On Building a Life: What Are You Waiting For?
This is Part Three of a Series:
Exploring the World Outside Your Door Through DIY Adventures
Click here for part 1, and here for part 2.
So, what are you waiting for?
It’s so much easier to wait, isn’t it? And wait.
And then wait a little longer.
Time’s not right.
Money’s not right.
Weather’s not right.
Feelin’s not right.
Yeah.
Here’s a (Hold Ya Back) Fact:
There will ALWAYS be a good reason to stay home. To skip an experience. To stay safely inside a comfortable – safe, predictable (stagnant?) – Life.
Except that gnawing feeling that there has to be More, won’t go away.
TAKING ACTION
So here’s were it gets tricky. Somehow, you have to get your Self off on the phone, off the computer, off the couch…
Out the door.
The happy news is that you can do this on your own in a SO many ways, and some of them are actually pretty easy!
Start with structured events like classes, planned (lead by others) trips, and festivals. They happen on a schedule, which is sometimes just the nudge you’ll need to get there. (After all – if you’ve paid for it you’re gonna go get it.)
Many of the crazy-busy, professional work-a-holic :) women who’ve come on my Secret Adventures tell me they WOULD do the kinds of things we do, they just DON’T. Committing to a date and time set by someone else pushes them to follow through.
Or, you could make a commitment to yourself to sample one small new experience on some kind of regular basis. You could do something weekly, monthly or quarterly. Think of this like a wine tasting party with your whole community. Instead of buying a “whole bottle” of something you’ve never tried, just take note of a few things around you and go sample them.
In fact, you could plan out a whole year of 12 DIY Adventures, then line up 4 friends, asking each of them to do 3 of those things with you. You could divide them by season – 3 spring adventures, 3 summer adventures, and so on. (To make it a little more interesting, take turns choosing the fun for the day! Wouldn’t that be a new idea for your girlfriends!)
Or dig a little deeper into one new interest for the year. You could grab a friend and sign up for guitar lessons, attend a whole series of outdoor concerts, work on learning a new sport.
Some friends and I once decided to try one new restaurant every month for a year. We took turns choosing the restaurant, and made some memories of our own along the way. Some of those choices were delicious discoveries, some disastrous (and funny)!
Your options are limited only by your imagination, so set a goal, and do it.
4 REASONS WHY this is WORTH the EFFORT
What’s the point of all of this? What’s wrong with staying at home and watching a little TV? Why bother making the effort to get out into the world and see what’s there?
1. Because exploring interests and trying new activities makes life more interesting FOR you, and makes you more interesting TO others.
2. Because developing new skills keeps your brain sharp and engaged.
3. Because discovering things you love to do leads to new friends who love the same things, so your circle of support expands.
4. And because every time you step out the door and try something that’s a little “out there” for you, or just a little different – you get stronger. It doesn’t matter a bit whether you love it or don’t, whether it goes great or bombs completely. :) Either way, you’ll have a story to tell.
The point is that you try.
And without even realizing it, you’ll suddenly realize one day that your Courage has turned to Confidence.
Courageous (and creative) Woman Raeus Cannon never goes ANYwhere without her knitting at her side.
Courageous (and daring) Woman Renee Hunter takes her kayak out every chance she gets.
Courageous (and tireless) Woman Carolyn Potter moonlights as a firefighter of all things, and loves it.
Each of them found something they absolutely love when they tried something they’d never done before.
And you’re no different than they are. :)
Just recently, I took my dad to a tiny little museum I’ve discovered during a Secret Adventure last fall. It’s in Tellico Plains, a little crossroads at the base of the mountains not far from my home, and it’s full of all kinds of interesting things. It was just a part of my Father’s Day gift for him this year, a new discovery, an experience that I knew he’d love. (And he did.)
What about you, dear Courageous Woman that you are?
What have you always wanted to try?
How can I help you make that a reality?
And what are you waiting for??
*****
Have you HEARD where we’re going in September?
It’s our first BIG Courageous Women’s ROAD TRIP.
Registrations are coming in, new flip flops are being bought.
I have FOUR spots left…
And I’d love to travel with YOU.
Click HERE to learn more.
*****
Photo Credits: by Mark Strozier on Flickr