“The score never interested me, only the game.”- Mae West
The dancer becomes the dance, the artist becomes the work. When you are in the zone in whatever game you are playing, the score and the clock matter not because in the best moments we touch Heaven and perfection and the constraints of reality disappear.
Getting to this point is the interesting part of the game. Learning the rules and nuances. Practicing over and over, understanding self and situation. The grind. The sacrifices. If you are playing the game you are born for, it does not matter the work or the outcome, only the process of playing it.
Flowers do not grow to be called beautiful, but because growing is what they do. That is their game, not the outcome or perception of an external party. Just growing.
Be like the flower of the field. Grow and blossom without comparing yourself to others.