CHAPTER FOUR
ENTERTAINMENT? DON’T GO THERE
Our society today is a humpty dumpty entertainment filled one. Everyone wants to be jumping hoolalah. That’s not bad. It’s just that the champions wouldn’t go that way. It’s a crazy world.
I’m not saying that champions don’t entertain themselves. They do but not in the general sense. They are always very busy fathoming out how to fulfill their quest that they almost have little time to give to entertainment. By the way, what are you entertaining yourself about when there is a championship match to challenge for? Discipline is the keyword.
I remember the 2000 FIFA world cup in Korea Japan. The Nigerian national team had participated in that competition. Against camp rules, the players welcomed prostitutes into their rooms to entertain their sexual desires. It actually became an issue after they failed to pass the group stage for the first time since the team began to attend the competition. Teams often make it clear that their players stay off women.
If you are thinking you can combine entertainment and an eye for the prize, that’s certainly an illusion. To be pragmatic, you will neither enjoy your entertainment nor set your eyes on the prize. It’s a fact. You’ve got to choose one. For the champion, it is the prize.
I know of one heavy weight champion who won surprisingly a title but afterwards went about celebrating and entertaining himself while he should have being preparing for the defense of the title. When the time arrived for him to defend his title, he lost to the contenders.
If you think championship is for entertaining people, well you can rethink again. Yes we always desire and pursuing championship is enough fun. All the fun a champion seeks is the fun of winning, the glory, the joy that elopes in the heart. Winning could be very interesting that’s why the team that wins a world cup or a gold medal jubilates.
There are benefits that actually come with winning. The fun comes as a result of winning not as a process of winning. Entertainment should be a reward for hard work and winning.
It will be a mistake to dance around or go play football when you should be on your book preparing for your exams if you want to get good grades at the exam except you’ve decided that the exams do not matter.
The human tendency towards feeding our flesh with some entertainments is understood. We must satisfy our body. Sadly though, society has suffered and is suffering because men and women who should have changed the way things are done were busy playing and entertaining their way in club houses and fun houses.
We’d often use the cliché “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” as a corner to waste precious time. Sadly those who major at using this statement are those who play more than work. Play only should arrive after work has achieved its aim, it becomes even refreshing.
A champion only entertains himself in light of what he intends to achieve. He entertains with success in mind. When he gives up his work, he spends sometime refreshing himself outside work so that he could return to his work refreshed and stronger. That is the spirit of the champion.
Looking to become a champion requires that you discipline that part of you that loves fun. At the university I studied my mates who performed better than the rest of us in class. They had no time to entertain themselves with what our peers entertained with. There was no partying. While some of our mates took to partying every weekend, they’d read their books. That was the difference. Our entertaining conscious friend were always surprise to see the success seeking mates entertaining themselves and that made them look human. It is in this case that the cliché made mention earlier holds water.
Does all work and no play make us dull? I’ve never seen one man who works and never plays becoming dull. It’s actually the ones who play and never work that turn out dull. I’ve observed that amongst my pupils.
As a student, you may remember that the smartest students in class were not always playful. They always carried a serious mane and you could tell that this one was serious. So where does the cliché arrive from? From the lazy, entertainment loving students.
When I was playful in school, I failed and my teachers complained about me. The moment I began to work harder and forge goals, good comments arrived from my teachers
I am not of the opinion that you should not entertain yourself once in a while. What I mean is that habitual entertainment is a big problem if you intend to be a champion. You have to give it up till after you have achieved your pursuit.
Provided you are in a continuous pursuit of championship, it is good you concentrate on the pursuit. Win what you have to win and play or entertain yourself with all you can entertain yourself with. There should be time for everything.
Never sacrifice your future championship pursuit on the altar of a present entertainment. You can give entertainment up today and still have it later.