When is the last time you tried something new? A new food, maybe a new hobby, perhaps you got wild and parted your hair on the other side (gasp!).
And I don’t mean reading or pinning about something new (sheepishly raises hand), but actually doing something new.
why we should try new things/DO THINGS!
Getting up and DOING SOMETHING, a NEW THING! This has been one thing that has helped me shake out of funks and start exploring who I am and how I am made. Also, science says it is good for your brain (new synapses, new growth, etc. science).
In the monotony of motherhood and homemaking, I’ve looked for ways to bring some excitement into my life (who else is blaring Salt n Peppa while frying the ground beef for spaghetti? Let’s get crazy and throw in a dash of fennel to the pan).
In my experience, trying something new and fun is a stimulant.
(ALL THE TYPE SEVENS ARE DOING THE SLOW CLAP!)
Which our brains love, and when we can give it natural healthy ways to experience this, we are using our God-given lives to FEEL excited and vibrant in our every day lives.
Even if I’m not successful in my attempts (often) I can’t help but feel more vibrant and creative in the process.
If you stop and think about how you want to feel in your daily life, I bet there is a version of ‘vibrant and creative’ in that list.
We never change, grow, learn, if we don’t do something different.
If I didn’t try something new I wouldn’t have grown in my mothering.
I wouldn’t have salvaged my marriage.
I wouldn’t have made some awesome momfriends who are my family.
I wouldn’t have changed my career to be more in line with what I most love.
I wouldn’t be taking care of my health.
I wouldn’t have tried olives or feta or waffles!!!!
Trying new things helps us try on all the options and learn what we prefer and what we don’t. We get more in touch with our authentic selves – who we are, what we are about, how we operate, how we love and create.
If I didn’t try new things I would still be in a place where I think I ought to remain. Trying something new is me telling my brain to turn off the auto-pilot decisions. It is helping me bust out of the ruts I cycle through each day.
If I didn’t try new things I wouldn’t believe I could have a vision bigger than my limitations. Trying something new is telling my heart to open up to the unseen. When our heart is open to more than one thing, everything else becomes a possibility.
why we don’t try new things
But trying new things wasn’t always part of my life. I feel like I did it a lot in my youth, then sorta lost touch with it all. I have been spending the past 7ish years trying to reclaim this.
It is important to see where you are putting up hurdles in your life. From my own experience, I’ve held myself back from growth and learning in many ways.
Here are some of the many (many) ways……
keeping myself in a place of ‘stuck’
I’m a creature of slow habit (like a sloth with some lipstick on and holding an iPhone). I need a routine to get anything done in my life. But sometimes I cling too tightly to it and can become unadaptable (maybe even a martyr about it).
There were seasons where I wouldn’t allow a change in routine. I was deep in the ruts of routine because I thought they were the only things that made me capable of handling the day instead of a support structure for my day.
[WANT SOME ENCOURAGEMENT IN MAKING CHANGES? SIGN UP FOR THE FREE MAKING CHANGE CHALLENGE]
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fear of being embarrassed
I didn’t want to look foolish.
The first time I put on running shoes to train for a 5km (spoiler: we all got the stomach flu and never did it) I felt like a fraud and hated running around town where my peers could see me.
There are a lot of things I never did because I was too embarrassed to put myself out there.
The beauty of entering my *cough* later 30s is you kinda stop caring – whatever people think about my geriatric runners and high ankle socks is on them, I’m gonna get my body out for a jog thank you! (IT’S NOT CRIM TO BE TRIM KIM!!!)
letting insecurity keep me from starting
So many times I’ve been uncomfortable with putting myself out where people might SEE ME. I used to even avoid wearing nail polish so as not to draw attention to myself.
When Raj first approached me about doing the moms30for30 I dreaded the month of awkward selfies and my clothing choices shared with the web. As I rolled with the process of being uncomfortable with letting myself just be seen, I allowed myself the opportunity to learn so much about myself and my relationship to clothes.
challenging the identity I have of myself
Sometimes it was a matter of how I identified with things. I’m not athletic, I’m not really into laser tag, I hate tomatoes, I’m not crafty.
