Laziness vs Ambition

Isn't it irritating when someone seems to just naturally be good at something? Thanks to my mum, I have always been a quietly competitive person, but I am also naturally quite lazy so it's difficult to learn to be good at something when I don't want to put the effort in.

I never particularly struggled at school, not even needing to revise for some of my GCSEs and still getting As. People are going to hate that, and of course you should revise even if you think you don't need to, but I always seemed to just retain information. A levels were definitely harder, just because I actually had to put more effort in and, although I still got decent grades, I think I could have done better if I hadn't been so lazy. My sister, however, has learning difficulties alongside mild autism and struggles much more in school. She constantly says I must have cheated on my exams, which is quite irritating for the exams I did actually have to work hard for, but I can see where she is coming from. She has to work so much harder than I did, just to pass with minimal marks.

Sometimes I wish I could be good at everything, even ridiculous things, like I'm jealous that my boyfriend can whistle through his fingers and wiggle his ears (what a catch, right?). I know it'd be unfair for someone to be able to master everything they possibly want, but sometimes it'd be really handy to be able to learn how to do things really quickly. Imagine if you could learn a language in a week. How much less ignorant would you look when you go on holiday and don't have to speak in weird broken English for the locals to understand you? Imagine if you could learn to have a sense of direction (I get lost so easily) and could go somewhere you had never been before and find your way home without having to consult a map.

I can play the piano and guitar at a relatively basic level, but when friends of mine can sit with an instrument and just play really elaborate pieces, I get jealous, even though they have probably spent hours practising and I haven't played the piano for about two years. People at parties who sit and improvise guitar (NOT Wonderwall) make me twitchy; I want to get up and play but if I started to play, it would be nowhere near as impressive. I know that if I actually tried with these things, then soon enough there is a possibility I will be able to do the same, but the laziness in me wants it to just come with ease. 

It's probably a good thing that everyone isn't good at everything, though. When people do put in the effort to be good at something and it eventually pays off, the feeling is so rewarding and it is inspiring to others who want to do the same. It also causes people to find their own way about things, extending their creativity and increasing the variation in the world. I'm sure Picasso was told he was bad at painting, but when he found his own style that was different to realism, obviously he was very successful. I just need to stop being lazy!