Don’t forget who you are

Back in 1967, the Byrds recorded a song titled “So you want to be a rock and roll star.”

For many of us young and impressionable teenagers it probably told us anything is possible. A song that was a little more than two minutes long had everything, great guitar opening, harmony and screaming girls in the background.

What more could anybody ask for?

It really was a fun song and I’m sure the Byrds were joking about just how easy it appeared to be. But they sounded very serious.

Early in the song they sing, “…just get an electric guitar and take some time and learn how to play."

So it seems there is a catch to this being a rock star. You evidently need to have some sort of talent to go along with those big dreams. But hey, dreaming is a big part of growing up.

As young and impressionable teens we saw movie stars and pro athletes and wondered what it would be like to be making lots of money or playing a game we all loved to play. I guess having a real job was merely part of Plan B in case something unfortunate blew our dreams into oblivion.

Having some sort of talent and working at it was part of the plan as long as we found success first. Then if that happened we would certainly work at it because once we made some big time money it would be worth every minute of work to be great or have adoring fans. A bit foolish but that is why we need to grow up, work hard and pursue dreams that are possible.

I think every generation has the same type of dreams. The big difference between my generation and this generation is the fact that sports stars are signing much bigger contracts than they did in the 1960’s.

I think there are more opportunities now than there was years ago because there are more teams at different levels in which to play.

But in order to accomplish a career in sports means doing more than dreaming.

You must work hard and play your trade whatever sport it is.

There are a ton of stories about tennis players and swimmers traveling several hours before school begins to practice for a couple of hours before traveling back to make the first bell.

One day a week is one thing but every day of the week?

Families invest a lot of money in coaches for those elite athletes to make it to the next levels. The parents and the kids need to be all in for that to work. Oh yeah, they need to get their schoolwork turned in as well.

I’ve seen a lot of young, talented kids that are willing to take short cuts believing that their talent will carry them through. It often works for a while but somewhere along the line their laziness will come to light and that is usually the time the excuse box opens up.

We are all guilty of finding shortcuts and missing a workout or practice. ‘I have a fever,’ ‘my calf is a bit sore from yesterday’s workout,’ ‘something has come up and I have to miss practice today’ are but a few of the many excuses that are used on a daily basis.

It is kind of funny when you think about it, but we can all be rock stars in our own little way. We just need to find that one thing we are good at and improve on it each day. It can be something very small but by giving a little more you can certainly get better at it.

To motivate yourself try to be better today than you were yesterday and that is for all things.

The reason is simple. At some point in time in our lives that goal will be difficult to accomplish and we will most likely never be able to improve from the previous day.

So if you are young remember that you can never recover a wasted moment. You can want to be something special but you will need to work at it to achieve it.

The last line of the Byrds hit is, “Don’t forget who you are, you’re a rock and roll star.”

I think we sometimes forget that we can be something special but it won’t come easy!