Determination: It's All Relative

Determination: It's All Relative

Albert Einstein once said, "You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."

After I reflected a bit on how they "play" here in Madrid, (see the waiting game described below) I have to say, I wasn't quite ready to surrender to the status quo, throw my hands in the air and toss in the towel, but I still wasn't quite prepared to fight.

That's when I came across this picture.

Tigers swim?!

Either this tiger is pretty damned determined or they do, in fact, fully submerge themselves in water. I have to say that I preferred the idea of a really determined cat, so I haven't bothered to look it up, but hazy recollections of 1980's nature shows leave me suspecting that tigers do actually like the water.

So, what if tigers do swim? In my opinion, that does seemingly flip the conventional knowledge regarding cats and water on its head. I like the idea of a tiger deciding one day, you know what, the last thing someone expects me to do is jump in the water. If I hop in there after that jackrabbit/fish/turtle and break every rule of this nature game, I'm seriously going to get ahead!



















Now, I can't expect to break the rules of the game here that dramatically. Still, every time I look at that tiger's expression I see a mix of pure and fierce determination with a glint of satisfaction. Maybe I want to imagine it, but that cat looks pretty pleased with himself if you ask me.

It makes me think a bit. If I can't expect to play by the rules I'm accustomed to, I can certainly take what level of expectation, competitive edge and determination to succeed I have and use them to my advantage. It's like playing the game with an extra set of cards, only you have to be careful when you use them and actually, not really ever let anyone know you using them at all.

OK. I suppose that example is technically called cheating, but it's all relative, after all, isn't it?

Thanks Albert.