Listen learn and look the part!

Great news! We've got the date for our first game of cricket.
Huh?? Cricket??? Not exactly the stuff of rebels for this anarchic OnWeGo blog?

But consider this….
Ever since childhood I’ve had a problem co-ordinating with a moving ball. Heading a football – I’d miss it! Driving to the boundary in cricket – I’d miss it! Returning serve on the forehand – I’d miss it!
I just accepted that if it was moving - I’d miss it. Mind you it never stopped me playing any of these games, and I was so very proud to be picked as goalkeeper for my infant school. This may have had something to do with me being tall. Not that I could reach the crossbar or cut out crosses; as if!!! But I was nearest to fully occupying the goalie’s pullover, kindly supplied by JC Howell our class teacher.
I still vividly remember that claret woollen pullover. I remember how I felt as I put on what seemed like the ceremonial robes of a gladiator destined to die. I can even remember how it smelt, on account of having to breathe through the huge roll-neck collar that smothered my face. Always a handy excuse for missing the shots that whistled past me. We lost every game. Defeats were always heavy.
The aversion continued into later life. 5 years back, a 6-0 drubbing at tennis by a girl friend recovering from foot surgery reaffirmed this lack of sporting self-esteem
So when invited 2 years ago to make up the numbers for the office cricket team, my acceptance was entirely altruistic. The invitation to play again the following year was not earned by previous success, but necessitated by dwindling numbers.

Except that this time I thought... I can do this! I remembered the advice of an old boss from way back, who said “know when you can’t ...and listen and learn from somebody who can!” In this case it was our cricket guru and Company Accountant Bill. “Watch the ball and step towards it” was his advice; advice which I trusted without question.
I don’t normally trust accountants but when on a Company "do" you’ve shared a room and seen a chap in his “Y” fronts, a trust is established.

So there I am, 3rd in. My new white cricket pullover makes a statement of bold intent. Maybe my subconscious was at work, deleting memories of that claret roll-neck I couldn't fill? Watch the ball and step forward: 1st ball…. block. 2nd ball….2 runs. 3rd ball...a glorious 6 over the boundary!! Then another awesome 6!!! 10 balls later I am compulsorily retired on 25 and stride back to a rapturous pavilion.

So bring on this season’s matches! I can play this game now!
It's just a case of listening to somebody who knows how, and maybe wearing the right pullover.

chasing motor bikes again!!

Have you ever watched a dog chasing a motor bike? He seems to be thinking "Right...taunt me will you? I'll have you!! ....just as soon as I can catch you?" And it's that ...will he....and does he really want to question that tends to makes the chase look rather funny.
Just as I must have looked. Happily walking across a side road junction, I get an impatient beeeeep from the car turning in behind me. It happens! But it was the gesture from the dude behind the wheel that sent me into one! "Right...I'll have you!!" and without a second thought I'm chasing after him, bounding up the road like your favourite martial arts movie hero.
"Ah...you're trying to escape" I think, as he screeches into a side road and I follow.
Then of course the brain begins to point certain things out to me. Man on foot cannot catch Mini Cooper. Man on foot chasing Mini Cooper looks pretty stupid. The looks of disbelief of the thoroughly engrossed onlookers confirms this.

Then yesterday I did it all over again! The first outing in 3 years on the mountain bike saw me understandably slowing a bit on the homeward run. No such understanding though from the wannabee Jeremy Clarkson in his open-topped MG Midget, who after passing, offers me that familiar single-upturned-finger wave! Never one for clever instant repartee, I can only wave back in mock friendly fashion, before thinking "No baldy!! (still waiting for some clever repartee) ...you ain't telling me where to get off!" And I chase him! Yes I chase him on my mountain bike (un-used in 3 years) and him in his MG Midget. I didn't catch him!
Yet as I turn up the hill towards home, despite the rasping lungs... and the ironic encouragement from a concerned neighbour...and the burning legs that refused to lift me from the saddle.... I feel soooo pleased with myself. For a minute I had been Segal, Van Damme & Chan all in one! I'd shown him!
Later on, in a reflective moment, I did wonder how often in life we may duck a challenge because we think it's too tough or because we believe the competition is too strong? Because when we do, we miss out on the enormous fun and great satisfaction there is in believing that we can... and having a real go!
We don't always have to "catch the motor bike."

what if?

The quest to learn how to predict lottery numbers continues....and with some early encouragement! Week one of the new “system” sees me £49.60 the richer thanks to the Euro lottery. Week two, and again huge excitement when that tantalising e mail from lottery HQ arrives indicating “Great news!” I prolong the anticipation until Sunday before discovering that the great news is... £4.60!!

But that's £4.60 more than I make from a possible dormant pension enquiry sent to an early years employer, LB of Harrow. Back in 1971 as well as saying goodbye to shillings and pence, I bade farewell to a hugely promising career in local government, and with all the euphoria of my final days I just couldn’t recall what we had done with my accrued pension contributions.
Not a lot! I was given a full cash refund of £563 when I left.
You have to hand it to local government administrators. Their archiving and filing skills are without equal. I was sent photocopied immaculately handwritten records. (We all used fountain pens in those days.) Complete with long-hand calculations showing how they converted pre-decimal contributions into new currency….after two attempts!! And rubber stamped (we all used those too!) REFUNDED IN FULL.
Now I have to admit I did briefly think “What if I hadn't left local government?” “I’d have retired 4 years ago on a final-salary-inflation-proofed pension!”
But I did leave! And over time I've learnt that asking myself “what if,” when reflecting back on past decisions I made, or looking forward on future events that I can’t influence (like winning the lottery,) is at best an entertaining but otherwise unproductive preoccupation.
Add in those other "what if''s" You know, the self-limiting ones that we ask when facing something new or different: "What if I can't do it?" "What if I look daft trying?" ...and you begin to realise what a thought-wasting phrase it is!!
So. What if we stopped asking what if? Maybe we'd just might get on and do a lot more!