Canyon Carving

We're all good at something. Maybe it's our work. Maybe it's a hobby. Whatever it is, it's usually something that we've worked at; something that we've been practicing in an effort to hone our abilities. Usually we have a goal to be good at something and then work to achieve that goal. Sometimes it works the other way, and we find ourselves good at something because we've been working at it.

Think about what you're good at today, apart from the obvious things that you're proud of and that served as your life goals. What things are you good at now that you really didn't plan on being good at? Sometimes these things sneak up on us, and we've gotten good at them so gradually that we never even noticed it happening.

I can casually spin a television remote control on one finger. At first, I could only do half a turn. Then a full. Then two. Now, I'm working on three and more. I can't even count the turns because they happen so fast. It's a skill that I've developed. Unfortunately, it's a skill that means that I've had a television remote control in my hand so much that I've accumulated an odd skill related to it. I have the skill because I've been practicing it.

I just wrote an article on learning about someone just by dancing with them. That's another skill. Not the dancing so much as the ability to learn from the dancing. It's a skill that I'm rather happier about, but it came to me as a result of my personality and my frequent dancing. I have the skill because I've been practicing it.

I think of others who are really good at "talking trash": the skill of countering one insult with another. Those who are good at it have been practicing it. They've spent a certain amount of time exchanging mock insults with others. They've refined the skill, picked up 'better' insults and honed their reaction times. Another skill that many accumulate today is that of gossip. So many in our society are really accomplished at finding out what's going on in other people's lives, and then repeating every dirty little detail to others as a means of making casual conversation.

There is so much little stuff in our lives that we blithely experience and react to without considering what it is doing to us. We're training ourselves, just a tiny bit at a time, only we're not even aware that we're doing it because the little stuff is so incredibly little.

If you don't believe in the power of the little stuff, consider the Grand Canyon. It was carved by the power of moving water. Wind and water are little things, but if they're patient, they can turn mountains into plains, and plains into canyons. All it takes is time.

Take a hard look at your life and think of what you're good at. Then consider what it is that you practiced in order to become so accomplished at that thing. If you don't like your skill, pick a new one. All you need is to start doing 'this little thing' instead of 'that little thing' and then let time take care of the rest. You'll have a canyon in no time.