Will I ever use that again?

A few weeks ago I was out for a run with my pup, Marti. We were headed north on Cretin, almost back at our house and she broke off of her leash and bolted into the road. (She’s not the best listener.) I watched in horror as she almost got smooshed by a mini-van. I yelled at her and she came running back onto the sidewalk, but despite my obvious anger she wasn’t interested in being “captured” and placed back on her leash. As she ran circles around me, I decided to do the only rational thing that a person can do when their dog is off-leash on a very busy street - I launched from my feet and goalie saved her in the middle of the intersection. I got her!

Unbelievably enough, as a middle-aged person, I wasn’t even hurt. Just a little road rash and a small bruise from the gravel. But otherwise - nada. So, how is that possible? Well, back in the day I was a soccer goalie. And all goalies learn early on how to fall, how to dive, and how to do all of it while launching through the air to save a ball (er…a dog, once your soccer career has expired). Never did I think as a 16-year old that my adult self would tap into my soccer skills to “goalie save” my dog in the middle of the street. Which got me thinking, how many other things do we learn as a kid, teenager, young adult, not-so-young adult, etc., that seems useless at the time but ends up being critical to our lives in the future?

Coincidentally, soon after the Marti-as-a-soccer-ball event, I began to read “The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life.” So far the book is really interesting and reinforces the idea that our early learned skills, even the ones we don’t recognize as important, can play a critical role in our future. As I’m reading the book I can’t help but think of other things that I learned as a kid, that I’m pretty sure my mom thought was a total waste of time, that I now use regularly.

Can you think of any examples in your life?

Jennifer