When was the last time you tried something new for the first time? You don’t have to answer right away, I’ll wait. 😆 If you are like most adults, it’s probably been a minute. But chances are, as a new mom, you’ve had your fair share of firsts. Whether you deliberately chose them or they were thrown your way. But you dealt with it, right? And now here you are with one more skill under belt! And maybe even a pro at it by now!
What if we went through life like this? What if we were open to try new things and not be afraid of failing at them?
Would your life look any different than it does now?
Unfortunately, most of us stop ourselves much too often. We think of this great, fabulous thing we want to do or try, and talk ourselves out of it before we even attempt it. Are we afraid of trying it out and then failing? Are we afraid we’ll let people down? We are so wrapped up in the fear of not succeeding at it, that we give up before giving ourselves that chance.
And don’t be fooled, sometimes our brain gives us some really valid-sounding excuses. (This is some of my brain chatter so you get the picture) “What are you doing starting a blog, you’re too old.” “Your metabolism is much slower now, it’s normal to hold on to those extra pounds.” “I can’t quit my job and start my own company, I have bills to pay.”
As valid as these excuses sound, if I listen to my brain, I would be stopping myself from evolving and growing.
So many times I’d give my highly popular excuse, “I don’t know how to do ____,I’ve never done it before. As if the past is my evidence for being able to do something. Well folks, that couldn’t be further from the truth!
Becoming a mother has pushed me to grow in ways I didn’t think I could. I had never given birth before. And after 39 weeks and 6 days, I proved I could, even though I had never done it before. You can say my daughter has been a driving force in helping me grow. Looking to her and how she approaches new situations have been eye opening. Just imagine our babies getting ready to start walking and say, “oh, I don’t think I can do it, I’ve never done this before.” What would we think? We’d certainly have a ton of non walkers around.
Truthfully we can all learn from the babies and look at things with new eyes. Trying new things without hesitation. Knowing we won’t do it perfectly, and being ok with being a beginner at it. As the saying goes, you have to start somewhere. What matters is that you start and go through with it.
You will be uncomfortable and out of your element. But knowing this ahead of time will allow you to expect the discomfort and greet it when it shows up. You get to decide, being uncomfortable from trying something new, or from remaining the same. The choice is always yours.
I truly believe we are here to grow into the best version of our own unique self. After all, does staying the same bring that much excitement to your life?