A One Trick Pony

A one trick pony is better than a no trick pony, but then that one trick pony is limited to continuing to find that one trick amusing.

One hit wonders who had a popular song many years ago and are still touring, singing that one song to those people who never get tired of hearing it. Boxers and wrestlers who were stars a long time ago who try to make a comeback and look less inspiring than we remember them. Writers whose most recent book reads like the warmed over ramblings edited out of their great books.

When a person runs out of ideas or lacks the desire to create new ones, they fall back on old routines that used to work for them. Why would they do that? If you have ever had one triumphant moment in your life where you were considered one of the best or you were very popular, it is hard not to want to bask in that glory again.

In a time of uncertainty, it is tempting to want to fall back on that again and capitalize on it. But in time, that becomes simply a losing proposition as the number of people who care to keep on reliving that moment in the past grows smaller and smaller.

The other option is to keep on growing and changing and finding another way to utilize our skills, abilities and interests to create some new aspect that is not simply a repeat of the old career path, not just a lame imitation of the greatness that once was.

Many people have successfully reinvented themselves over time. Imagination can move us forward, into a creative place. Many of the one trick ponies are fading away in favor of the more flexible ponies who have learned at least a few new tricks.