We’re Each ‘Dumb’ In Our Own Way

One thing that bewilders me in Body Combat class is when people don’t move in time to the beat of the music.

You’d think the laws of probability or sheer random luck would mean occasionally they’d land a kick on the beat. Or a punch in time to the music. But no. It just never happens.

This used to baffle me. I’d look in the studio mirror and see these arms and legs flailing, at odds with the class and the music. Like Phoebe Buffay at tap class.

But then I realized something shocking. I’m exactly the same. Just in a different way.

I Get Lost In My Own Suburb. Often.

I’ve gotten lost in my own suburb, where I’ve lived for 16 years, and had to call Craig and describe my surroundings in order to regain my bearings.

I have never, not even once, left a restaurant restroom and known with confidence the direction I should turn to return to my table.

I have a friend who can never remember lyrics of any song, no matter how many times he’s heard it.

Another friend cannot read a single page of a book without falling asleep.

We’re All Uniquely Clueless

We each have our little oddnesses that seem inexplicable to others. None of us is without something that makes other people scratch their heads in disbelief.

So now, when I find myself struggling to understand something in another person, I imagine what they’d think about my getting lost on the way back from the restroom.

It makes me feel more kind, and less judgy, to realize we’re all the same. Just in different ways.

Now excuse me while I try to find my way out of this cafe.