Pressure...

I love pressure. I work best under pressure. It's what seperates the Hobbyist from the Pros.

One thing I really admire about myself is my ability to work under pressure. Always. Now the current job I have doesn't really let me utilize this special tallent very often, so I have to give myself the opportunity. In college I always thrived under the pressure of deadlines and build-up. Some of my best papers were written within the few days before a duedate. Now that doesn't mean I waited until then to get started as there was ussually lots of research involved. I became a beast at cranking out the daybefore paper. Averaging 1page/hour wasn't uncommon. I always enjoyed doing the majority of my work under pressure.

I also loved the pressure of games. There is really nothing like having only a few seconds to make an entire game worth the effort. In frisbee I loved the pressure of the big tournaments. I loved getting the disc. I loved the pressure of defense, the idea that you had to react to whatever the offense gave you; which meant you had to be quicker and smarter to "d" a 6'5" opponent (his name is Carl Doege, and yes).

Today I was playing golf when some Samoans waiting in front of me asked me to join. I agreed. Now before I get to the story I would like to say something about being a minority. Being a minority kinda stinks. It also means its easy to make a fool of yourself and get laughed at. So I stink at golf and wasn't playing well, but since I joined these guys the pressure was on. I had to do well. We were on hole 8 (par 5) when the first two guys took their drives. The first one cranked his straigt down the middle (stink!). The second hooked his into the abbutting hedgerow. So I get up there and know I have to perform. 240yds later my ball landed in the middle of the fairway just short of the first guys. I went on to have a great 3w and pitch. I ended up 2in short of an incredibly rare birdy, but I still bested them.


Paul "Foooorrrrrrrre" Murphy