We are the only ones who can give ourselves permission to learn, to experience the joy of discovering our own strengths.
I came across this quote while reading and thought it was worth exploring.
I don’t know of anyone who has never had a moment of indecision about anything. Who has never felt intimidated by the prospect of change.
Some of us, for reasons that we may never fully understand, have been raised to be afraid of doing anything for fear of being different, standing out, trying new things.
Others are hesitant to ‘rock the boat’ for fear of repercussions they might have to face from family or friends.
The topics are wide ranging; education, traditions, religion, and a host more.
The sad part of this is that many people will allow themselves to be stuck in a very small box for their entire lives, never experiencing anything new, never finding out of they even like what they have discovered.
We all know the adage of the kids who refuse to eat something new because they don’t know what it tastes like. Well, I hate to remind you, but it isn’t just the kids who have that problem. 🙂
How do you know what you like, if you don’t know what you don’t like? You don’t.
Now, I’m not proposing an earth shattering change to every single part of your life. What I am proposing is that we all try something new because we are curious. We are not obligated to actually “like” it, but to just try it.
To me there is nothing sadder than the person who approaches food as if the food is going to turn around and eat him.
Allergies aside, if you think about it, the basic foodstuffs we think of eating are the same all over the globe. They are just prepared differently. Chicken is chicken no matter what country you are in. Ditto for beef, pork, and the host of vegetables and grains. The difference is how they are prepared and combined. You could discover something amazing, or not.
Music is music, in all its diversity, at its core it is the same thing.
Hey, someone had to invent that deep fried Oreo, right? And let’s not forget opera, rock and roll and jazz.
By giving ourselves permission to try new things we open the door to experiencing the world in many different ways. We might find that we actually like that particular shade on the walls or the process of creating a quilt. We might discover that the idea of learning a new language is more intimidating than we thought, but the ability to speak with new friends is exhilarating. And the things we learn by doing new things and meeting new people is not only exciting, but satisfying.
On the other hand, it can also be scary. Learning new things, meeting new people can often require us to look at long held beliefs and discover that they are, or are not, what we thought them to be.
One thing is certain, you won’t know if you never take the opportunity to even dip your toe in the water.
