Word To Ponder: Blunderbuss

This word strikes me in a humorous manner. It is noun with two meanings. The first is as a short musket of wide bore and flaring muzzle, formerly used to scatter a shot at close range. The second meaning is a person regarded as clumsy and stupid.

Expanding a bit, this also got me thinking about self-awareness in the sense of following someone’s footsteps.  Many years ago, a son would want to follow in his father’s footsteps. At the time it was all they knew and admired what they saw the man they looked up to the most. But, that is quite limiting.

Simply having lineage in line of work has nothing to do with what someone is meant to do. There are also many successful examples of people who took over for their parents in a specific line of work. It could either be an entire company or just a job in the same company as their parent or a similar company. Sometimes that youthful admiration sticks, other times people just evolve into what they’d rather be, or what they are meant to do.

For clarification, When I say success, it’s not just monetarily. Success isn’t just about money, it’s about fulfillment and positive contribution to society.

I personally know people on both sides of the equation. Some embrace the pressure, other wilt under it.

Another example is a person who tests at genius levels at a young age. Almost immediately, parents feel compelled to thrust that child into advanced classes. They may highly suggest/pressure them to become a lawyer, doctor, or something else highly acclaimed with high earning potential. Testing high in academics has nothing to do with mental acuity and emotional intelligence. The entire person ought to be considered, not just what they can do as an employee.

I will always encourage people to figure their true selves out. This world has been full of too many people filling roles and surviving instead of being their best at being themselves and thriving.

A blunderbuss of a person shouldn’t  handle a gun, nor should the son of a politician come near politics when their heart believes in honesty and doing the right thing first and always. A girl whose mother was a housewife and a homemaker shouldn’t aspire to be the same when she has tremendous leadership skills and problem solving ability under pressure.

It’s not to say there isn’t such a thing or can’t be an honest politician, or an excellent housewife that can lead the charge and think under pressure. Those skills shouldn’t be limited just to what they have seen. Rather, thinking and expending the scope and scale of what is in your immediate perspective can yield wonderful and unthinkable results. The least you can do for yourself is try.

In the process, you’ll learn more about yourself than you knew prior. Even if you go back to what you initially knew and thought, it’s not a failure.  A failure is never a person, it’s merely an event. In the end, you will be that much better and balanced a person.