i've never been good at climbing trees....

but i can sure hug the heck out of one!


"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." ... Albert Einstein


i read this recently and it really struck me.... lately i have been really analyzing/contemplating  what makes someone "smart", or, "capable". what really defines smart? i've never been a believer that an education alone can make one smart. i wonder how much of one's abilities are limited or expanded (affected) merely by their own (or others) expectations of them.  


i grew up hearing  often that i was "bored" or not challenged in school and that was why i was so easily distracted or unfocused. other people made this excuse/justification for me long before i could. i was always "capable" of getting good grades, and, sometimes i did. but plenty of times i didn't. according to my parents that is because i did not apply myself. other people made this excuse/justification for me long before i could. its something that has carried into my life in almost every aspect. if i am not interested in something, i easily lose focus on it. and if something catches my attention, i can DIVE into it....but i often get bored soon enough and want a new challenge. i believe this is probably true for a lot of people, but, a lot of people still continue to "routinely" live their days and not seek additional challenges. isn't this the grown up mature thing to do? 


i have never been shy about saying i just wanna be a toys r us kid. or to bang on me drum all day! but i know this isn't realistic.....


there may be a few tree climbers looking down on me just simply hugging that tree and not climbing it, but i believe that somewhere, somehow, there is a way to live/have a career that will provide me a variety of challenges and change that will feel like i am playing. because that to me is truly genius.