He bent down one last time with his club in hand, staring
defiantly at the sands. Surely, this would be one step too far. Everyone around
him had given up hope. There was no way with the inclination so steep that
anyone could lift the ball above the bunker and into the hole, not in one
stroke anyway. But this guy was different. He saw the wind was moving in his
direction and once the ball cleared the bunker, there was a downward slope to
the hole. He selected his club, with the approval of his caddie and focused on
the ball. The world around him vanished like a man with an astigmatic vision.
He took one swing of the club, the ball flew out of the bunker and slowly made
its way towards the hole and with each rotation the palpitation of the crowd
was so loud, you could hear it. And then, VOILA!!! We had a winner. The ball
slips into the hole; the player takes his cap off and bows to the crowd. He was
none other than Tiger Woods himself.
Once we know the name, we are often led into believing the inevitability
of that result. But just think, if that person was a newcomer, an unknown
person none of us would be thinking like this. It’s as if we have classified a
particular set of individuals as genius or in some cases and cultures
demi-gods. For others, everyone has a threshold, a limit beyond which we cannot
pass. However in our myopic judgement we don’t notice the simplicity of their
thinking, the adroitness of their execution and the passion in their hearts.
They simply break a problem down into simple constituents and always take it
one step at a time.
So next time before
procrastinating at a problem, ask yourself this question. Is this problem
really impossible, or is your acceptance an excuse for your indolence. And then
remember what Cassius told Marcus
Brutus in the play Julius Caesar, “Don’t
blame the stars, for the fault lies in ourselves that we are underlings.”
.jpg)
.jpg)
