There is one we can have more joy in our lives that we often forget about. It is trying new things. People were designed to experience life time learning and to have new experiences. I think boredom is often confused with unhappiness. We start to feel sad or like everything is just blah when we feel like we are stuck in a rut. That’s why it is important to try new things.
I have tried several new things over the course of this blog. For starters just starting it, blogging, was a new thing for me a few years ago. Since starting Chasing Joy I have tried ballet, meditation, hypnosis for weight loss, and training for and jogging a 5k. Now I am adding another new thing to the list. Last week I joined a bowling league.
I have bowled before but never as part of a league. The league is one of the intramural teams from my job. Not only is this my first time joining a bowling league it is my first time joining any type of sports team, my first time joining any kind of intramural anything, and my first time joining any kind of voluntary group at work. I don’t particularly like joining teams. I never liked group work in college or high school. I do not like other people’s performance to impact me or my performance to impact others. Furthermore I am not very competitive. I don’t like losing but I am also a bit uncomfortable winning. I don’t like trash talk or gloating, poor winners, or poor losers. I like to compete against myself and see improvements.
Despite all of the reasons above I joined the bowling league anyway. Last Monday was our first night. It was….. interesting. I did not love it but I did not hate it. One of my friends a while back suggested that I join a bowling league to meet more men (for dating), that will not be the case with this league. Well the league is mostly men but they are all white and over 50. My dating ideal is a black man in his mid 30s. There are 6 women in the league, including myself. They are all a bit older than me (mid to late 40s). Two of the women were black so it was nice not to be the only black person on the team.
As for the actual bowling, I SUCK. I was not only the worse bowler on my team but the worse bowler on my league, and the worse bowler in the alley. That is, until two little boys about 4 and 6 came in with their mom. At one point a guy on the team we were playing against asked me “are you having fun” I said yes and he said “well that’s all that matters“. His words of conciliation let me know just how badly I was doing compared to everyone else. Did I mention everyone else had their own bowling balls and shoes. We played 3 games. My scores were 86, 82, and 87. I did learn one thing though. You hit more pins when you actually look at them. I had been looking at the ball when I rolled it instead of looking at the pins I wanted to knock down.
Considering the fact that I suck at bowling and the demographic of the group is not what I was expecting, you may be surprised to that I will be going back tonight. That’s right I’m not quitting. I am going to stick it out. You see one thing I have realized about me is that I am not good at not being good at things. When I think I am bad at something I usually don’t even try it or I’ll quit. Especially when it comes to athletic things. I am going to stick with bowling because 1) it would be nice to start out bad at something and actually improve and 2) I need to learn how to deal with not being good at something and still have a good experience. I’ll keep you posted on how bowling goes over the next few weeks. I’ll post my scores on my social media account.
How do you deal with doing things that you are not good at? Have you ever joined an Intramural Team at your job? What tips can you give me to help with my bowling scores?
I went bowling this weekend! And it was the first time in YEARS. You are not that bad….I bowled a 64 and 65! It was the worst I ever remember bowling! I think it's great you're challenging yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone. It sounds like a great way to get to know your coworkers better too. Don't worry about not having your own ball and shoes, they certainly don't help me play better lol!