A few weeks ago, I met up with some friends after work and we played some pool. Apparently, the games were pretty one-sided before I got there. Now, I didn’t win a single game. But each one came down to wire because I happen to be a decent, though very out-of-practice, pool player.
A fairly random skill. I mean, like all other 90’s kids, we had that 7-in-1 changeable game top table with the pool and shuffle board and all that other stuff. But those miniature balls and sticks were not how I learned to play.
I actually learned to play a few years ago to impress this guy I liked. I practiced 3 or 4 days a week for months and got pretty darn good. Obviously, that guy and I did not work out, but we’re still friends and even play pool from time to time.
And as some of you already know, I started learning French last week (though it seems like so much longer after all the times I’ve listened to those CDs). If you think I ever would’ve picked up a language learning guide from the library for kicks and giggles, you’re out of your mind. But I have a huge crush on a friend of mine, who is brilliant and speaks French fluently. He gave me a bunch of crap for not being able to speak it when we were hanging out one day, so I decided to learn. Yes, just to impress a guy.
Spoiler alert: that’s not gonna work out either (because I have terrible taste in men). But French and I have a total love connection going on. I’m obsessed. Dude, I can give vague directions and say that I want/would like to eat/drink something in a language I couldn’t even sort of understand 10 days ago. How freaking cool is that?
Everyone will tell you that you shouldn’t change for a guy (or a girl. Sorry, fellas). But that’s not true. We change for a lot of reasons. For our parents. For our friends. For our jobs. For society. And all of those things can be just as good as they can be bad.
So if will you make a trilingual rock star who can occasionally kick ass in pool, then go for it. Change is the essence of live. It’s how we learn and grow. And if your inspiration has to come from some hottie you want to impress, that’s totally ok.
Try It On Your Own 