Work doesn’t have to be work

Over the course of the past week, I have been digging deeper into the topic of hard work and effort as it relates to the men’s basketball team and their season up to this point. As I have researched stats and conducted interviews, one thing has become quite clear to me:

 

I can be very lazy!

 

Don’t get me wrong, I do have my strong points (mostly in the looks department), but I would much rather stay in my comfort zone than push myself into trying new things. This was especially true prior to joining the staff here at the UVU Review and writing about sports in particular.

 

In a conversation I had with Geddes Robinson about his journey through sports and the success he has found with basketball, I couldn’t help but think about my JaMarcus Russell-esque physique.

 

Russell is widely regarded as the biggest bust at quarterback of all-time, but a lack of talent was not what earned him that title. It was his refusal to study the playbook and put in the time required to excel. His eternally-expanding waistline didn’t help either.

 

The beauty of sports is that it has a unique way of being an escape from reality as well as making you think and question what you believe, serving as an agent of change at times. At the risk of jock-mockery, I am going to throw out a term from day-time talk show host and soon to take over the world media icon, Oprah Winfrey.

 

It’s the “Ah-ha” moment as she calls it, and is very powerful when it comes to making changes within us. It’s the idea that there is a moment when we see things or hear something in a new way that makes it click all of a sudden and make sense in our mind.

 

Kind of like when you hear a joke you don’t get right away, but then out of the blue it makes sense and you burst out laughing as you walk down the halls looking like a crazy person.

 

I had an ah-ha moment while writing about that interview with Geddes Robinson a little after 1:00 a.m. the other day. Hard work can be fun. Don’t send me off to the loony-bin just yet and hear me out.

 

Athletes work extremely hard, but what do we call what they do on the court? Play! What is their profession? A game!

 

As the saying goes, “When you do something you love, your vocation becomes a vacation and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

 

I always hear how much people hate to write and that it must take talent to be able to write all the time, especially when your grade doesn’t depend on it. But like Robinson said, it’s not about talent as much as it is hard work and the right mindset.

 

To prove how messed up my mind works, try and follow this. Because I love writing, I can still be lazy but work hard enough to make up for my lack of talent.

 

Isn’t it a thing of beauty.

 

Jonathan Boldt can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jboldt24