The Dugout | Weekend-Engagement 246

I guess it's normal for everyone to spend some time on the dugout and have that moment when we have to wait while others shine. I have learned over time that everything has its moment and the best way to face challenges is to be prepared for it.

My life has been an up and down of emotions and good and bad experiences, especially the last few years. I have had many moments where I have been at the top and in some others I have hit rock bottom; before I was unbalanced by these abrupt changes, but today I see the good that can be taken out of every experience, both the good and the bad.

A great example of what I am saying is what I live daily in my work, even at home. I live from the art of music and the opinions of who is good or not are very relative. To summarize, I am sure I have a lower level than most of my colleagues, in fact my wife is a soprano soloist who has sung in large halls along with several of my great friends and have been praised by the public, while I have been behind them, waiting for the applause for the choir.

I understand that I am in the big leagues, but I do not forget that my skills have also allowed me to get here. In fact in the past I have had some great moments but they have been left so far behind that sometimes even I have forgotten them, and I have several years in the Dugout of life, sitting, watching and waiting.

I do not know if this makes me an intelligent person or not, but I know my limitations as to be a person located of what I can do and what not, but what I can confess is that I have not been wasting my time, I have not only been sitting, I have learned and in silence I have grown. The competition is with myself and just this week I feel very happy with what I have achieved.

Yesterday my wife came home early and listened to me in my personal practice, I am getting better and better at something I thought I would never get better at, and she was very surprised, as she has been my number one critic for years. It's a personal achievement and it makes me happy, it makes me happy to improve for myself, and boy do I put that into practice in my work. To put it in context, I'm a popular music singer in an opera group, and I'm also a tenor, one of the most difficult voices.

I think I joined this group because you need all kinds of voices, but as a musician you always want to stand out. I've been thinking for years that I'm bad at my job, but every time they make important selections I'm there, after a streak where I was totally invisible.

I am 36 years old, my voice continues to mature with practice, I am becoming more and more skilled at reading music and the information I have been gathering for so long is manifesting itself through my body, almost without looking for it. It is not yet my time to compare myself with the greats, in fact it is time to take advantage of the motivation and keep working.

I think being smart is to place yourself in reality and make things happen in the right way. Today I understand that I should not skip any step, everything has its process and I am aware that mine is a little slow, and I'm not just talking about music; the age I have and the experiences I have lived are making me see everything more clearly and today I know things that I would have liked to know in my adolescence, but I do not regret having ignored them.

Yes... I have been sitting in the Dugout for many years, but when life calls me to the game I will be ready and it will be worth all the effort of this long season of calm, a calm that I chose myself, because I needed it. Fifteen years ago I thought I was the best, and life kicked me in the butt to get me situated. Today I understand that I'm not the worst either, I just needed discipline. Who knows? Maybe my best moment will be at forty, whatever happens I'm looking forward to discover it little by little 🙏