It took me many years to understand the
power of doing something completely different once in a while. I am a creature of
habit, of patterns, of schedules. I can also be unpredictable of course but
then those are moods and moments. What I am talking about here is the conscious
choice to step off your beaten path for a while and simply try something you
haven’t tried before.
I did that recently and I found myself
enjoying the experience tremendously. I wondered why I did not do it more
often. What holds us back from trying the new and different? In my case its
probably my traditional upbringing and a conditioning that made me believe that
I was only allowed to do certain things.
Of course no one actually put it down in black and white but when you grow up
hearing ‘no’ more than ‘go for it’ you tend to learn to toe a line in the sand
that never seems to shift.
As I grow older, I find myself not wanting
to toe any line at all. I have tried and sometimes failed at too many things in
the past year. I have surprised myself by succeeding as well. I have enjoyed
pitting myself against challenges that were more than merely hard. What I liked
about these challenges is that I learnt something that I could then take back
to my everyday existence and make it better. I also learnt to not fear making
too many mistakes. I wish I had the courage to make mistakes when I was young.
It is what I teach my children – that making mistakes is alright, in fact its
so much better than always being labelled ‘good’ or ‘perfect’. Such a label
keeps you from doing anything out of the box. And you end up not growing just
because you so badly do not want to disappoint anyone.
One thing I would do differently had I time
on my side was to simply go out and do things. It didn’t matter if I sucked or
if people laughed at me or I broke down. It would still be better than looking
from behind glass walls afraid to make a move for fear of shattering the
fragile boundaries you have set yourself.
The good thing of course is that you can
change at any point of your life. It is never too late to make up your mind and
follow not just one passion but any passion that you wish to pursue. Living
your life to the fullest is perhaps the only way you can actually show gratitude
for the wonderful gift that you have been given.
So, go on – do whatever you have always
feared to attempt. Teach your children to have the spirit to try and to never
care about failure. Above all, never let yourself be hemmed in by lines woven
about you by the dictates of others. It is, after all, your life to live.
