Saturday, November 20, 2010

Master Of Nothing

Jack of all trades, Master of none, is a term used when refering to someone who is competent when it comes to many jobs or skills, but at the same time has never been particularly outstanding in any.

Throughout life we try many different jobs and learn many skills along the way, right off the bat we learn to sit up, eat, communicate, and walk, for the most part we all do each one of these pretty well but as far as mastering any I don’t think I can claim a one, I eat pretty good and don’t fall down too much, as far as communicating goes my Southern English sometimes gets me a few grins and “say that agains” so with this said I am not a master of any of these traits.

Over the years I have worked several jobs, I worked for a grocer in the meat market and I also worked construction for a few years, I pumped gas at a service station, sold supplies in the oilfield, and liquor at a package store, I installed telephones and dispatched repairmen to fix problems that appeared in the middle of the night, I repaired water meters, worked outside customer service turning peoples water on, and also off when the bills were due and not paid. I think I was good at each job and I learned a lot about people and how to treat them, I learned how to do a lot of things, and there is still a lot that I could have learned simply due to the fact that everything changes about as fast as you learn it.

I am a Son, Brother, Uncle, Cousin, Husband, Father, Papa, and Friend to many people, my experiences with life and people give me a different outlook than some, and the exact same as others, and throughout my life I have learned that I can do many things, but if I had to hire someone to do what I just did for myself, that person most likely would not be me, but when working for myself the price is one I can afford.

Jack of all trades or should I say several trades, I can claim this but how many of us actually master anything, if you master anything then you have learned all there is to know about that particular task, and once you have learned all there is to know, wouldn’t it be easy to become bored with it. Life is a never ending learning process, we start as I mentioned above learning to sit up, eat and so on, we spit up a few times but that is just part of life, we come into this world wide eyed and grasping to learn things, and I am afraid we will leave this world wide eyed and grasping to remember what we learned. I hope to never know everything there is to know about anything because I never want to be bored with life.

So with this said never give up on learning new things, go out of your way to help others and teach what you have learned to those wide eyed kids grasping for knowledge, play nice with one another and respect those around you if you ever want that respect to be returned, I have learned a lot of things in my lifetime and to sum it all up, I am proud to be a master of nothing because there are too many things I have not done, and too many people that I still want to meet face to face, as long as there are things to do I will be a Jack of some trades but I hope that I am never a master of any.

28 comments:

  1. You have it figured out. At one time I was envious of those that were studiously expert in a particular subject. But I have since learned the art of dabbling in anything that comes along. To be an expert on one thing excludes so much.

    Good post.

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  2. Just about every job or skill has "tricks of the trade." Knowing these tricks allows you to advance from Jack to Master. Once you know them, it makes the job a lot easier and less intimidating. I totally agree about passing skills on to young folks. It's too bad that in this day and age, most kids don't want to know them...

    A good example: Several years ago at our old house I watched guys put in new windows at my house. After seeing how darn easy it was, I pledged to never pay anybody to do it again.

    Great post Jimmy!

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  3. Love your attitude about learning new things. I like to be around people who are curious and try out some new skills.

    Great post, Jimmy!

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  4. Hey Jerry, Thank You Sir, I am with you in that dabbling in whatever comes along is so much more rewarding than being a master of just one thing.

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  5. Pat, You are so right that so many of our young people simply do not want to learn, this only makes me respect the ones that do want to learn a whole lot more. I am like you in that I watch whatever is going on and the things I have learned to do has been impressive if only to myself :^)

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  6. Thank You Betty, People who want to learn are as impressive as those who take time to teach, I so appreciate them both.

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  7. I think when you are in a profession like mine you do try to master certain things. But I have come to realize with each and every patient I learn something new. I am good at what I do do but there is always a great room for improvement. That is what keeps the job interesting. We have always told our kids to "renaissance" people. Know a little bit about a whole lot of things. That way you always have something to talk about with the variety of people you meet in your lifetime. It is those individuals who have done a bit of this and tried a hand at that who are the most interesting. Mastering one thing is like tunnel vision...you miss a everything else surrounding you.

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  8. You are so right Jimmy. I am just like you. I can do a lot of things but I haven't mastered any. But like you, I like it that way. It makes like interesting.

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  9. OMG Jimmy, you and are VERY much the same when it comes to this topic.

    "Jack of all trades, Master at none."

    I often have people say, "You know how to do so many things, Ron." And I say, "Yes, but I haven't quite ever Mastered any of them - HA!"

    The truth be told, I'm a dappler. I dabble in many things, because like you, I enjoying learning new stuff. Especially things I feel afraid of learning, or feel that I could NEVER learn.

    I agree....

    "I hope to never know everything there is to know about anything because I never want to be bored with life."

    FAAAAAAAAABULOUS post, buddy!

