Trying out for the play when you play football is a risk. Being only one thing your whole life is a bigger one.

Being known for one thing is comfortable, and the comfort is the trap. A single label makes every new attempt feel like a betrayal of the old one, mostly to you, since other people adjust far faster than you expect. The real risk is not a bad audition. It is reaching twenty-five having only ever been the one thing somebody decided you were at fourteen.

Sign up for one thing this season that sits outside your category. Tell the people most likely to tease you first, briefly, and then go anyway.