A
conversation from
Friends:
Chandler: You don't have to be good at everything.
Monica: Oh my god, you don't know me at all!
I've always had such a diverse base of interests that there was always someone better than me at each of them. Either that, or the things I was good at/knew about, no one wanted to hear (just try telling someone eating a stir-fry how soy sauce is made).
But the moment that really drove home the point that there are some things I shouldn't even be trying was very recent.
I was at a party with some friends. Some of them had started drinking very early and were hammered by 9 PM. By about 1 AM, one of them was holed up in a side room, surrounded by her six closest friends who were trying to keep her from committing suicide. Finally, they called in someone who wasn't at the party to talk her down.
Now, there are those who doubt the sanity and competence of the person they called, and in fact, I sat there grumbling to the others not in the side room, "Why can't I help?" But this other person had training on a crisis line, and in fact, was able to help.
It took me a day or so to realize that crisis intervention is just not my area. After all, I switched out of a psychology major before even a year of study.
My dad always said I could do anything if I put my mind to it. I agree. What's harder to realize is that for some things, "putting your mind to it" means a lot of training and study. So what I had to do was actually choose the thing I want to put my mind to. That's been the biggest thing holding me back in life.