JustMattHenry.com: gossip, life and humor

i discovered i was good at soccer at an early age. i was also always a bit of a nerd, maintaining excellent grades throughout my school years. in seventh grade, using it as a way to keep in shape in the off season, i discovered that i was pretty decent at track (although having played soccer, i already knew i was fast). in high school, my sort of knack for the written word bubbled to the surface. it was not until college that i got bit by the acting bug and while perhaps not as talented as many of my friends, i still won a part here and there in campus productions. and wasn’t it just three years ago that stand up stole the mic and spotlight in my life?

i’ve always said, however, that while i’m good at many things, i don’t think i’m really great at anything. except looking good. which really takes no talent.

so while my nephew, lil cord, strikes out left and right with various team sports he’s participated in, and my dad’s angry comments during games (and my sisters even louder responses) echo across the field or gym, i can only offer this advice: be patient.

it’s driving my father crazy that cord exhibits little of the aggressive play my siblings and i had in soccer at his age, or that in a game of basketball cord barely touches the ball if at al, but as long as he’s having fun, does it matter? i may have been skillful with a soccer ball, but hearing my dad’s voice from across the hills telling me to hustle more, faster, better…was not always fun. to sit in the car after the game and hear my father tear apart my performance, or my teams’ performance or that of one of my teammates, was not necessarily fun. but the few times it happened, well, that’s part of the game.

perhaps cord has not inherited that competitive gene that has taken a firm hold in my life. maybe he won’t be good at any sports. maybe he’ll be a talented chef. or a video game designer. or an artist. or an actor. his T-Rex impression is second to none. and i can’t imitate a t-rex for shit.