Watching Sarah running track has highlighted an important difference between me and my kids – much to their advantage: it took me decades to learn the difference between talent and skill.
As a kid, I typically gave up on any enterprise that I couldn’t excel at within the first ten minutes of effort.
I tried out for track during junior high but quit after the first day. My excuse was “sports asthma”, but in reality, I was slower than everyone else. At the end of the first day of practice.
So I quit.
I tried out for the swim team in the 9th grade. The other kids in the pool that day had been swimming competitively for years. Unsurprisingly, I was far behind. One disparaging remark from the coach after the first practice sent me packing. I remember it started “Technically I’m not supposed to cut any student from the swim team who wants to participate, but ….”
Say no more!
It took me a long time to learn that every expert, regardless of his or her level of natural talent, began as an amateur.
Skill takes time. Eventually I stopped quitting so quickly.
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