The Missing Gene
"I don't have the gene," Annie, my freckled, ukulele student, lamented. Raising her instrument upright on her lap, she leaned against it.
"You don't have what?" I asked.
"The ukulele gene," she answered. "My grandma plays the piano, so that's why I'm good at that. But we traced back my family history and didn't find anyone who plays the ukulele, so I don't have the gene to get good at that."
I laughed. Annie was incredibly bright and learning the instrument very fast. "Oh, you can still learn the ukulele even if none of your relatives have. Maybe you'll be the first in your family to learn it."
She missed that concept as she continued, "There might be someone way, way back in my family who played the ukulele, but it would be so far back that I didn't get any of the talent."
No matter how I tried to persuade her that she was showing excellent skill she could continue to develop, she was convinced her endeavor was hopeless without her "ukulele gene." This sounds funny from an adult perspective, but haven't we all talked ourselves out of a hope or a goal because no one in our circle has attempted it before, it might not come as easily to us as it does to others, or or we've just convinced ourselves that we're not capable.
"I don't have the experience."
"I don't have the education."
"I don't have the right people supporting me."
Sometimes we do face overwhelming obstacles that are extremely difficult to overcome. Other times we build up challenges in our minds until they look more hopeless than they actually are.
So before you give up on an aspiration, make sure that what you're considering an insurmountable obstacle isn't really something as insignificant as a "ukulele gene."
"You don't have what?" I asked.
"The ukulele gene," she answered. "My grandma plays the piano, so that's why I'm good at that. But we traced back my family history and didn't find anyone who plays the ukulele, so I don't have the gene to get good at that."
I laughed. Annie was incredibly bright and learning the instrument very fast. "Oh, you can still learn the ukulele even if none of your relatives have. Maybe you'll be the first in your family to learn it."
She missed that concept as she continued, "There might be someone way, way back in my family who played the ukulele, but it would be so far back that I didn't get any of the talent."
No matter how I tried to persuade her that she was showing excellent skill she could continue to develop, she was convinced her endeavor was hopeless without her "ukulele gene." This sounds funny from an adult perspective, but haven't we all talked ourselves out of a hope or a goal because no one in our circle has attempted it before, it might not come as easily to us as it does to others, or or we've just convinced ourselves that we're not capable.
"I don't have the experience."
"I don't have the education."
"I don't have the right people supporting me."
Sometimes we do face overwhelming obstacles that are extremely difficult to overcome. Other times we build up challenges in our minds until they look more hopeless than they actually are.
So before you give up on an aspiration, make sure that what you're considering an insurmountable obstacle isn't really something as insignificant as a "ukulele gene."
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