Of inspiration and demotivation

So as a guitarist, practice is a necessary evil. I hate practice, and I lack talent. The result is that I am not a very good guitarist. Normally I am fine with this and just soldier on. However I was recently exposed to a truly talented guitarist playing an original song. It was fantastic. I could never play with such accuracy, regardless of my practice regimen.

This introduces me to my latest struggle: lack of talent. I currently pursue too many hobbies to focus on one correctly, but I feel that I learn much slower than others. Perhaps it is my lack of focus that has me spreading out my abilities too far, but I doubt this. I have been practicing basketball for several years now and I have to face the fact that I will never be very good. My reaction times are too slow, and practice will not really resolve this. Due to my height, the fact that I am not a natural athlete seems to infuriate many of my teammates. I assume that they spent years wishing they had height, see me, and are angered that I do not totally dedicate myself to playing basketball. I guess I can see this point of view, I just wish it did not result in people dumping so much anger and negativity at me. I enjoy basketball, love the exercise, and enjoy playing on a team. Perhaps my teammates feel that because of my casual attitude the only reason I can play at their level is because of my height?  I guess I would be angry too.

I have been trying to figure out why my basketball playing brings out so much anger in others. It is the sole reason I avoided the sport for so many years. It is also one of the reasons I have chosen to pursue the sport later in life. Kind of a face your fears sort of thing. I have learned many lessons from this, but the negativity is starting to wear me out.  As I learned from my last job, I do not respond to fear based incentives or negative reinforcements. However, in the world of jocks and sports, I understand that it would be ridiculous for me to expect any sort of positivity. Male competition is cut throat, with no quarter given to enemies. I just wish my teammates would stop viewing me as an enemy. I suppose if I was better, they might just hate me more, so I guess I can be thankful at my limited skills.

I can make some good beer though!