I've lost myself in my work many times. If you love what you do, this can be a Zen thing, where past and future recede to a vanishing point and leave… - John Vorhaus

There's a deeper reason, though, for not striving for excellence, ... and it has to do with how we view ourselves and our endeavors in this world. Many of us recognize that not trying is a reasonable excuse for not succeeding. That is, if we don't give something our best effort, we can always point to that fact as the basis for poor results. If, on the other hand, we give... everything we've got and still don't win, well, that's a fairly bitter pill to swallow.... I don't buy this defeatist attitude.

To an asshole, the whole world looks dark.

Go off in all directions at once; you're bound to get somewhere somehow.