Easy Things vs. Hard Things
One of the joys of watching athletes at work is the relative ease with which they play their sport. Mankind got together at one point, and we collectively agreed that a certain set of skills was valuable: running fast, throwing and catching balls, knocking other people down, skating etc. The people who are the best at those arbitrary skills make millions of dollars performing them in front of the rest of us. If you can sprint across a grassy field carrying a facsimile of an inflated pig's bladder while other men chase you without letting them catch you, your fellow humans appreciate that and will remember your name and put pictures of you on their walls. You don't even have to be a good person, just run with that pigskin when the evil invaders from other towns enter our coliseum.
Some of the rest of us have the ability to do things that other people really struggle with, we just don't get paid the way pro athletes do. That's OK, there are other rewards. These abilities are not doled out fairly by the gods and sometimes we maintain them for only a while before other people take over our roles.
Here are a few things that I find easy that some folks struggle with:
- Talking to strangers
- Consistent writing output
- Figuring out what's really wrong with your
mom'ssister's computer - Making a meal out of whatever is available
- Remembering facts
Here are some things the rest of you do that I struggle with:
- Quickly analyze data sets (I always want more information)
- Eat only enough to fuel your activities
- Sleep
- Parallel parking
- Sing on key
Some of the things I struggle with really bother me. When I am presented with a problem, I stare at it while Wonder Woman takes a couple of milliseconds and immediately goes to work, no matter what it is. When it comes to food, I've struggled with my weight since my 30s and found that only obsessive participation in endurance sports to be the answer, something that's been hard for me to maintain. As an big aging male human the double whammy of sleep apnea and a shrinking bladder have me rarely sleeping soundly or for very long without waking breathless with an urge to pee. 100% not fair.
The things I find easy are just gifts really, abilities I was born with. They are not the result of blood, sweat and tears but just natural talents I got handed instead of the ability to carry that pigskin down the field. I am grateful to be able to do them. When I see the struggle that some introverts have in certain social situations, I am super grateful that I am naturally loquacious and that I developed a more outgoing personality. I used to really struggle to understand introverts. "Just speak up!" I wanted to yell, but when I married one, I got a lifetime supply of lessons about their super powers and my own ignorance.
For the most part, I have mellowed into a person I am glad to be most days. Self-acceptance didn't come easily and I still struggle with it sometimes, but most days I don't even think about it. That's a gift too.
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