Named After A Sir!!

In a couple of recent blogs I have been talking about the sometimes strange sources that some parents use to find names for their Children, but did you know (Or care) that I was named after a “Sir”? No, not sir Walter Raleigh; nor Sir Walter Scott! And most definitely not after the new type of Lawn grass now available! No! This time Grandfather’s source of a suitable name for his grandson was acceptable and I was named after Australia’s very own Sir Walter Lindrum.

Now for those of you not interested in Billiards, you may never have heard of him, but back in the last Century, from the 1920’s right up to the 50’s (when I was born) he was the Crowned and uncrowned World Champion of Billiards. Even earning him a Knighthood shortly before his death in 1960.

Now with such an illustrious Billiards Player for a namesake, you would think that I would be a great Billiards player wouldn’t you? Well! Sorry to disappoint you but I have hardly played it in my life. One of the reasons that I have not tried to play it, is that I have tried long and hard to play snooker and I ‘suck ‘ badly at that, so I haven’ tried to even learn Billiards either! (I tried it once and found it too confusing!)

Just goes to show, doesn’t it, that no matter what we call ourselves after, or where our names come from, we have to bring our own talents with us. We can’t inherit them from our families and we certainly can’t draw them out of the sources or meanings of our names either. What we are, is what we are.

Sure, like Walter Lindrum, whose father and Grandfather were Billiard players and ran Billiard Parlours, we can get so much from our families and our circumstances, but ultimately what we are and what we become is up to us. Being named after a famous Billiard player has not helped me one bit to play the game. That’s not to say I haven’t been successful in my life. Just not in Billiards (or Snooker)! What about you? Has your “Name” helped or hindered you? Or like with me been totally indifferent?