Don’t Set Limits, Just Try Things

You never know if you will like things until you try them.

You never know if you will be good at things until you try them.

You never know anything until you try things.

You can read about other people’s experiences. You can check out stories and pictures and even video showing you what something is like, but you will NEVER understand it until you do it.

I’m learning this truth right now. In the last few months I’ve written about a lot of firsts for me.  Like the first time bungy jumping, luging, eating and becoming obsessed with pumkin & kumara hummus, going to New Zealand and more.

And yesterday was another one: golf. Well, sort of. We went to the driving range so Kepa could hit some golf balls for practice. I was just planning on watching, but ended up taking a go at a few balls. I sucked. (Seriously.) It took me about eight swings just to hit the ball; I kept missing it every time I swung the club because I had no idea what I was doing.

After getting a few pointers and watching other people swing the club, I finally got the hang of it. I started hitting balls farther and more consistently. I’m not going to be a pro golfer any time soon, but I can say that for my first time, I wasn’t bad. Surprisingly, I did a pretty good job.  And I enjoyed it… even though I never thought that would happen.  I never would have known that if I hadn’t tried. I’ve watched people play golf on television and seen them on golf courses, but I never thought I could be good or at the very least enjoy it.

Until you try things for the first time, you don’t know if you like them or will be good at them. They are just an unknown. And unknown that for some reason we’ve set aside as something we don’t do or “can’t” do, despite the fact that it may be something we come to enjoy.

I’m learning that a lot of the restrictions and things I don’t do are self imposed limitations. I don’t do this or that because it’s something that somewhere along the line I told myself I wouldn’t like it – without even trying it first. I’m sure a lot of you are the same way. You “could never do that” or “wouldn’t like that” without even trying it first. I know that’s what I’ve done for most of my life.

I set off activities that I wouldn’t enjoy because I thought I couldn’t do them. I set aside foods I wouldn’t like, just because I thought I wouldn’t. Years ago I decided I hated most vegetables and fruits because… well, just because. Not once had any of them passed my lips, thanks to a steady junk food diet, but I deemed them something I would not like and something not worth trying. I wasn’t wise enough then to realize I should never condemn a food until I’ve at least tried it, and the mental block of those self imposed limits still hinders my eating today with foods I can’t try. But I’ve managed to get over the rest of those limits and try vegetables – many of which I now love.

I’m not very wise now, but I know not to limit myself any more. I’ve got enough limitations on what I can and can’t do without creating new ones on my own. Instead of shunning something I haven’t had or done before – like I would have in the past – instead I know say, “I haven’t tried that yet.” And then if the opportunity presents itself – I try it. Whether it’s a good or bad experience I can then decide with certainty, instead of creating made up limitations for myself.

So what can you take away from this? Don’t be as silly as I was. Don’t limit yourself without trying things first. Don’t say you hate foods or activities or places if you’ve never eaten, tried, or been there before. Don’t set more limitations on yourself than you have to, because there are already enough limits in life. Don’t set any more – just try new things and see how it goes.

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Tagged as: firsts, life, limitations, Thoughts