Probably the only real benefit of not having any talent or ability when young is that you can still make some personal accomplishments in your mid-fifties like me. Even at my advanced age I can still see a personal best in a 5K or shoot my best golf round. Most normal folks will see a peak in there 20’s and 30’s then start that gradual descent into mediocrity. But not me. My story is kind of like the Ugly Duckling that ends up a beautiful swan. Except this time the duckling ends up a slow middle aged guy that tries to run on occasion.
I was always the last person picked at Our Saviour’s. I remember my 6th grade Teacher Sr. Mary Alice was even picked before me and she couldn’t run or bend her leg after swinging a ruler at a young man’s hand in the 1920’s and missing and removing her kneecap from her leg. Heck, one time I was picked last and I was a team captain.
I doubt I’d be picked last anymore and not just because several in my class are in need of hip or knee replacements. I gotta believe there are a few I would get picked before. And Sr. Mary Alice, who is well into her second century, will no longer play due to what she claims was a terrible call made by teacher Dixie Thompson on a close play at home back in 1978.
Just about every time out now I see some sort of personal improvement. It could be my fastest quarter mile ever or making it around the block without falling down. Finishing a hole in golf with the same ball I teed off with is a tremendous accomplishment and one I hope to accomplish some day soon.
Most people do all these things when they are young. Lucky for me, I have most of these things to look forward to.
Stuff that Probably Happened 