When was the last time that you did something out of the ordinary for you? How many new experiences have you tried recently?
When we were children, we are always ready and eager to explore new experiences. We quickly became bored with the familiar and wanted to see what else was out there in the world. As a child, I remember wanting to go with my mother every time she was going to the store. I wanted to see all the different people and observe what was going on in the store. It was all new and foreign to me then. As I grew older, I stopped exploring. I found comfort in my familiar surrounding and habits. I was reluctant to try new things because I was afraid that I would not like them. My familiar experiences were comforting and secure while the unknown was frightening.
I have given myself a new challenge to seek new adventures as a regular part of my life. I realize that I still favor what is familiar, but I remind myself to follow through on impulses to try something new. On a small level, I have made it a goal to try new foods once a month from my nearby Trader Joe's grocery store. Sometimes, I may not like the foods that I try, but I am glad that I was willing to try. I have made many more pleasant discoveries than unpleasant findings on my food adventures. I really love it when I find a new wonderful tasty new food item that I can add to my growing list of food choices.
Why seek out new experiences? The more we keep expanding and adding new experiences, we are making our lives more interesting and fun. We can actually see our lives expand with every new adventure. Our lives are moving forward on some level with each new adventure, which helps us in other areas of our lives where there may not be as much forward movement as we would like. If we have the confidence to explore in one area of our lives, we often are ready to do some exploring in other areas of our lives, too.
Adventures make us more interesting and add more zest to our lives. Adventures help us to discover more about who we are and what makes us happy. We gain a greater sense of what we actually need and want from life through trying out new adventures. It is up to us to define the adventure in our lives and keep redefining it as we continue to grow. If you have worn your hair the same way for years, then getting a new hairstyle is probably a big adventure for you now. If you tried bungee jumping, then rock climbing might be an adventure for you. What is an adventure for you may not be the same for another person. No adventure is lesser than the other.
Your instincts are always giving suggestions for new adventures to you. Most of us immediately dismiss these ideas without giving them much thought. We tell ourselves, "Oh, that doesn't make sense!" "I won't like it, so why bother." "I couldn't do that!" "I wouldn't be safe." "Oh, that would be a waste of time." "I can't afford it." "That's too foolish for me to do." "My family wouldn't approve." "I'm too old or too young for that." "I couldn't do that by myself." "I would look like a fool if I did that!" "What would people think if I did that!" "I don't have time for that." What do you tell yourself when you get new ideas to do something new in your life?
Our instincts are always guiding us to grow and expand our lives. Our instincts always speak wisdom that our rational minds cannot understand or process yet. Our instincts always have the long view of who we are becoming, so it always guides us to take actions that support us in growing from where we are now. Sometimes, our instincts will guide us to take baby steps or a major leap from where we are now. Our rational mind takes the short view, so it evaluates everything based its understanding of who we are today and who we have been in the past. Our rational mind cannot grasp the concept of who we are becoming or all the greater possibilities ahead for us. The rational mind will talk us out of doing anything that departs from what we always have done.
If the idea comes to you, then it is probably something that you can do. It may seem foolish or unlike you, but your instincts believe that the idea is of great value for you. In other words, get out of your own way. Trust the ideas that come to you and follow through on as many as you can. Resist talking yourself out of doing something just because it is so different for you.
We focus too much on the end results of our actions and lose sight of the process. The process is what matters rather than the results. It is okay if you do not like the results of your adventure. The results are not what matter, it is the experience of stretching outside of your familiar ways that really matters. You learned something from the process of doing something new and different. As you get used to trying new experiences, you will want to keep adding more new experiences. The results will matter less, but the thrill of adding new experiences to your life will be more important to you.
What new adventures has your instincts been guiding to you go on? What are you telling yourself that keeps you from going on the adventure? Are you willing to try something new without any guarantees?
Copyright©2008 Jeannine Robinson All Rights Reserved