My Big Achievement

The town that I live in has a monument to the man who first explored and surveyed this area. He was quite the pioneer/explorer/surveyor and without his efforts this town would not be here. He died in 1993 and now there is a monument in the town square commemorating the man and his achievements. As I walked past it yesterday, I wondered whether anyone would build a monument in memory of me when I'm gone. My immediate response to myself was "Probably not".

Just as actors don't make movies in order to win Academy Awards (yeah, right!), we don't live our lives trying to warrant a monument after we die. It's not an achievement that's usually aspired to. But I did get to asking myself, what noteworthy achievements have I accomplished in my few short years?

I first thought of those things that lots of people achieve. I have a University degree, I have a wife and children, I've bought a house, I have a good job, I can tie my own shoelaces and I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube. Naturally, I'm proud of all of these achievements, but none of them sets me apart from the crowd. What have I done that most other people have not?

Well, at age 16 I won a yo-yo competition. OK it's not world-changing but it felt good to be crowned the yo-yo champion. It didn't lead to a professional yo-yo career with multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals like I'd hoped, but I did get a six-pack of cola and a ghetto blaster. It may not seem like a big achievement to you, but back then, in the eyes of my 16-year-old friends, I was a legend. When I told my mum she said, "I always knew you were special." and I believed her.

So that's my claim to fame. I realise they don't build monuments to former yo-yo champions, but I've still got time. I'll achieve something more monument-worthy later when my kids have grown up. Right now I'm going to go and practise my yo-yo.