In hs, the softball team, bc my friends were doing it and god bless my folks, they didn’t say a word to their nerdy chubby daughter. I lasted 3 days and then sprained my ankle so badly it provided a reason to stop
In college, woo’d by members and lonely for my guy, I pledged a sorority. God bless my folks, they only said “well, you have to pay for that” which in retrospect should have gotten my attention. I lasted thru ridiculous rituals and fake bonding but when the next pledge cycle arrived and a person was discussed as "we don’t want a (racist slur) I quit, and told them why. On a tiny LAC, this is news.
In life, DH got me a mandolin and I could. not. learn. Just completely broke my brain. He paints as a hobby but I can’t even draw a stick figure properly!
I had forgotten about this one. I went snorkeling once. It went fine for the first five minutes or so. Then I came across a fish that was perhaps 3 feet away from me that was about 4 feet long. Of course I realized that it was in its element and I was not. Terrified I took off for the dock. The fish on the other hand suddenly noticed this strange 6+ foot creature above it and took off as fast as it could go in the opposite direction.
I used to ski race, but was not very good at it. The second to last week of the season the snow conditions were terrible: sheet ice on top of soft fluffy snow. On the hardest turns the people who knew what they were doing had cut through the sheet ice and gotten to the soft snow and dug very deep ruts. On my last run I was too nervous to go fast, took it easy, and lost badly. Disgusted I went to my car, took off my ski boots and put on normal boots, and started back to the lodge to get a beer (the order of operations is very important here: first you ski, then you drink beer). On the way back I had to stop to let an ambulance go by. This made me feel a bit less bad about skiing badly.
The next (and last) week on the way up in the chair lift before my first run I mentioned this to the person I was sitting next to. He replied “Oh yes, that was my teammate. They say he will walk again”. As you might imagine I was not very fast that last day either. That was the end of my ski racing. I am a good skier during the day when normal people are skiing (a common skill for us Canadians). However, once the sun goes down and the poles go up and the racers come out, I am not so good at skiing.
Oh dear, my mom tried for years to get me and my sister to play the piano and took us for lessons regularly. I could never get the hang of it nor ever play well with 2 hands.
I never mastered snokeling, though I attempted it several times. Now I get hives from swimming due to cold water, so have abandoned swimming.
How many of you with terrible handwriting became doctors? And how many with the gift of being able to read terrible handwriting became pharmacists? (I am really good at reading terrible handwriting, and sometimes I think maybe I should have been a pharmacist or a pharmacy tech!)
I’ve tried many things and there’s a lot I’m not good at (and therefore don’t like)! But at least I tried them. I have trouble with coordination when my arms are supposed to do one thing and my legs something else. I’m currently taking a couple of aerobic/step type exercise classes at my gym and it’s either arm time or leg time but I’m sorry they won’t both be following the leader’s example. I haven’t even tried dance lessons.
Other things - being outgoing (not good at), watching sports on tv (don’t like, I wander off while others are engrossed), cooking meals for other people (food turns out ok but I get too anxious and frustrated).
Very important! I hated skiing on ice but hated deep powder worse. I once skied for a whole day in it and didn’t realize the snow was going down into my boot - I ended up with frostbite on my big toe (lost my nail - it grew back).
You mentioned being Canadian. One of my favorite places to ski is Tremblant. We went one year for Christmas - the only year that it was 50 degrees that week! Made for some interesting runs!
Piano, gymnastics, bowling, mountain biking, softball, basketball, running, water skiing, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, cross stitch, sewing, drawing, dancing, singing, gardening, tennis… I’m a pretty good cook, and usually always manage to get free shipping.
I like trying new things, but I’m uncoordinated in sports and also pretty bad at crafts. Looking across the at kitchen two ceramic switch plates (splatter pattern) that I made with my friends at our local Craftpots shop. My friends painted wonderful, pretty ceramic items. I mostly went for the companionship, but I did give it a try.
