"I don't deserve any credit, my parents do."
This is a phrase I find myself uttering more and more often these days, and I thought I'd share the latest instance I've used this phrase, which happened yesterday out by the pickleball courts of all places.
After a back-and-forth game, I struck up a conversation with a friendly dad of a high school baseball player. Although parents tend to exaggerate their kid's abilities, I have enough knowledge of local teams to know that this kid sounds like he will be good enough to play college baseball at some point (at what level I'm not sure).
Regardless, the flow of the conversation mainly consisted of me answering questions about my college journey. I talked at length about my choice of school, takeaways from my experience, and what I'm most thankful for. At the end of the conversation this gentleman told me, "I wish you could talk to my son because there aren't many kids that have that wisdom at a young age."
Now in no way is this intended to prop myself up because in many ways my college and young adult years have not gone the way I hoped or envisioned, but the lessons along the way have been invaluable. It's wildly curious to me that I tend to talk about those lessons rather than the great experiences I had. It is a constant reminder that people have accrued wisdom many times just want to share, and that I am a product of all the wisdom that has been poured into me. I should do a better job of seeking and listening to it in the future.
At least I was able to attribute my perceived "wisdom" to its correct source by speaking the aforementioned phrase, and that was the end of a great conversation out by the pickleball courts :)
Pre-Development Construction Manager at Elmington Capital
3wMakes sense!