The way we view ourselves underlies how we show up every single day.
These identities can be an instant reaction – when an invite is extended we might not even entertain it because we let these phrases of manufactured identity dictate our decisions.
feeling like life was already too full
Sometimes we just have no room to bring in something new.
This can usually be because we won’t let go of the things we have filled our lives with. I had to really examine where I was spending my time/energy/money and ask what is serving me? or what is just a distraction? I needed to make space by clearing out the activities that are just clutter.
feeling exhausted with this season of life
In some cases, it just felt overwhelming to think about the energy I would need to add in something new to my life.
Life with babies and toddlers was daunting and restless for me. It is messy and hard to add in new things and set routines at the same time. I don’t know what the right balance is, but I do think it is worth the effort to try new things in little ways. (Like wearing lipstick with your maternity sweats)
letting pride call the shots
Here is a biggie for me, and maybe for you too – I’ve told myself ‘SOMEONE ELSE IS DOING THAT, BETTER’.
If I heard my kids say this I would launch such a mom-ologue they would eventually cave to get me to stop.
The notion that our efforts won’t be the most instaworthy or pinnable can tell you that your heart needs to remember who it belongs to. Our heart does not belong to social media and its approval. We need to invest in things just for ourselves, things that will remain unseen by others, but things that make us feel excited and creative.
thinking I needed the confidence to start
I’ve often hesitated because I didn’t feel ‘ready’ or ‘good enough’. Instead, I thought “I should learn more, read more, talk about it more” . . .
I’ve learned that I will never feel ready, I will never feel confident. Confidence comes after the work. What a relief. I don’t have to actually feel confident to DO THE THING.
I checked out of life
I’ve chatted with girlfriends about this and sometimes hear that they aren’t sure what to even do when it comes to thinking of where to even start. It is like, ‘I have the pen and the paper to make this list of things I want to do – now what?’. They have been so out of touch with their own brainstorms and ideas that they don’t even know where to start.
Sometimes we just kinda check out of our lives that it can take some time to get back in touch with ourselves.
(The Live Your Vision worksheets or Life on Purpose workbook might be helpful here)
how to start being a mom who tries new things
Trying new things is uncomfortable and weird because growing and learning and exploring are uncomfortable and weird.
So I say, rock it like a 35-year-old with a fanny pack, sweats and lipstick at the spray park (yes, the 30s are where it is at. Also yes, my bestie has given me the best fanny pack so I will be doing exactly THIS!)
A good start is to sit with yourself and write some stuff down.
Make a couple of lists:
- what did you love to do as a child?
- what do you think would be cool to try?
- what do you have supplies/ingredients/equipment for in your house right now?
- what do you keep pining/reading/talking about but never DO?
You know how much I love lists because they make us draw out more from ourselves.
We can list a couple of things, but try to list 10 things to really find out what is buried under the dust in your heart. I’m betting you already have some answers inside the backs of your brain (and your Pinterest collection).
► Then write it on your calendar to give yourself and deadline to avoid taking the time to entertain hesitations.
When you get over yourself and do stuff for the simple act of doing and growing and learning then you will see that it is allllll about the process and the end result is not some Pinnable image, but confidence, understanding, passion and fun.
REMEMBER
to give yourself a lot of grace (especially if you have small kids)
to make space for it (don’t try new things for the sake of being busy, make space in your life for it so you don’t get burnt out)
and to do it just for you (be present for the process and worry less about the results)
some new things to try this week
So embrace weird and uncomfortable and TRY SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY THIS WEEK! They can be tiny little things, or big bold things, anything is something.
Here are some ideas:
- Take a different route to work
- Wear something you hide in the back of your closet
- Wear something fancy around the house
- Do something sweet and unpredictable for someone you love (make your spouse lunch, take your friend flowers)
- Eat something different for breakfast
- Draw a doodle
- Brush your teeth with your opposite hand
- Build something out of lego with your kids
- Go on a walk and take photographs
- Try going to bed without your phone
- Make a picnic
- Ask someone new over for coffee
- Dig into your craft stash and make something for your kids
- Make everyone eat dinner with a random item from the cutlery drawer
