WEEK TWO: LEARN SOMETHING NEW
** This blog post was originally posted as part of a personal challenge I did in 2016 **
This week I chose what felt like a bit of a milder task since launching the site was such a biggy. It still made my stomach turn though so don’t worry, it counts
Learning seems to get tougher as we get older. More specifically, learning things that push us outside of our comfort zone.
As children we’re basically fearless. I think it’s a defense mechanism. We consistently do, learn, and try new things, taking or leaving them based on our interests. Then we get older and learning gets tougher. The fear sets in as we discover the repercussions and possibilities of what could happen. Practicality makes us forget the fun of trying something new. Instead we worry about how we’ll look or what COULD potentially happen. In turn, we forget how to play.
So, this week I pushed that fear to the back of my brain where it belongs and learnt something new…
I learnt how to rock climb…..and IT. WAS. AWESOME.
NOTE, I was a bit of a scaredy cat growing up and afraid of a plethora of things. Heights were among this long list. I tried to climb a couple times at events like friends birthday parties, but the fear would set in and I’d never get very far. Usually, I walked away feeling embarrassed, defeated and unconfident. I was 110% sure I was going to get on that wall and not be able to make it even a ⅓ of the way up before my legs started to shake and my stomach started to turn.
But that’s not what happened. As it is with many fears, the idea is often scarier than the actual experience. As an adult, once I got going I was stronger, less fearful, and extremely invigorated by the chance to play. The fear of failure quickly disappeared and I made it to the top of multiple walls, an exciting first for me.
Besides the technique that comes along with learning to climb, I also learnt to remember that what you were once afraid of can change. Give things a chance. Get comfortable with them. Fear often comes from ignorance or lack of understanding. Add a dash of knowledge and it is often replaced with a rewarding experience.
In almost all cases, even if you don’t end up enjoying something, you won’t regret giving it a shot but you might regret not trying at all. I definitely don’t regret learning to climb. In fact, I’ve already been back and I can’t wait to continue to incorporate it into my life.
I’m going to leave you with this: Don’t let the fear of learning hold you back from being the person you want to be. I challenge you to keep this in the back of your brain and pull it out when the fear sets in. Remember: You can do it and you’ll thank yourself for it.
