The past month has been crazy, to say the least. Besides a hectic work schedule, in the name of furthering my 'career' I had to sit in a class (spanning several sessions) where I had to shout, present, debate, dance, play a skit and essentially make a fool of myself in front of 50 people. All in the name of improving my 'soft' skills regardless of whether I needed such soft skills or not. But these sessions did teach me two things:
1. How to go about doing things that I am least interested in without showing an iota of indifference (and)
2. How to just be myself in a class who's average age was almost half of mine.
Coming to point 1., that is, on how to go about doing things that I am least interested in without showing an iota of indifference, I simply resigned myself to my fate. And decided to let go of myself without worrying about the outcome. Surprisingly, the results were much better than I expected. Somehow, getting disconnected from the surroundings helped in focusing on the task at hand and helped in doing the job better. So whether I was doing a presentation, a debate, a dance (jig would be a better word), skit or essentially making a fool of myself in front of 50 people, I didn't care and threw myself into it. But the audience (or at least the people who mattered) appreciated my attempts. And by the end of the sessions, I was feeling so good about my efforts that I even decided to give a small pat on my back. Considering that I am my own worst critic, it was indeed a rare compliment. But wait! The icing on the cake was when a girl who was an accomplished dancer and singer (who happened to be attending the same class) came up and congratulated me for my efforts. Brought back a spring into my step. Woohoo! Not bad for an amateur, if I may say so myself. So moral of the story, let go of yourself and do not worry about consequences. You will eventually hit the sweet spot or will take whatever good comes your way.
About point 2., just being myself in a class who's average age was almost half of mine, I had decided early on that if I did not attend this session there was every chance that by the time the next sessions were announced, the difference between my age and the class will increase even further. And so it would go on. I once heard that a Chinese gentleman started to learn playing a violin in his 80's! Moral of the story, when you get time to learn, you better learn. Age shouldn't matter. Thus taking the Chinese gentleman as a role model, I went ahead and attended the class. In hindsight, it did not prove to be a wrongful decision.
So if any of you out there have similar reservations about making fools of yourselves in front of several people, or attending classes with much younger classmates, take a deep breath and let go. I am sure you will surprise yourself with the outcomes. And who knows you might even end up being the hero among the group!
1. How to go about doing things that I am least interested in without showing an iota of indifference (and)
2. How to just be myself in a class who's average age was almost half of mine.
Coming to point 1., that is, on how to go about doing things that I am least interested in without showing an iota of indifference, I simply resigned myself to my fate. And decided to let go of myself without worrying about the outcome. Surprisingly, the results were much better than I expected. Somehow, getting disconnected from the surroundings helped in focusing on the task at hand and helped in doing the job better. So whether I was doing a presentation, a debate, a dance (jig would be a better word), skit or essentially making a fool of myself in front of 50 people, I didn't care and threw myself into it. But the audience (or at least the people who mattered) appreciated my attempts. And by the end of the sessions, I was feeling so good about my efforts that I even decided to give a small pat on my back. Considering that I am my own worst critic, it was indeed a rare compliment. But wait! The icing on the cake was when a girl who was an accomplished dancer and singer (who happened to be attending the same class) came up and congratulated me for my efforts. Brought back a spring into my step. Woohoo! Not bad for an amateur, if I may say so myself. So moral of the story, let go of yourself and do not worry about consequences. You will eventually hit the sweet spot or will take whatever good comes your way.
About point 2., just being myself in a class who's average age was almost half of mine, I had decided early on that if I did not attend this session there was every chance that by the time the next sessions were announced, the difference between my age and the class will increase even further. And so it would go on. I once heard that a Chinese gentleman started to learn playing a violin in his 80's! Moral of the story, when you get time to learn, you better learn. Age shouldn't matter. Thus taking the Chinese gentleman as a role model, I went ahead and attended the class. In hindsight, it did not prove to be a wrongful decision.
So if any of you out there have similar reservations about making fools of yourselves in front of several people, or attending classes with much younger classmates, take a deep breath and let go. I am sure you will surprise yourself with the outcomes. And who knows you might even end up being the hero among the group!
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