I hate trivia games. Yes, “hate” is a strong word and should be reserved for really serious things.
This is serious. Trivia is very serious. Furthermore, I am bad, seriously bad at trivia. Believe me when I say “hate” is not a strong enough word for how I feel about trivia.
I grew up always one giant leap behind a brother who is two years older than I am.
I love games and I always tried to get him to play with me. Sometimes he did willingly, but other times I had to beg, “Please just one game and I’ll let you pick the game, big brother.” Those were usually the times I got stuck playing a trivia game.
You see, my brother loves trivia and has always been really good at it. When we were kids he won every time and I always left the table feeling so stupid.
We even tried to find ways to make it more fair, like giving him harder questions. He still won, and I felt even more stupid.
It got to the point for me that I wouldn’t even give answers to questions I knew because I felt so humiliated. There were times when I was pretty sure I was right, but I clammed up because I didn’t want to get it wrong.
A glimmer of hope came for me in a game called Cranium. It has traditional trivia questions as well as singing, acting, drawing, sculpting, and word puzzles. I’m most likely to shine in the singing, acting, and word puzzles. The variety of categories means I can hold my own against trivia buffs.
Playing that game helped me see that even if I am not trivia smart, I am smart!
Do you know what else? The big brother that ran circles around me in trivia games admires my smarts and strengths.
It has been a slow process for me to go from recognizing my intelligence to having the guts to share what I know. That little part of me that was afraid to get it wrong, still tries to hold me back.
That’s part of why this blog is so important to me. I’m not letting that fear of getting it wrong hold me back from this.
The more important question for me has become, what if I am right?
I’m not saying I am an authority on everything I write. Truly, sometimes I may have more questions than answers. Still, what if me just putting it out there can help other people find answers?
What if my sharing can mean something to someone else? What if what I write touches someone’s life?
What if holding all my thoughts in is the wrongest thing ever? Then, I really don’t want to be wrong!
Do you have a love or hate relationship with trivia? What kind of smarts do you have?
Jennifer Clark Tinker 