Amateur or Professional

When most people hear the word “amateur”, they think of ineptness, things done in a shoddy fashion, and laughable, half-baked efforts. Conversely, when they hear the word “professional”, they think of first class workmanship with great attention to detail; in other words, the best.

Unfortunately, when making these assumptions, most people don’t think of what these words actually mean.

“Amateur” is from the same root word as “amor”, which is the Latin word for love. So, in other words, an “amateur” is one who engages in a particular activity simply for the satisfaction of doing so; it is a “labor of love”. “Professional” simply means that one gets paid for the activity, no more, no less.

Neither word implies anything whatsoever about the quality of what is being done, and the fact that one is being paid for something, does not, in and of itself, guarantee superior work.

The distinction between an amateur and a professional then, is a simple financial one. I’ve seen plenty of first rate work done by amateurs and also plenty of half-assed, shoddy work done by those being paid for it -- the professionals.

Many times, the true value of something isn’t the financial one.