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The Man Who was Great at Nothing
A Spoonful of the Legacy of Dylan
By Dylan Fletcher
Tons of people in this world are great at something. There’s some talent that plenty of individuals possess that allows them to shine above everyone else. Finding out what that talent is must be wonderful. Sometimes people discover said hidden talent in the early years of their life. Perhaps you were born to be an artist, or an athlete, or maybe a philosopher. However, if you haven’t unearthed the shining star quality buried somewhere inside you by this point, do not despair. Keep searching. If nothing else, the journey of discovery will give you plenty of fond memories, incredible stories, a world of knowledge, and plenty of adventure.
Your faithful writer is currently closing in on thirty years of age, much faster than he would have preferred. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you would choose to look at it, I have yet to find my niche. I’ve tried so many things in my life, that there is no way I could ever possibly fit them all into a book. Some things I became marginally good at, in some things I excelled, and some things I just absolutely sucked at. No matter what the outcome, at least I tried. I now know that there are several talents that I possess and an innumerable amount of things that I’m actually pretty damn good at. I learned a lot, so much so that I’m now a fountain of knowledge and I’ve met a ton of cool people along the way.
The point is, that while you may never find out what you’re “great at”, at the very least, you’ll undoubtedly discover a whole lot of stuff that you can do well. That in itself is more than worth the price of passage. In some ways, those of us who never discover our “true purpose” are better off than those who have. Think about it. If you never find anything worth specializing in for the rest of your life, you’ll have the opportunity to try a whole lot more than someone who did. Now how stinkin’ upbeat is that logic? Yeah. That’s right. Talk about some glasses bein’ half full up in this piece!
I made up my mind, in the not so distant past, that I would never be rich in money. I came to the realization that, more than likely, anything that would have built me an empire of wealth had past me by without so much as a “good luck, buddy.” Knowing and accepting that seemed at first like a kind of a bummer. I will never be a millionaire. I will never be a movie star. I will never be a world famous musician. However, I discovered a silver lining to an otherwise coffin of defeat. I decided that since I will never be rich in money, I have the opportunity to try whatever I want, within my financial and physical means, without the fear that maybe I am headed in the wrong direction. For me, now, there is no wrong direction, only different paths of which I have my choice. If one path doesn’t work out, I have my choice of several others. God knows only death is the end of our journey on Earth. Only then does the theme park close and we go home. Until that point, we are free to ride any roller coaster we desire, and free to try them all. There is never an end to the road, only intersections that we reach which require a decision.
For me, at this point, the decision I made was to leave the world of motorcycles and become a knifemaker. I’m giving it my best shot, which is all that anyone is capable of, and you know what? If it doesn’t work out, I’ll try something else. Hell, even if it does, maybe I’ll try something else anyways. I care more about expanding myself and my experiences than I do about money. Why? Because I’ll never be rich money, so there’s no sense in ruining my day at the theme park by wasting my time. I’m rich in knowledge and experiences. I have stories I can tell my children that no one else has. I have things that I’ve created in my life that no one else has made. I have friendships based on real admiration and respect, not money or a step higher that someone might gain from me. I have myself and my happiness. It might not be worth a damn thing to someone who cares about money and status, but to everyone who would rather live than gain, it means the world.
n this. Best of luck Dylan