New Experience
There are four ways to handle a new experience:
- Run
- Stare
- Poke
- Embrace
These may sound familiar. Here’s how I’ve been thinking of them lately:
Run. Your first response is “Nope, not going to happen.” And you head in the other direction.You distract yourself, hide behind excuses, make yourself busy, or maybe even physically run away.
Stare. Sometimes, you just look at the possibilities…closely. You examine every angle, make up every hypothetical situation, and talk to everyone about it. But, you never actually do anything. You just stare.
Poke. You decide you’re going to go for it, but really…you barely begin. You poke it, taste it, do it just once, and then you blame something or someone for not completing it. You’re kinda satisfied for trying, but you’re left wondering if you really gave it your all.
Embrace. You research and prepare. You’re uncertain about the outcomes, but whatever happens, you’re sure you’ll learn something. You set a few tangible goals, and go for it. There are challenges. There are failures. But you decide they’re part of the experience…so you keep going. There’s an occasional success or victory. You gain momentum. Sometimes, you’ll end where you wanted. Other times things will go wildly different than expected. But, you’re ok with it. This is a story you’ll tell – something that challenged you and taught you. Something that pushed you to see yourself and your world differently.
It’s not likely you’ll Embrace every experience. Just be honest with yourself and where you truly want to land.
You know the options.
Go for it.
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