Focus

There’s no way to write this sentence and have it come off the way I intend (i.e. without seeming arrogant), so here goes:

I’m pretty good at a lot of things—most things, in fact.

Before you roll your eyes or simply close your browser, never to read my egocentric musings again, note that I said “pretty good”. That’s a nebulously low bar to hurdle, is it not?

My point is that I am blessed with the ability to obtain new skills and knowledge easily. I’m not sure why this is, but I think it’s that my mind is adept at seeing patterns and moving toward efficiency. In other words, I can usually figure out what’s working and what isn’t, which means I “pick things up” sooner than most.

I am also cursed with becoming bored remarkably quickly, which means I lose focus WAY before I ever master anything. This frustrates me in retrospect, but I guess it doesn’t frustrate me enough to just immerse myself in something to see if maybe I could be great at something. Before I ever get to that point, something else piques my interest and I’m running off in its general direction.

It’s happened since I was a kid. Whether it was baseball or band, I’ve never had the innate focus, drive, and discipline required to take myself to that next level. Sure, I could have spent an hour a day doing rotator cuff exercises or doing scales and arpeggios in obscure keys on my trumpet, but there are too many other new things to try, right?

I’ve done some major agonizing over this. Is this a personality flaw on my part? Seriously, is there something wrong with me? Am I just so captivated by new stimuli that I will always chase the new experience instead of taking a deeper look at a familiar one?

I envy those whose path is clear.