Ya Gotta Pay To Play
By: P.G. Barnett
Tags: Human Behavior, Life, Behavior, Top Shelf Pg, Self-awareness

A lot of times in life we all get dealt some really shitty hands. You know, like when you get passed over for that promotion you really wanted, writing for a living, losing a job, a loved one, writing for a living, working three jobs to put food on the table, your car breaking down in the middle of rush hour traffic, or even writing for a living.

Subliminal messages, ain’t they a hoot?

All joking aside (at the moment) the single most ubiquitous statement many of us know by heart is that ya gotta pay to play. And it’s not just buying a ticket for a ride at a local carney or sweetening the poker pot.

Everything we do requires some level of payment whether it’s mental, emotional, physical, or monetarily. If you want to play the game you must be willing to pay the stakes.

I think one of the biggest problems we Humans have is we either don’t understand the demands of the games we play, or we don’t know our own limitations.

See, that’s the trick, where the skill of self-realization comes to bear. Knowing yourself and your capabilities well enough to keep you moving forward despite all the crap you get dealt along the way.

Oh, it would be great knowing we’ll always have an ace up our sleeve when we get into a tight spot, but the sad reality of that is, most times we don’t. And should we continue to commit to something we now realize we should have never started in the first place, we stumble and face plant on the sidewalk.

It’s all about understanding our limitations folks.

We might have thought it was a great idea to start a business in a depressed economy. It’s been done before with some success. However, we never stopped to examine our shortcomings. Shortcomings such as the fact we don't have the slightest bit of business acumen and can’t manage a balance sheet or a profit and loss statement to save our lives.

Where’s that ace up the sleeve when we need it?

There are other limitations we sometimes overlook. Limitations such as lack of true purpose, positive mental attitude, perseverance, and grit. Some of the things we try to do in life require a shit ton of all four.

Ah, the game of life. In most circumstances, life will continuously demand that you pay to play.

It will constantly look for an opportunity to steamroll your ass. Just to get from one day to the next you’re going to need a hell of a lot of positive mental attitude and an understanding of just how much of a beating you can take. Before undertaking anything you need to understand your own limitations.

I’m not saying don’t ever push the envelope. We all should be continuously reaching for that golden ring, right? It’s how we learn and grow. It’s how we add another really cool gadget on our Batman toolbelt. Hey, I watched The Dark Knight again last night. Sue me. The point is the more we push ourselves, the more things we accomplish, and the more we master.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should always exceed his grasp. Or what’s a heaven for?” Robert Browning — Dramatis Personae

But in doing so, in constantly pushing ourselves to achieve some new and shiny trait or skill, you need to be realistic and truly understand your limitations. You need to understand by all the attempts, successes, and failures you experience in your life what you realistically can and cannot do.

You don’t tug on superman’s cape

You don’t spit into the wind

You don’t pull the mask off that old lone ranger

And you don’t mess around with Jim [You Don’t Mess Around With Jim] — Jim Croce 1972

See, as I said. Understand the things you just can’t do.

On the flip side of the can’t do chart is things we’d really love to do but know we’ll probably never get to do. Yes, we all want to be astronauts and part of the colonization of Mars just so we can get marooned and eat potatoes grown in shit as Matt Damen did, right?

Again just me?

Doubt that’s ever going to happen for me. I hate raw potatoes. See? You’ve got to catalog these limitations, understand what they are, and learn from them. Look, you’re already paying the price. You know you have to pay to play, so you might as well start studying the odds of your wins and losses and understand them both.

Okay, at least agree with me truly understanding your limitations, and having an inkling of what you can and can’t do keeps you from undertaking something more than likely improbable. Maybe something that wasn’t up your alley in the first place.

Remember, ya gotta pay to play this game of life and each of us truly needs to understand our limitations so we can get the best out of living each day.

Of course, If you think you don’t have any limitations then you’re probably Superman and impervious to Kryptonite. If so this message isn’t for you.

But hey, tell Lois Lane we said hello.

Thank you so much for reading. You didn’t have to, but I’m certainly glad you did.

Let’s keep in touch: paul@pgbarnett.com

© P.G. Barnett, 2020. All Rights Reserved.