I had a friend a few years ago who could be described as something between what’s euphemistically known as an ‘entrepreneur’ and a cheap shyster. Every time I talked to him he was involved in some new get-rich-quick scheme – one that usually skirted the line of legality.
Nothing in my friend’s life related to music. And yet one night, at a house party, he picked up a guitar and started fooling around on it and, even though he’d never played before, within minutes he was producing something worth listening to. He later took it up as somewhat of a hobby, and while I don’t think he ever pursued it seriously, he was obviously born with a natural talent.
Some people are like that. They call it a ‘gift’, and in many ways that’s what it is. You’ve been ‘given’ an extraordinary talent for something, and if you’re smart enough, and together enough, to take advantage of that gift, you’ve got it made.
I’ve always admired people like that, especially since personally, I have no extraordinary gifts. The thing I’m probably best at is writing, but even in that my gifts aren’t exceptional. Instead, I’m a ‘grinder’. There are many writers more naturally gifted than I am, but I try make up for whatever shortcomings I might have through hard work.
The truth is that the vast majority of us are grinders. We have to work for what we achieve, and I’m okay with that. Natural talent is something you’re blessed with. You didn’t have to do anything to get it. You didn’t even ask for it. It’s just there.
Grinding, on the other hand, is something for which you alone are responsible. You take the courses. You put in the hours of work. You hone your skills. A literary genius might knock off a masterpiece on a napkin while watching the game on TV, while us grinders struggle and study the craft and sweat day and night for years to produce something as good. But in the end, isn’t ours the greater accomplishment?
Mind you, maybe in reality everybody’s a grinder, whether they’re willing admit it or not. I recently came across this quote from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
“It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has become easy to me. I assure you, dear friend, no one has given so much care to the study of composition as I.”
No doubt some geniuses take their gifts for granted. But when you’re a grinder, you know what it takes to produce something extraordinary, and you appreciate what you’ve done.
So here’s to the grinders. I’m proud to be one of their number. I may have to work harder, but in the end I know that what I’ve produced wasn’t handed to me on a platter, it was achieved by my own effort and perseverance.
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