I was not a sporty child. At all. And let me tell you the strategy of slow and steady may have paid off for the tortoise but it was pretty useless for the rest of us. Plodding individuals like myself not only failed to win a race we decided from early on not to compete. This made mandatory Thursday afternoon sports a nightmare. If you can't run or hit a ball or throw a ball or catch a ball finding a sport you can tolerate is exceptionally difficult. And don't tell me it's not about winning or losing, it's about taking part. When you are really lacking in ability you know it and everyone around you knows it and makes sure they share the info. So that rules out team sports. I took ice skating when it was offered. I was hopeless but in individual sports you only let yourself down. By the end of the term I could let go of the wall - one a good day. I thought of that today as I watched the ice skaters in King George Square. Two things struck me. 1) even really little kids displayed far more talent than I had in those high school years and 2) the little kids had know fear of falling and getting back up again. They wanted to improve and knew they could. I never felt that. By the time I'd had a go at ice skating I was in high school and I had learned the hard way that falling and failing both hurt. Ma these little things never skate on such thin ice.
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