An exchange I had with my friend Lisa over facebook messages. I’d just watched the Olympic Gymnastics Trials.
Me: It’s not fair for these gymnasts to be so young and so small and so much more talented than me.
Lisa: They aren’t more talented than you! I bet they can’t play the clarinet or use a semicolon properly or write a paper on process theology!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You have marketable skills in a competitive field. They have largely unmarketable skills in an even more competitive field, where anything less than consistent gold medals and first places means finding a job as a fry cook somewhere.
You’re in better shape, believe me.
But see, these gymnasts have also been wearing leotards and jumping on balance beams since before they could actually crawl. If you did anything starting at that little age, you’d be amazing too!