough, when I am discouraged, anxious or distracted and cannot enjoy or even envision my direction and progress properly, this is precisely when it is important to work, persevere, and sacrifice...to get through those hard times and back on the positive side.  Most people give up in those dark times, but the ones who ultimately succeed and become skillful and accomplished in their chosen areas are the ones who are always working to take things to a higher level, with an ultimate prize envisioned ahead of them.  Above everything, though, as the great Pelé concluded, it is crucial to love what I'm doing or learning to do...beyond what society may say about my current level of competency.  I think a lot of people are hesitant to try anything new for fear of failing before others...it's important that one's interest in an area surmounts that resistance.  As the Desiderata stated, "If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself".  It's always been my experience, no matter what I do and how hard I work at it, that somebody will inevitably come along who exceeds my skill and accomplishment, often taking great pains to inform me of this.  So you gotta love what you're doing for its own sake and don't get hung up by the noise coming from others...