As a child I wanted to be a professional ice hockey player. One day as I was vocalizing this childhood ambition my Aunt Cindy responded, "You'll never be a hockey player." I remember my heart sank a little as the heavy weight of reality crushed my imaginative goal.
Growing older I wanted to become a Navy Seal and, after watching the movie incessantly, I knew exactly want it was going to take. I started off by carrying extra books in my backpack to school to build muscle. Then I would hike around the high desert mountains in my backyard and found out how to extract water from a sprinkler system on the leeward side of a hill. That seemed like a pretty Navy Seal thing to do.
I caught lizards to hone my reflexes but was careful to avoid the scorpions, rattlesnakes and tarantulas who also shared my love of the desert. Adding to my growing list of skill sets, I would sleep atop my bed without covers to acclimate myself to the cold temperatures us Navy Seals would have to endure.
My eighteenth birthday came and passed and I never went down to the Navy recruiting office. But those skills I learned as a child still come into play. I still drink dirty water on occasion, my backpack is always over burdened with books, my reflexes are tested daily by errant drivers and I still avoid rattlesnakes whenever our paths cross.
Maybe my Aunt interjected reality too soon or maybe I just have problems following through, but either way I plan to sleep under the covers tonight, dreaming about how good of a hockey player I might have been.
Growing older I wanted to become a Navy Seal and, after watching the movie incessantly, I knew exactly want it was going to take. I started off by carrying extra books in my backpack to school to build muscle. Then I would hike around the high desert mountains in my backyard and found out how to extract water from a sprinkler system on the leeward side of a hill. That seemed like a pretty Navy Seal thing to do.
I caught lizards to hone my reflexes but was careful to avoid the scorpions, rattlesnakes and tarantulas who also shared my love of the desert. Adding to my growing list of skill sets, I would sleep atop my bed without covers to acclimate myself to the cold temperatures us Navy Seals would have to endure.
My eighteenth birthday came and passed and I never went down to the Navy recruiting office. But those skills I learned as a child still come into play. I still drink dirty water on occasion, my backpack is always over burdened with books, my reflexes are tested daily by errant drivers and I still avoid rattlesnakes whenever our paths cross.
Maybe my Aunt interjected reality too soon or maybe I just have problems following through, but either way I plan to sleep under the covers tonight, dreaming about how good of a hockey player I might have been.
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