Can't Never Could

The other day I was watching So You Think You Can Dance with my mom. It is one of our all time favorite shows mainly because we both used to dance. During a commercial break I got up to go get a snack and of course, inspired by what I just watched, I kicked my leg up in the air on the way out. And then I giggled because it was horrendous. I looked over to my mom and said, "I wish I had been better at dance." She looked me square in the eyes and said, "You could have. You just didn't care enough to try  harder."

Whoa. After swallowing down my initial response of "Nuh-uh! I did too care!!" (Maturity at its finest) I realized she was absolutely right (as usual). I danced from when I was 5-18 but I just went to the classes three days of week and that was it. I didn't practice at home. I didn't beg to go up to the studio to get extra lessons. I didn't do any of it.

Then it made me wonder...what else I did I just give up on because I wasn't naturally good at it or didn't care enough to try to be good at it? I realized that I have a really strong work ethic when it comes to school or my future career plans. I'm a Type A overachiever but when it comes to hobbies I'm notorious for just not caring enough to try harder.

Looking around my house I realize I have a half-finished quilt that I quit because I can't sew in a straight line (straight lines & I don't get along), swimming gear for when that was going to be my new workout routine, a tennis racket, boxing gloves (no joke), a calorie counter that I have yet to use on my phone for when I wanted to drop a couple of pounds, and a training plan on how to train for a 10k sitting on my desk gathering dust, just to name a few. Now maybe I just channel so much energy into work and school that I don't have a lot to give for hobbies or maybe I just haven't found anything I enjoy enough to keep working at it. But realistically, all of those things take discipline and practice.

I think it's very easy for me when I hit a speed bump or it gets to be challenging to say forget it and try to move on to something else. It also made me realize that in some areas of my life I need to strengthen my work ethic a little more. Just because natural God-given abilities don't fall into my lap the first time I try something doesn't mean I should just give up because I'm not good at it anyways. Who knows, I could have missed out on some stories and adventures just because I didn't care enough to pursue it. I think it will make me more well-rounded to have a hobby I truly enjoy and care about so the next time someone asks me what I like to do for fun I can give a definitive answer. Not just "Uh, shopping? Yoga sometimes? Golfing occasionally... Different things..."
 If I want to try something new bad enough I shouldn't let anything get in my way especially myself.

So a resolution for myself: Find something I truly enjoy doing and don't give up on it.

"You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period." 
-Pursuit of Happynes