Things I Will Never Do

There are three types of things in the world: Things I am good at (can do), things I am bad at (cannot do), and things I will never try to do. Ok, I guess I should add a fourth: Things that will more than likely result in my own premature death, so I will thus avoid them. While the first two are wholly self-explanatory, I would like to elaborate on the last type and see if anyone else out there understands where I'm coming from.

When someone asks me if I can play basketball, the first thing that pops into my head is something akin to a fundamental binary response of "1" for "yes." I know for a fact I can play said game to at a reasonably competitive level, and have the physical evidence to back up said claim. Conversely, if someone were to ask if I can play the violin, I would give an unequivocal "no." But somewhere in between these two categories lies the enigmatic third category. These are things that I have never really tried, and for that matter feel that I never shall. The reason for this, though not immediately apparent, is actually quite simple; In my mind I imagine myself to be inherently good at these things and am afraid that if I were to actually try them the image of perfection would be shattered, leaving me less experienced than I was before. These actions or subjects include the following:

- Golf
- Hunting
- Boxing
- Snowboarding
- Quantum physics
- Hitting on women
- Chinese Language
- Horseback riding
- Neurosurgery and...
- Having children.

The pride I carry within me at being proficient in all of the aforementioned fields, ironically enough, prohibits me from ever actually attempting them. Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels this way, that when asked if one is good at golf can respond honestly "You know, I've never really played but I just know that I would be really good at it." But if I am indeed alone in this then I hereby reserve the rights to name the condition. I'm thinking something along the lines of advanced nolongerawesomaphobia. Suggestions?


http://www.timarai.com/blog/2008/10/21/greatest-how-to-everat-least-in-japan/


I've got a sunset in my veins