Trying new things
How many of you regret not trying something?
If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. –Jim Rohn
I was growing up a shy, timid child. I lived in an apartment building and the neighbors often wondered if my mom had children as they could never hear a peep out of me. So it was surprising for her to see when I suddenly went up on stage in the middle of a hypnosis session. The hypnotists said if you can’t unclench your hands, go on stage and they will help you with that. I pretended to not be able to do it, so that I get to experience what it is like to be on stage; and there I went together with other adults. At that time curiosity was driving me and not the stage freight. I haven’t wondered what might be, I had an impulse and I went for it.
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. – Walt Disney
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Next time I got to experience the stage was during a public speaking class in college. Public speaking was a dreaded subject for me as I left it for the last one to take. To my surprise and astonishment, I enjoyed it better than I had hoped. Over the course of the semester and presenting on various topics it had occurred to me that I like to speak in public. One of the projects was a presentation speech, I imagined to have my own cooking show. I showed everyone how to make a Russian staple salad, named ‘Olivier’. So setting your mind and visualizing for what to come will ease the experience and settle butterflies in your stomach. Yes I was still nervous on the inside but on the outside I was running my own show.
I am always doing things I can’t do — that’s how I get to do them.
- Pablo Picasso
Everyone has a ‘risk muscle.’ You keep it in shape by trying new things. If you don’t, it atrophies. Make a point of using it at least once a day.
-Roger Von Oech quotes
At the end of the semester our instructor told us that there is this group called Toastmasters where people come and speak. Along the way I took several public speaking classes at Dale Carnegie, but all of them were a day long affair.
It took nearly 15 years for me to join Toastmasters club. I wanted to learn how to hone my public speaking, how to take control of the stage and carry my voice across the audience. But most importantly I was there to connect with others, to share my experiences and to learn from theirs. I decided that any opportunity to speak is a conversation, we are not up at the podium to have a monologue, we are there to inspire, share and present ideas.
As we get older, life happens, we have commitments at work and at home, kids to take care of, practices to go to, projects to complete. Don’t let life get in the way of trying new things.
What I learned from my experiences that it is never too early or too late to try new things.
You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.
-Nate Berkus
Keep these concepts in mind: You’ve failed many times, although you don’t remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim. . . . Don’t worry about failure. My suggestion to each of you: Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.
-Sherman Finesilver