“Be brave enough to be bad at something new.” Jon Acuff
Two things that stop most of us: not knowing how and never having done it before. When you watch young children, they don’t approach anything this way. In fact, everything is new, and fascinating and exciting. They approach everything with wonder, curiosity and an exploratory attitude. They have fun while discovering what they didn’t know. They do things again and again when they enjoy things and pursue those things that seem rewarding in some way. They giggle, belly laugh and express incredible joy when things go well and when they go wrong. They are explorers, discovering themselves while discovering what they didn’t know.
When did you stop? When did you stop learning, laughing at getting it right and wrong, finding joy in something new? Was it when people made fun of you? Were you ridiculed, did you get bad grades, have someone punish or mock you? What stopped you from finding the excitement, joy and passion in learning?
Begin again. The joy lies in the opportunities, the new things, the unknown, the unfamiliar.
Surrender your expertise, your adulthood, your ego to be a beginner and watch your world and your perspective expand. Do that thing, that thing you gave up on or surrendered long ago for the wrong reasons. Or start something you’ve always wondered about and desire to know.
Be glad you did instead of wishing you had.