My Talent or Lack Thereof

I've always wanted to be really good at something. To have a talent or skill that is valid and perhaps enviable. When I was growing up, my parents were always very encouraging as far as learning various skills. I was always signed up for at least two different kinds of lessons. I think part of this was to get me out of the house and give my mother a break from the chaos of five children. But the other part was an attempt to round out my education and provide me with an outlet to investigate extracurricular activities I might become enthusiastic about. Thus, as part of my pursuit to find something I not only enjoyed doing but also excelled at, I tried NUMEROUS different things.

The following is a list of those I remember: ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, western riding, english riding, english jumping, swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, piano, flute, baton twirling, skiing, crocheting, knitting, sewing, cooking, computer programming, singing, and tennis. Furthermore, I was in band. I was on the drill team. I tried track. I tried drama. I played softball. I played soccer. I tried choir. I was in the Spanish club. I was on the school paper. I tried a lot of things. I was just never fabulous at any one of them.

Now, I have to admit, I perhaps did not try HARD at a lot of these aforementioned activities. I was one of those rebellous children that when encouraged to do something by my parents, tended to move away from whatever that thing was. It was also a bit frustrating to want to do well at something, and really not succeed, but have siblings that did excel in various areas. My older brother Matthew was and is very successful with computers. When we got our first computer, he very quickly learned everything about it, took it apart, put it back together, and hacked into places he shouldn't have. My oldest younger brother, Taylor, was very tall and coordinated. He did well at sports, particularly soccer and basketball. The younger brother under him, Carson, did well in soccer and also became a fabulous drummer. And my youngest brother, Jordan, is a black belt in Taekwando and can draw extremely well. And then there was me......Too short for basketball; in possession of bad electrical equipment karma; unable to play soccer after a horrible soccer experience when on the Mother Goose team; no discernable artistic skills; and only mediocre musical ability.

I remember in college, having to take a speech class. Our very first speech assignment was to give a speech about one of our hobbies and to also utilize a visual aid in our speech. Boy, did I have to sit and think about that one. It took me quite a while to figure out exactly what to speak on. Finally, I loaded up a big wicker laundry basket. In it I put ski gloves and goggles, a swim cap, a picture of me riding a horse, some knitting needles stuck through a ball of yarn, a half finished cross stitch, a tennis racket, my flute, and some piano music. I then proceeded to give a three minute speech on how my hobby was finding different hobbies to try.

As an adult, I have continued in my quest to master or at least be moderately adequate at something. First of all, I re-started piano lessons. This time around, being the one that is paying for them, I practice harder than I did before. However, given that my fingers are very short and my hands small, I have no future plans to become a concert pianist. Plus, I refuse to do any work in my theory book, much to my piano teacher's dismay.

I've also tried SCUBA diving. After a bad start to the class due to illness, I completed the written test and mastered the necessary skills in the pool. I was spot on! It was fun. Yeah, well, attempting to demonstrate the skills in the ocean was another matter. I had no idea I was claustrophobic until about 15 minutes after I was strapped into the suit and 20' down. Thank you Janice for mastering your rescue diver skills.

While not a hobby, I sometimes feel that I'm fairly decent at my job. But then I wonder, is it a good thing to excel at helping people get divorced? I really have no answer for that. I actually think that being good at my job has much more to do with the fact that I do have good listening skills and I enjoy helping people and solving problems. But I honestly have no desire to make divorce a hobby or talent.

And so I'll continue on in my quest to find a skill. I'm fairly certain that I can rule out mountain climbing and long distance cross country running. Probably building model airplanes or racing dirt bikes can be crossed off the list as well. I really don't see myself taking up oil painting or any other crafty and artistic sorts of activities, although I do occasionally get talked in to trying those things the results are often disasterous. There's a big world out there to discover though. Full of all sorts of exciting hobbies. Maybe I'd be good at tattooing? Poetry? Bull fighting? Underwater basket weaving? There's always herb gardening, french pastry baking, or ceramics. Macrame, kayaking, deep sea fishing, metel detecting, bungee jumping...........