Too MANY Options and Possibilities Isn't Always a Good Thing... or IS it?

Those of you who have followed these pages for a while might remember that I periodically allude to my "short little span of attention" and to the fact that I suffer from "Too Many Interests Syndrome."

@cosmictriage prefers when I frame it in the more positive light of "Being a Polymath."

Regardless, it is definitely a challenge to live in a world where so many things seem interesting. Whenever I come across something that seems interesting, I immediately feel a strong pull to dabble in it, regardless of whether or not I am already involved in more things than I have time for.

Is it a lack of commitment to a single thing or idea?

Is it a lack of motivation, or stick-to-it-iveness?

Is it a poor sense of time management?

I remember a friend once commenting/asking "Surely, there must be things in your life that have always been interesting to you, that you have stuck to?"

Of course!

MOST of the things I have gotten myself involved with are still interesting, I just don't have enough time to give them.

I just suppose that human brains work in different ways. In my case, I don't seem to become so single-mindedly engaged in single thing/interest/hobby that all other options lose their appeal or interest. At least... it hasn't happened yet, and I'm knocking on 62 years old.

The other day, I was watching a video clip — one of those "sidebar stories" that sometimes shows up on my screen — of a man that had given up a software job because he wanted something "simpler," and now worked as a night stocker at a grocery store.

The thing that really stuck with me wasn't that he felt far more peaceful and less stressed... but his comment that the one thing he really missed was "being really GOOD at something."

Whereas I don't really have a "problem" with my many and scattered hobbies and projects, the one thing that often troubles me a little is the fact that I have never afforded myself the opportunity and environment to become really good at any of these things.

I'm a passable writer, I'm a pretty good editor, I'm a decent artist, I'm a fair eBay entrepreneur, I'm a reasonable consultant, I have a respectable postage stamp business... and so on, and so forth. There is, however, no space for "excellence" in any of them because there simply isn't time for me to achieve excellence... unless I just chose a single thing and gave up all the others. So I live a life in which I basically accept "a very long string of A-'s & B+'s."

To most, it probably looks like a blessed life... and I am certainly grateful for all I have, and all I have attempted and undertaking. And yet? There's this small background voice pointing out the relative "unremarkableness" of my undertakings.

Lack of Winning Instinct?

The thing is, though, that I have never really had that "winning instinct" that drives many people.

I first recognized that in my early 20's when I was seriously considering going on the pro golf tour... and recognized that I wasn't really seeing it in the light of "wanting to win golf tournaments," but merely as "a way to earn a living."

And maybe that is precisely as it is supposed to be. The people I look up to in each of the many fields I dabble in do NOTHING but that single thing all day, for all their lives! My rock painting colleagues who have 500,000+ followers on Facebook do nothing BUT paint on rock and promote themselves, 24/7/365.

I just don't have time for that...!

Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of your week!

How about YOU? Do you tend to be a "single interest" type of person? Or are you more eclectic and all over the map? If the latter, do you ever feel like you "missed" something by not being more focused? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20220630 01:10 PDT
0600/1846