What Goes In

I became acutely aware again of how much goes into something behind the scenes.
It was when Merril gave her talk.  She had 5 minutes.  She studied her subject, gleaned what she could and refined it.  It was hours of work.  There were four of them that did the same.  Then there were the musicians.  They had to know the songs.  They needed instruments.  They needed to be set up.  For others the layout needed to be set up including chairs, lighting, tables, food (can’t forget the food cause it is one of my favourite parts) etc.  There is so much involved.
 So much happens and I see only the end product.  It is like I am an end user and my picture is limited. I either like what I see, or don’t.
My dad was into Andre Rieu so I saw a bit of that.  We have CD’s and DVD’s of him.  Merril’s dad was a bagpipe player in his Brisbane concert.  What goes into those shows is amazing.  Just the “get up” the performers are in, would be a story in itself.
To me, it is a bit like my life.  What I am is made up of is everything that has gone before.  Whoever said it, I believe it “one swallow does not a summer make.”  People are complex.  What I do is only one element of who I am.
I use the “one swallow does not a summer make” in table tennis.  It really is not over till it is over.  It is the first to eleven.  Even if I am leading (yes it does happen – it is rarer than I would like, but I have been there) it is not over till it is over.  There was one doubles we were up seven nil.  We lost eleven seven.  When I am ten, is when what has gone before kicks in.  My thinking is, if I can get to ten so can the other person.  To be over I need to finish it.
For me, it matters that I habitually do the things that stand me in good stead.  I believe what goes in, will come out. If I am a phony or genuine, I cannot hide it.  I might do something as a one off, but who I am will become obvious.
We are complex beings.  Who I am has not just appeared, but has been built.