How many of you had this epiphany?
 

Listening to a lot of olympic athletes' back stories, I am struck by the number of athletes who knew by age 9 that is what they were born to do. The high jumper from Louisiana was the best, jumping with a stick by age 5. .

How many non athlete's readers here knew what they wanted to do the rest of their life as a pursuit by the age of 9?

for me I was trying to figure out how to get ready for school on time by the age of 9, never mind see a sport on television or elsewhere and want to do that the rest of my life, or be in the olympics.

anyone have this type of work/sports epiphany?

When I was a young teenager I was the state champion in backstroke and swam in the nationals (Junior Olympics), and came in third. Despite lots of pressure to continue swimming competitively, I gave it up because my passion was skiing. The first time I pointed my skies down a mogul field I was hooked. Never made it to the Olympics, but I did ski for a couple days with the USA Olympic team while they were training on Outer Limits and Devils Fiddle at Killington and held my own with them. Unfortunately, skiing all those bumps for many years trashed my knees. I should have stuck with swimming. Life goes full circle, now that I am old, and my knees are trashed, swimming is my passion and golf fills in the spare time.

Life unfolded for me in ways I am at a loss to figure out how it happened.

However I could not be happier as to how life has brought me to this point.

I had a general idea very early on, not the particulars of course. It all worked out in the long run.

My Granddaughter visited the office, asked senior orthopedist if she could watch what he did. He smiled, said I am going to put this really big needle in her knee and draw out fluid. Thinking she would run back to the front desk, at the site of the needle. Nope she took his hand and said let’s go.

Patient agreed, after a few minutes granddaughter asked the patient if it hurts, because we are almost done, with her best smile. Nope the big needle didn’t bother her at all.

She walked out of the room looked up and said I want to fix bones just like you.
She was 3. Within the week she had old X-rays in her windows learning bone structure, and finding fractures.

At 5 she fell playing soccer, hurting her arm, looking at her X-ray on the screen, she informed the ED doctor that wasn’t just a growth plate, it was definitely a fracture, “ I am really bad playing soccer, it’s a good thing I want to be a doctor.” Pink cast please.

She was correct, it definitely was fractured.

Yep some know exactly that sports are not for them, but want to fix those who play.

At 7, I wanted to be captain of a clipper ship. Later that same year they discovered I was blind as a bat, almost. My near blindness had left me very shy and with little self confidence. Add to that the teasing for my Coke bottle glasses, my increased insecurity and the lack of clipper ships, I became the dork I am today.
Sometimes I hope for reincarnation. Other times, things could have been much worse. End result, not too bad, really. 🤓🤓🤓

LOL!! I was pretty much the same as you. I remember it was about getting to school on time, I always stressed over being late and having to walk into a classroom when class already started (still have to be on time today), made sure I did all my homework before getting to go outside and play and what was for dinner! Thanks for getting my morning off to the right start with a good laugh!!! I also think that when a child says he wants to be a XXXX, parents should take them seriously and, if they keep saying it, guide them in the right direction. Don't just laugh at them, encourage them!!!

That was actually NBC marketing hype. 70% of athletes quit their sport by 13 (according to American Academy of Pediatricians).
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Most athletes who are the best in their sport at 9, just mature early and are mediocre by 15.
There are exceptions, but most great 9 year old athletes just can’t sustain it. Phelps is an exception, but he was physiologically built to be a swimmer (long arms and tremendous lung capacity).

Wow

Undoubtedly there are kids who are "naturals" in whatever sport. Unfortunately though there are also parents who, for whatever reason, push their children into whatever sport the parent thinks the child should excel in. There are many articles and studies that address this and the psychological danger it can pose not only to the child (and very often the parent) but to other family members as well.

cpa-counseling dot com has a great article on this; "Are You Living Vicariously Through Your Child?": a short article that nevertheless goes into some detail about parents who (often even without knowing it) are living vicariously through their child(ren) and the harm it can cause. In many cases we see and marvel at the end result as some barely-adolescent kid achieves national acclaim for super-achievement in whatever sport, but are not aware of (or choose to ignore) what may have happened along the way: family relationships damaged, financial hardships on the part of the family as they pour their resources into assuring that l'il Jennifer makes the big stage, and kids who suffer and are traumatized as they are forced into excellence. It exists. And it can be a scary thing.

Great thread

LOL! I was a captain of a coastwise oil tanker and deck officer on ocean going tankers. . don't worry, its alot more boring watching the ocean go by than the glory of the title!

I know that certain events in our childhood shape our lives with/without our consciousness. For me it was being exposed and programming an old Digital Equipment computer at age 13, in 1972, and spending Saturday nights either playing sports or programming the computer with binary finger switches. Through high school playing with that computer, I learned the very basics of how a computer worked, so I naturally loved it when PCs were born, and had a macintosh from 1982 onward, and my first Multiplan (the MS predecessor to excel) spreadsheet was tracking lottery ticket numbers to win money so I didn't have to work

That was my journey to geekdom!

as far as sports, my parents didn't believe in a sports career, but learning a trade to fall back upon in hard times. They were depression era traditionalists.

Ding Ding ding!

The best amateur almost made it to the olympics story in TV, ,
That must have been a blast skiing with the best in the country. .

