Do Not Let Fear Hold You Back. Try Something New!
Trying something new… traveling.
If you want to try something new, but you are letting fear hold you back, conquer it! Ever heard the saying, “Just Do It!”?
As I say all too often, “Things are not getting any easier, so do not lay down. Get up and get out! Try something new!” Now I am not talking about quitting your job (although that is something I did) and leaving yourself open for failure financially or otherwise (I did NOT do this). I’m talking about trying new things and if they do not work, at least you tried them.
May I take you through a semi-brief walk in my shoes for a moment?
I did not realize what a profound effect trying just about everything I wanted to try had on me, my family, and even my friends. While the grass is not greener on this side, I can say that I have tried doing almost any business I thought might be fun. I have been a butcher’s apprentice, sold cars, ran a supermarket deli, worked for many different years at hardware stores in the plumbing department as they changed names from Oles to Ace, to Builders Emporium, then Lumber City and Home Depot. I also worked at JC Penny, Hickory Farms, B. Dalton Books, and even ran a day care. I sold Discovery Toys, Herbalife, Melaleuca, Tupperware, Mary Kay, Amway, you name it! If I needed it for the stage of life the family was in, I sold it. I usually worked two jobs at once then even added children to the mix! And as you all know, I purchased The Busy Woman’s Daily Planner in 1999.
I have lived in six different places I wanted to live (now seven), including the beach. I have gone to college in different cities picking up a class or two here and there while working while parenting, and on, and on the list goes.
What appeared to me to be indecisiveness, intrigued my friends. My friends would call to see what I was up to but did not like to share much about their life. After many years of feeling like I was doing all of the talking, I asked my friend to tell me what was new in her life. She told me not much changed. She was living vicariously through me, which meant that she did not have to try those things that might fail. She could just listen to me, hear the good and bad and be satisfied. Not me! I needed to experience it for myself.
Most of my friends had neat and tidy lives with 2 or 3 children, a home they owned for so long that they were not house poor, a dog, their immediate family nearby, a husband with set hours who was home by 5, etc… So listening to my experiences usually made them feel better about having a mellow life. Mine was often hectic and fast paced. Did I say, “Was?” I meant, IS. (Ohhhh what I would give for a mellow life.)
I was throwing a semi-pity party while sitting at lunch with my college guidance counselor, telling her how I wished I had a neat and simple life when she all of a sudden stopped and said, “Do you realize how many people would kill for the life experience you have?” She smiled and proceeded to tell me how she went to college right out of high school, got into counseling and followed this neat and tidy path into her present college counselor career and never veered outside the box. But I have tried anything and almost everything I wanted to try (except for traveling out of the country, but I did not dare interrupt). She said that since my husband had a stable job it left me the room that many never have. That room was to explore all that intrigued me.
So instead of saying, “I wish I could try this. One day I want to do that. When I have the money I will do what I want or buy what I want.” See what you can do NOW. Try not to have regrets. Talk yourself into a positive attitude and an, “I know I can” attitude. Heck, I am working towards a degree at almost 50 years old. If I can do it, so can YOU!
Easier said than done? Maybe. But it is worth the work to change your focus and be happy. Try something new each week, month, or year. But try something! Do not sit around saying that you do not have the time. Look in your planner, find an empty date RIGHT NOW and write this in, “Try something new and fun!” What have you not done that you have wanted to do? Ask a friend if there is something you talk about doing but never seem to get around to. If you have a yearning, chances are your friends have heard about it.
If you try something new, I would like to hear about it! Please send an email to Susie AT thebusywoman.com and make SURE to put in the subject line, “I DID IT.”
If you like this article, you might like: Just get rid of it.
©2002,2013 Susie Glennan
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