“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”
~Unknown

How often do you try completely new things?  When is the last time you abandoned all reason and took an ambitious leap into an activity you’d never tried before?  If you’re like me, it may have been a while.

I tend to talk myself out of trying  new things.  I dismiss them as something outside of my skill set.  I tell myself I don’t have the talent before I’ve ever even attempted it.  I’m afraid of failure.

I make excuses for never giving the effort.  I am self defeated.  I have put limits on myself that only exist in my own mind.

“I can’t do that, I’m not good at math- I’m not artistic- I don’t have the patience.”

I’d bet you do this too.

We both need to stop it.

The cliched truth is that neither of us will know if we’re good at something until we try it.  More than that, we won’t know if we enjoy it.  Small children LOVE to finger paint, but, be honest, mostly they just make a mess.  Finger paints don’t have much artistic value, but that doesn’t stop kids from loving it.  And the truth is, no matter how much we wish it wasn’t the case, most talents take time to develop.  Maybe Michelangelo started off by finger painting and after a life time pursuing his love of art he developed epic talent.

Most of the time when you start a new activity, you’re going to suck.  Forget about being good at something and decide if you like it.

Just try new things and stop talking yourself out of it.  Ignore your preconceived limitations.  Who cares if you’re no good?  Plan to fail.

“I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.”

~ George Burns

(Photo by abbybatchelder)

Gather ’round, it’s story time!   Sometimes, its hard to remember that things happen for a reason.  There is a plan, and the things we go through prepare us for the things ahead.  I read this story about a year ago and I like to re-read it when I’m feeling overwhelmed by life.  Hopefully it brings you some comfort as well.

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly, that he brought home.

One day a small opening appeared he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours. It struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but, it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly, he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and the body would contract. Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly.

The man acted with well-intentioned kindness but he didn’t understand the consequences. The restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening, were nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.  If God allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been.

(Photo by: by kevincole)

and once again the above story…..  not written by me.   Written by someone Unknown.  That guy writes the best stuff.