I will be contacting the Sun for the exclusive rights!

I assume that she is an orthopedist now?

Ding! Ding! Ding! the best story about career lightning striking at a very young age.
I will also be contacting the Sun for exclusive rights. .

it does happen. .

I think you are referring to the pole vaulter?

“They were depression era traditionalists.” That says a lot.

Sadly, so were mine. I was good at a few sports but never gave a thought to the possibilities. The message back then was “get an education & get a good job.” Definitely a different era today.

But hey, I had fun back then & immensely enjoyed what an athletic/outdoor life brings. And today, I still have fun in those sports & have even expanded my experiences in TV. Thank you,TV. : )

yea, correct, but everyone got the point

Come on now, you "Dukies" are pre-destend to something great, have friends and family that attest to that!

My daughter was in third grade when she announced that she wanted to be a pediatrician. She started her second year of med school today.

On the way, she had a D1 full ride for volleyball (until she tore her ACL). Her club teams won two national championships, and she attended an invitation only camp at the Olympic Training Center. She did not go “big” for college because she was told she could not major in anything premed, so she chose academics over sports.

So, she knew what she wanted to do early and stuck with it when other opportunities presented themselves.

When I was 5, I wanted to be Mr Rogers.

LOL! you must be new here :welcome:

we are a normal married couple, neither of us played basketball nor went to Duke,
so can you guess who is the husband and who is the wife?
by the screen names?

Not thinking you got the right answer. . .
:oops::oops:

serious answers only

obviously with some of your prior comments, you are NOT a catch lightning in a bottle type of guy

:22yikes:

Congratulations on having a very smart, determined, and athletic daughter!
You must be very proud of her!

:eclipsee_gold_cup: is meant for your daughter!

My career path started at age 9. My mom heard that's the age to start in order to take it seriously and it worked. Even though it wasn't until age 13 that I really chose the path for myself, versus doing it because my mom thought it was good thing for me.

Wow! at age 13, I had figured out how to get to school on time, but writing and literature and history were the worst subjects, kept getting Ds and Fs. . and recess was my favorite class. .

I still can't image being smart or aware enough to make these life determining decisions before the age of 25. . . I admire people who made these decisions such as this for the rest of their lives and were top performers in their careers amongst their peers. .

:eclipsee_gold_cup: to you as well

Growing up in the 60’s, the Vietnam protests and the environmental movement caught my eye. Went off to college to study Political Science to become a lawyer and then a politician. Halfway through my first poly sci course, I realized I couldn’t stand the pontificating blather going on in class. Switched my major to chemistry and found that I was much better in science. Guess I was just a late bloomer!

I loved anything to do with rockets when I was little. When I watched John Glenn orbit the Earth in 6th grade I decided I wanted to work for NASA when I grew up. Ten years later, I pulled into the Manned Spacecraft Center (now JSC) in Houston to start my internship as a rocket engineer.

I still love rockets and spend hours every day keeping up with the space industry. I can’t wait for SpaceX to start launching their giant Starship rocket from the cape. Man, I love rockets!

Thanks for the warm-hearted smile this brought me!
 

Geeks/Nerds/Dorks rule!
I can envision at your passing a clipper ship awaiting to transport you to eternity, full sails and smooth sailing out in the vastness of the infinite cosmos!!! (And boldly going where no man has gone before I might add)

you seem to be a bit of a poet, have visited the green fairy already this morning

At the age of 9 I was already 5 years into my obsession with horses. I had outgrown my quest to be a wrangler on the King Ranch, and set my sights on riding jumpers. I was a little girl in NYC, and my only riding took place weekly in Central Park. So..... I never became a professional, but I did have a horse farm and six horses, rode daily and although they have all passed, I still have the passion.

According to my dear wife, I never grew up. :shrug:

I csn relate

Did your lottery tracking spreadsheet help you to win any lottery money?

My wife asked me why I’ve been practicing juggling recently. I told her I want to be a clown if I ever grow up : )

Had a professional golfer across the street from me when I was a kid. At 7 or 8, he had a golf club in his hand every day. Always gone to a golf course, or putting in the back yard, or driving in the side yard (corner lot) or down at the baseball diamond not so far away.
Played on the high school golf team, and then college.
Lost track of him, but would often see him way down the list in golf tournaments.
Was or still is a golf pro at a country club last I heard (a real country club).

Yeah, most real pros knew what they wanted to do very early. I did; not golf.

No epiphany for me. I have had several career paths, some successful, others less so.
I do have sympathy for those age 9 athletes who become Olympians. Now they are in their teens or twenties, with nowhere to go. Maybe they will figure out round two precociously by the time they are 29.

I am LOVING these stories - thanks for posting!

First day of 7th grade English class, Miss Thompson, the class little old spinster teacher, had us write a one pager on what we would be doing in 10 years.

I wrote I would be in Medical School at Hardvard University. The paper came back graded with the comment "If you don't learn to spell Harvard you're not getting admitted"

Did you swim in the local senior olympics? I used to do various sports in those venues and enjoyed the experiences.

Yes, I think that I will be Lebron James in my next reincarnation. And congratulation to you for admitting imperfections.