Picking up a new passion is exciting. Certain things seem like they'd be super fun to start because they look so simple to do. However, a lot of times, things that look easy are, in fact, the total opposite. Here are a few examples of things that are way harder than they look.
u/PrideOfPR7 asked: What's something that looked easy but you failed horribly when you tried it?
Let me cry...
I once tried to do one of those things where you drink an entire water bottle in a couple seconds and i ended up choking on it and spitting it out all over my friend/cousin. the embarrassing part was that this was in my history class. everyone was just staring at me for a moment in complete silence and i was dying laughing but also super embarrassed. the look on my teachers face as she slowly shook her head and sighed made me want to cry. txketheride
multiplayer....
trying online multiplayer for the first time.
I remember dominating my friends/family (I used to win 90% of the time) at Halo, Gears of War, and COD on local multiplayer. then when I finally got Xbox live I vividly remember getting stomped by other players for weeks until I adjusted to online.
I'm pretty good now but every now and again i'll vs someone who is on a whole other level and i'll get put in my place again. ThatKiwiBloke
the struggle.
GiphyMaintaining good posture for a whole day—you gotta start that crap early in life otherwise you're gonna struggle even in your 20's LOL. bapresapre
Immediate.
Waterskiing. Boston_Strong_CQB241
Even though we went out to a big lake (Mead) almost every weekend during the summer while I was growing up, it took me years to be able to slalom ski. Everyone else in my extended family seemed to pick it up immediately. MazeTheorist
Let's Talk About....
GiphyIm just gonna say it.
Sex. Ranger343
I honestly want to say that sex should be fun and not grueling and hard. It's ok to be lazy and slow. I like to lay on my back at an angle and him lay on his side and neither one of us is doing a whole lot of work. It's harder to touch but extremely enjoyable. demonfairy69
The Switch....
Making a time table and following it to turn my life around.
I always thought I can do it the day I decide to. It turned out to be very difficult and I had/have a lot of moments when I just turn the old me. Now I know it is not a flick switch but a continuous process and one is supposed to take many small steps. lowkeyjakey
I suck.
GiphyWoodwork. You buy wood, you cut it to the right dimensions, you screw/glue it together. Seriously, how damn hard can that be.
Yet somehow, I suck at woodwork. HoggishPad
Jump! Or not....
Ski jumping a tiny little 1foot high mogul size jump without using legs as shock absorbers and ending up landing in a fire sale 🔥 and split lip from ski shooting up my face into the air. Required 3 stitches to fix. Scar reminds me daily to not be a dumb fool. j_k_802
RIDE!!!
GiphyRiding a mechanical bull. It looks easy, and when I talk to people who have done it they gave me a few pointers. I watched all night at people who were both good and bad and "figured it out". I hopped on and of course I did well when it went slow, but as soon and the operator sped it up, WOOSH i went. shaka_sulu
Using the fingers...
Knitting. I worked with a woman at a hardware store who would knit while she was taking care of customers (the woman was a goddess of hardware). I am a Doctor Who fan and I asked her to teach me. Making my fingers move the way they needed made my hands feel alien like I was forcing them to do something they weren't made to do.
I never got past a row or two without making huge mistakes. And that feeling in my hands, I just couldn't get past it for whatever reason. Now in lockdown, I am going to attempt piano and I fear it will be the same thing. ghallway
Bob Ross is the solution.
Painting. It looks so simple, but it hardly ever is.
Just paint along with Bob Ross! Who needs creativity when you can imitate instead?
Not as simple as it looks.
GiphyDancing. They make it look so easy and smooth!
When your college GF is just twirling and shimmying around and you try to do... things. Then she's pulling out her phone, calling 911 and saying "help my boyfriend is having a seizure."
It happens.
Cartwheels. D*mn near broke my arm when I tried.
Competitive dancer here: dislocated my elbow trying to do an aerial because "I've done years of cartwheels and I flip on hoops and silks all the time, an aerial is just a cartwheel with no hands, how hard can it be?"
They're very different instruments.
As a pianist, I badly overestimated how much of my ability would translate to trying a drum set for the first time.
Ironically it was the opposite for me. I started off on piano, was mediocre at it, but then became really good on the drums.
Stick shift is the worst.
GiphyDriving a car for the first time.
ESPECIALLY if it's stick and you never noticed. Stalling a car multiple times in a parking lot is very humbling.
Relatable.
Losing weight.
Opposite of this is true too - gaining weight is just as difficult. I add heavy cream to everything imaginable just for the extra calories. I have grown to f*cking hate food.
A lot of people THINK they're good at it...
Rapping, I feel like everyone underestimates it until someone dares you to try it and you absolutely fail.
Everyone who tries rapping always starts with "my name is ____, I'm here to say..." lmao it kills me every time.
Exercise is hard.
GiphyPull ups. I learned very quickly that I have basically 0 upper body strength.
I wanted to improve my upper body strength and looked up one of those 30 day push up things. Day 1 was like 5 push ups.
Turns out I can't even do 1, I just collapsed on the floor when I had barely moved from full up position.
I had to start on some other arm strength exercises first.
I'm 3 weeks in and still can't do a full proper press up but I can get down about half way, and get back up again!
Upper body stuff is hard.
Street Fighter = chess?
Playing fighter games like Tekken or Street Fighters. The pros know the special combinations for every character and there's apparently a technique where they can "read" their opponent's pattern so they can plan their next move, sort of like chess.
Not so easy.
My godd*mn computer desk. You get it and you think "Oh this'll be easy, I'll just follow the directions. I know how to use a screwdriver what could go wrong???"
12 missing screws, 1 manual written in Portuguese, 6 and half hours and one broken relationship later you realize that maybe you aren't the handyman you thought you were.
We'll agree that many of the things on this list were much harder than they seemed! Props to these folks for trying, though.
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.