Dream the dream

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past week, you would have by now heard about Susan Boyle. Susan has literally dropped jaws to the floor around the world. Susan came from obscurity and sang her way to our hearts. Literally. What makes Susan so exceptional is that the minute she walked on the stage, people wrote her off. I know that in show business appearances count for something, but talent is all the more important.

So how does a 46 year old singer from Scotland have anything to do with sport? Well she doesn’t really, but her story does. Where I am not one for reality TV, talent shows, or hype, I have to admit that there is something awe inspiring about Susan Boyle that everyone of us can relate to, whether it is her talent, her decision to go for it, or the song she sang (I dreamt a dream from Les Miserables).

Where my last post was about commitment and the overall theme of the blog, the underlying story with Susan is something that inspires me. She probably has been waiting for a chance to come her way to see whether she had what it takes and she does.

My motivation is to find out whether I have what it takes. I think that I have few of the elements that it takes to play the game at the sharpest edge and where I am not the complete package, I have to play to my strengths, which are passion, mental toughness, speed and dedication to mention but a few. There was an interesting conversation I had with a hockey enthusiast playing at the same level as me, which was quite interesting and I forgot to mention in the last post.

We were talking about the levels of play where we have played in the past and this guy has the package to go far, but he said he didn’t want to commit to the long seasons of tough hockey. It is ultimately tough to manage work and hockey at the same time. I remember back in the late 80’s early 90’s when a few of the professional players in my hometown team were working second jobs to keep themselves afloat financially. That is dedication and commitment. I was faced with the question would I do it if I had the chance? The easy answer: Yes. I would be willing to sacrifice just about everything for that chance.

Like the above example of Ms. Boyle, I just need that one shot to see whether or not what I perceive to be good, is really good enough. It is the dream that I dream and life is yet to kill it. This up and coming season will prove whether there is a chance for me.