Thursday, November 8, 2007
In 2007, I gave up one of the biggest things in my life, Bowling. Yes, I used to bowl, and I thought I was really good at it having bowled two perfect games. However, as I got better I started to realize how much I put into practice. Was bowling really what I wanted to do in life? Absolutely not was my answer. Nothing against professional bowlers, but to travel every weekend to not so attractive cities in the U.S just to bowl a tournament while making about as much money as an manager of a store is not every appealing. The event that changed my life was a weekend I spent with friends. Yes, a weekend spent with friends changed the level of importance bowling had to me. Now this is not to say I NEVER got out, but I my ratio of games bowled to hours spent with friends favored the bowling side greatly. This is because I spent so much time bowling that I never really did anything else. On average, I had school every weekday, then bowled an average of 15 to 20 games on the weekends. I continuously got better and my dad and the bowling lanes' coach saw great things for me in the future...in the bowling world. That was simply not for me. It was never a top priority for me to become a top bowler because the lifestyle and I differ in more ways than one. The weekend with friends was all I needed. I told myself that bowling needs to take a step back because I do not want to go anywhere with it, and that's all I needed. I packed the bag and I'm 10x's happier now that I got to spend my final five months before college with my friends.
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5 comments:
Jason,
You say that you spent more time bowling than you did with your friends and that you were good at it. I am wondering, though, if you would have been able to manage maybe seeing your friends one night of the weekend and bowling one night of the weekend. Or even see your friends 2 or 3 weekends a month and bowl the other weekends. All I am saying is that maybe you could have found some time to fit both bowling and friends together so that you could be doing two things that you loved. I do agree that not spending any time with friends is not good but at the same time giving up something that you were extremely good at and not doing it at all anymore is also not a good thing. You could have maybe controlled your ratio of games bowled to hours spent with friends to make them more equal.
Its a good thing that you realized the importance of friends. However, if you have a talent I couldn't see just giving it up. I played softball my whole life and to be quite honest nobody ever really would have seen me going any further than just playing for fun. I put in probably the same hours as you and I envy you for being told that you could go somewhere with it. It is a respectable decision you made, but its a big thing to sacrafice such a talent.
What if you had continued with bowling and had become one of the gratest bowlers. If you had you would be making alot more than a manager of a store. It also seems that you must have enjoyed bowling to put so much effort into it. Why give up something that you enjoy and could have made a career out of.
I really enjoyed reading your story. Its pretty funny and definitly something that is unique that I'm sure not many others can say they have experienced. I think you made the right decision. No offense to bowling but whenever I turn on ESPN on a Sunday afternoon and its on I usually roll my eyes and change the channel instantly. A bowling career would not be something I would want to pursue either, regardless of how good I was. At least you can say you have 2 perfect games under your belt. If I break 100 I usually give myself a pat on the back.
Good job finding what makes you happy and making the most time for it. If you really don't want to do something in life there is no reason to force it upon yourself, no matter how good you are or how far it'll get you. Frinds, not bowling tournaments make good times and good memories.
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