As some of you have read on other threads, 7 years ago I tried couch-2-5k walk/run class with the rec center. In the beginning I was terrible and didn’t like it. My daughter kept encouraging and signed up to also do the culminating 5k run. Eventually I started liking it
I’ve tried to exercise and I’ve tried to eat healthy but I am not good at either and don’t like them! Also not a sports fan, watching or doing. I like walking but my arthritic feet are not a fan anymore.
I don’t seem to be very good at making and keeping friends irl, alas. Not really sure why.
I did piano for two years as a child then nine years of violin. When we moved here, I took an adult beginning keyboard class and enjoyed bringing my piano skills back to minimal.
I didn’t know I liked crafting until I was a room mom/Cub Scout den leader etc. and now I periodically do a crafting hobby.
Always loved snorkeling and discovered drift snorkeling (where you just float and the current carries you over interesting stuff; only did it once but want to do it again). I dream of a Hawaii vacation where all I do is snorkel every day.
I am not very interested in skiing—tried it once and kicked my ear with my ski and made a huge red patch of snow. I’ve never tried downhill skiing but I get hives from cold so it’s not very alluring to me. My kids have both enjoyed their ski experiences. They both have excellent balance.
Anything athletic. My PE teacher failed me after I couldn’t do basic gymnastics skills and the back of my bra popped open while trying to do the movements, in front of the entire 6th grade. Absolutely mortifying. Did try skiing (trashed my knee and I was secretly relieved), softball, ballet, jogging and swimming. Used to bicycle a lot, though. I can swim, but not terribly well, and I can’t go head first into a body of water. Scares the bejeebers out of me.
Can’t wrap my head around programming.
For all of the creative parts of my brain, I can’t get decorating right. Can imagine all the pieces, but can’t get to the ultimate vision. Fortunately, I have a sister who can!
I am all into the sewing and crafts thing, as well as photography. Am really good at project management and organizing. Give me detailed projects and fine motor skills work any time!
I’m good at almost nothing I have tried. Seriously. I have practiced yoga for 10 years and still can’t do balance poses. But I enjoy yoga. I also enjoy running and I am just OK at it. I love to sing but I have no talent. I have 2 left feet , but have a lot of fun at my dance class. But I don’t care if I am good at things I enjoy.
Things I did not enjoy:
Crafts of any kind/sewing/knitting. I just don’t enjoy doing that kind of thing.
Tennis: loved playing when I was a teen, but when I tried to get back into it a few years ago, I no longer enjoyed it.
I grew up in the barrió so I stayed inside a lot. I was in training to be a “wife”! I can cook, sew, iron, wash, clean and dance a waltz (quinceaneras! Ugh!) and do anything asked of me in home ec.
I can tune a car, drive manual transmission, change tires, oil, sparks, carburetor, assemble and disassemble bikes, furniture, Legos, paint, saw, plaster, and use steel wool.
I can’t camp, ski, play an instrument, do any sport that requires lower body movements (“unladylike” per mother) and I don’t like to be out in “nature” because I fear all insects.
I do well in walking and dancing (quinceaneras! Ugh!), reading Shakespeare, Harry Potter, Jane Austen. Making banner signs for teams and am a huge volunteer.
There’s more but I like what everyone else has posted!
My achilles heel is anything mechanical or using my hands. My IKEA furniture is always slightly crooked, and I dreaded every Christmas when my brother would send some elaborate to be constructed gift to my kids, like the pedal bulldozer or the working robot (I made him put the latter together on his next visit – as a surgeon, he is great with his hands).
My wife loves it, son drives a stick shift Jeep, but there is some kind of mental block I have with it. I can get from point A to B (sort of…) and have tried to get better at it multiple times of the past few decades, but there is something about it which doesn’t work in my brain.
Also not a sports fan, watching or doing. I like walking but my arthritic feet are not a fan anymore.