Me and my friends had a discussion with some other guys the other day. It happened that most of us were swimmers and we started to talk about swimming (it’s no surprise, isn’t it?). Some guys claimed that talent is more important than hard work while the others think just the opposite. What do you think
My money is on the hard work side. Talent is important and certainly gives you a better starting point but nothing more than that. A starting point. Everything else you have to earn. Nothing can replace hard work. Many true champions from other sports have proved that hard work can beat impossible odds. Garrincha, a famous football (soccer) player hopped like a wren. Hence his nickname; “garrincha” means wren. He was unable to walk normally. He had several birth defects: his spine was deformed; his right leg bent inwards and his left leg six centimeters shorter and curved outwards. Nobody gave him a benefit of a doubt that he would ever walk, not to mention to run or play football. But he had a dream. A dream of becoming the world class football player. He put a necessary effort, hard work and patiently worked on his dream goal. The rest is history. FIFA considers him the best Brazilian player ever after Pelé. Also IFFHS voted him the second best Brazilian player and the eighth best in the world during the 20th century. Most of the football historians consider him the best dribbler in football history. Had he listened to the people around him he would have spent his life as a disabled wretch.