Those Pesky Bushels

[Gary]

It's weird how things turn out.

When I was a child I was interested in medicine. My mother suggested I become a doctor but I was terrified I'd lose my first patient. Of course I know now that it doesn't work that way but I never did become a doctor.

Instead I took first aid courses, joined Search and Rescue, got up to Advanced Wilderness First Aid, became and actor and now teach at the medical school. But I'm still not a doctor.

I also wanted to become a maths professor. Too bad I didn't have a talent for maths -- or at least that was what I was told. My ADD made it very difficult for me to do the detailed work needed to excel in that field. Advanced maths is fun as long as I don't have to do lots of fiddly bits to satisfy an examiner. I love number theory but bookkeeping is mysterious.

I took some acting classes but then I hit puberty and lost all my self-confidence. So much for that.

When I discovered computers I was really in heaven. At least, as long as I could putter on my own. Taking classes failed miserably. Thanks ADD. But I still worked in the field for about 30 years. I just never did very well, mostly because I couldn't focus on the details. But for 30 years I considered myself to be a techno-geek with very poor people skills.

Then something changed.

Despite my fear of dealing with people I became a teacher. A really good one, according to my students. What?!!

In Search and Rescue we had an incident that led to my lovely wife and me volunteering to take the crisis management courses and becoming the local experts. That led to wanting a degree in psychology. Suddenly I'm a counsellor with great people skills. What?!!

After 25 years of going nowhere I started thinking about my martial arts background. Normally nobody will test you unless they are your teacher and you have time in grade so just asking someone to tell me where I was wouldn't work. Then I found someone who would test me as long as I didn't mind being a "ronin" -- someone who has the rank but is not recognised by any of the official organisations. The result was a black belt in aikido. What!??

I started teaching a small group. Mr. Clumsy turns out to be a good martial arts teacher. Who'd have thought?

Now I'm taking karate and I've gone up one rank every 6 months, which is how often grading are held. I probably won't make the December grading to blue belt but that's just because my brain is jumping around wondering how I can possibly have gotten so good so fast. On the other hand, my teacher hinted that if I'm not ready in December I can grade early in the new year. If I know what's good for me. What?!!

I've never danced in my life. No, never. But as an actor I wanted to take ballroom dancing so I'd have some kind of skills in case I ever got such a part. It turns out that I'm good at it. My lovely wife and I were in classes for a few months when they started hinting that we should become teaching assistants. What?!!

As an actor I still fight that self-confidence thing and a lifetime of thinking "I can't do that" but this summer I got my first speaking role and I'm being considered for another (as a mob Boss, no less!). A local screenwriter wants me to be the fight arranger for his new project as well as playing the lead role. What?!!

Now I'm writing a screenplay of my own and I have the industry contacts to pitch it to people who might actually want to produce it. My crime novel is still under construction but going well. I have several other novels in various phases of being roughed out for when I have time to write them. As a result there's no such thing as writer's block -- when I block on one project I just switch to another. What?!!

How many others of us have been hiding our lights under bushels for years and then suddenly discovered that we have talents? Maybe they are talents we gave up when we were younger, maybe they are new ones we didn't know we had.

Anyone?

[Gary]

Thanks, Dana.

The trick, as the shoes say, is to Just Do It. I've met all kinds of people who won't do anything, or think they can't do anything, because they've been taught to fear life and themselves. I know because I was one of them.

I went without being graded in aikido for TWENTY FIVE YEARS because the only reasonable aikido club was one that strictly adhered to the time-in-grade requirement and I didn't want to spend all that time getting to where I thought I already was. The irony is that if you don't start on a journey now that will take five years, where will you be in five years? The answer, of course, is right where you are now but having wasted five years.

Just Do It.

In the words of Frank Herbert in Dune, "fear is the mind killer."

[DANA]

Gary,

After reading your post, you have me convinced that you are much like high quality wine, you get better with age! You have definitely inspired me by sharing all the exciting things that that you have accomplished as you have matured. Way too cool!