A plate full of tofu

Paco is in a bit of a pickle. He joined his school's theater group last fall but now concluded he is not enjoying it at all. He already does tons of after school activities (soccer, robotics, piano, mathletics) and gets straight As in school, so there isn't much point in him spending time on an after-school activity that he doesn't enjoy. But there is a catch: they are working on a performance and it would be problematic for the group if he drops out. The first question I asked was when the performance was. If it was a few weeks away, or even a month or two, then I thought that Paco should stick with the play. But it turns out the play is in four months. Seems like a long time for him to keep doing something that he is not enjoying - as well as enough time for the theater group to find a replacements or other alternative. A few take-aways:

- It is good to try new things. But, try to start with low commitment tests. If you want to try tofu for the first time, maybe order a side dish or, better yet, try it from someone else's plate. Don't order a full meal worth of tofu which might go to waste if you don't like it!

- As soon as you realize something is not working out deal with the situation head-on. Paco realized over a month ago that he was not enjoying the theater but he dragged his feet and tried tweaks (changing his role) until he got to the point he is now when he can't take it anymore. Problem is two plus months have gone by and dropping out is more challenging now than it would have been a month ago.

- Most important of all, though, and something that Paco is doing, is to be aware of the things you like and those that you don't. And to spend your time on those that you do like (to the extent that you can, of course).