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  10. You are never too old to learn, right Jimmy? It seems like lots of folks reach the age of 45 or so and just give up any interest in learning about new technology, etc. One of the reasons I love to read books is that I'm able to learn so much about history and other cultures without spending a dime. Aren't public libraries great?

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  11. Hey, that describes me perfectly! Done lots of things, but not really a Master at any of them...

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  12. I think doing things your way is a great idea. Most of the folks I know who are true "masters" of one thing, are fairly limited when it comes to other areas of living. I think I do some things well, (cooking, being a grandma, training dogs, writing, gardening, etc.,) but I don't really consider myself a "master", nor do I truly want to be. Being well rounded and continuing our education throughout our lives brings more happiness, I'm pretty sure.

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  13. Hey Susie, “Mastering one thing is like tunnel vision...you miss a everything else surrounding you” I so agree with you and this is why we don’t tie ourselves down to learning just one thing or to fool ourselves into thinking we know it all, with your profession I am sure is a never ending learning experience both in technique and people.

    Yes Peg, We have to keep life interesting and by learning new things we can keep from becoming bored with the simple things that make our lives grand.

    Hey Ron, I love knowing a little about a lot of things because it sure helps us get along in this old world a bit better, being a dabbler is a respectable title in my opinion, I think I can make us a badge out of wood saying that Ha Ha

    Seriously the things we think we can’t do or are afraid to learn usually turn out to be the easiest things to accomplish.

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  14. Cocotte, “You are never too old to learn, right Jimmy?” you are so right my friend and it is so sad that so many give up learning about new things, I so love learning about history and other cultures and the public libraries are places I get myself trapped inside of at times.

    Hey Joe, We could call ourselves Masters of doing a little of everything, this reminds me of a friend who plays guitar, he boasts knowing half a million songs then goes on to say if he only knew the other half of the songs…

    Linda, “Being well rounded and continuing our education throughout our lives brings more happiness, I'm pretty sure.” I agree with you as long as we are happy and spend time with our family teaching and learning new things then happiness will be part of our lives, doing things your own way and doing them well is a blessing and will keep life interesting because this will keep us from sticking to just one thing.

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  15. I alson piddle at many things but excell at none. I call us welll rounded and diversified...saves us money and keeps boredom at an all time low!

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  16. It's so strange that you post this, just yesterday I was telling Sydney how I always "obssess" over new hobbies. I get involved and interested for a year or two then something else captures my attention. I never "master" my hobby, but I like knowing a little of all of it. My lastest being photography and that is approaching a year. Wonder what will grab my fancy next?
    I like what you say here in this post. It's interesting stuff we are made of.

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  17. What a great post. I have mastered nothing. I have some skills, but they are usually not the kind anyone really wants. I'm really good at yelling, cursing, crying, and throwing fits. Not yet an expert in those areas though. I'm still working on it. :)

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  18. Life really is about learning and growing. Absolutely!

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  19. Ahhhh...this is good stuff! So true, and I needed the reminder today.
    Feeling a little "woe is me" that I can't seem to excel in any particular thing.
    I now want to go ahead and embrace it all:)
    Yay for learning everything new!
    Thanks Jimmy!

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  20. Hey SuziCate, Well rounded and diversified is a good way to be, my family is good at working around the home to take care of things and learning how things work make it easy to save a little money, you can’t be bored learning things :^)

    Angelia, Yes trying different things may look to some as being undecided about what we want to do but trying different things shows me a person who is enjoying life, you may reach for a new hobby soon but I have a feeling the photography is not going away.

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  21. Hey Melissa, “I'm really good at yelling, cursing, crying, and throwing fits.” We all have to be good at something—right :^)

    Dreamfarm Girl, You are absolutely right this is what life is all about,You just have to love it!!

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  22. Hey Dawn, Hope the “woe is me” feeling passes soon, I have faith you will be back on track right away, I am happy you enjoyed this one and yes I agree Yay for learning new things :^)

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  23. Jimmy,

    This gives me HOPE!

    Makes me want to go build something--so I'm going to watch DIY on TV and get tired! LOL

    GREAT GREAT POST BRO!

    John

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  24. Hey John,"--so I'm going to watch DIY on TV and get tired! LOL"

    Yes Sir, ain't nothing wrong with that, at least it is a learning experience--right Ha Ha

    Thank You My Good Friend

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  25. I tend to think it's better to be good at a lot of things rather than great at just one... and that's good... because I don't really excel at any one thing either!

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  26. Hey Kristy, It appears that the majority of us are pretty much the same here, being a master of nothing is a good thing huh :^)

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  27. Oh man Jimmy, a well written article. I think this is true for most of us. I've only done a few jobs in my life, and they were all at the beginning when I was feeling my way around life, before I settled into my current occupation that I've had pretty much all my working years. And I'm still not a master at it.

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  28. Hey Matty, Thank You Sir, I think the key to working a job is to never master it but always do it well.

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