I’ve always thought there was something magical about fall.
The days are still bright but cooler and the leaves are starting to change. While some might think of fall as winding down to the end of summer, I think of it as a time full of new beginnings. The kids are (mostly) excited to get back to school, families embrace having a groove again, even if it’s a busy one, and there is a sense of possibility in the air.
This is the perfect time for you or your children to try something new that pulls you out of your comfort zone. What’s that one thing that’s been lurking in the background, that one thing you’ve wanted to try but keep putting off?
Here’s your chance to jump in, or rediscover a past love that once brought you hours of enjoyment; model building, cooking, crafting of some sort, you name it. We’re all makers at heart. Find something that brings back that feeling of discovering the best parts of yourself. Whether it’s a success or failure what matters is that new start you made, like that all important breeze on the hottest day of summer, long overdue and so welcome when it blows through and makes us forget how long the day feels.
These experiments we take on are important for our youngest fans. They’re taking notice and it shows them that stepping outside the norm is a good thing and teaches them not to be afraid to try something new because it just might be the beginning of an amazing journey. The young people in our lives see the spring in our step, the joy in conversations around stretching out and, honestly, this lesson is as important for them as it is for us.
Recently, while away on vacation, my youngest son started toying with the idea of trying water skiing. He had mastered a bunch of other water sports but not this one. For him, the decision to finally give it a try ended up being a huge success. He could hardly wait to talk about. His new-found confidence led him to try other activities and I ended up learning a thing or two from him. It’s nice to know that can work both ways.
I think we’ve all felt the desire to try something new, but the fear of imperfection is strong. Our insecurities so often hold us back but the wonderful thing about starting fresh is that as long as we go in with the attitude that this is a learning situation, no perfection required, we really can’t go wrong. We will take away exactly what we need from the experience to try the next thing on our bucket list.
All of these trial-by-errors remind us to play to our strengths and not be afraid to add new skills to the ones we have. Sometimes the biggest barrier is just getting going. The blank slate can feel like a bigger risk than it really is. Here are three questions you can ask yourself if you’re stumped on where to start:
1. What is the one thing that you’ve always wanted to try but felt too self-conscious or inexperienced to? Is there are a starter version or class for this?
2. Name something from your childhood or youth that inspired you or that you loved to do, but have fallen away from? What version of it could you start now?
3. What’s the book that you would write, the one you’d like to read? Go and take a class or join a writing group.
Congratulations, you’re about to do something fresh and fabulous!
