We’re currently living in a world of caution, of isolation, of fear. Some of this, of course, is caused by the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic we are experiencing at some level, but that is an exacerbation of what was there already. When new opportunities present themselves, how do we react? If we feel comfortable with what has been suggested, we will generally say ‘yes’ to friends, co-workers, and family. And if the suggestion is unfamiliar to us? Then the questions begin, most having to do with how far out of our personal comfort zone is this going to take us. The thing with this, though, is to keep an open mind, and focus on what we might learn.
Saying yes to a new thing may mean we find ourselves in unfamiliar surroundings with people we don’t know. What we don’t realize in many situations like this, is that most of the people there are in the same boat, as novices. Our tension levels increase with the level of difference from what we know to where we are now. If we simply approach this with a ‘what am I going to learn now’ outlook, the magic of these situations begins to reveal itself, usually in the form of a helping hand. You might realize something familiar in the new activity, and are able to help out someone else better understand it. Conversely, you might be comforted by someone’s story that the first time they did this felt so awkward they felt they might never do it again, yet here they are, helping you.
Okay. We said ‘yes’ to something, and it worked out. Perhaps not perfectly, but we now feel more confident about doing it again, and perhaps improving our skill there. The ‘scared’ feeling is replaced by a growing confidence. Now we know more about this, we’re not complete neophytes, and we know people who might help us when we have questions or run into difficulties. All of a sudden, the ‘F’ word—failure—becomes less important as we learn to navigate our way through, feeling less scared, and more willing to take the risks we need to succeed.
Most of us are not experts at everything we try. Some of us, of course, have natural aptitudes at golf, computer science, music, and the like, and we tend to do very well early on in our efforts to learn about these things. Likely, though, when we show up at the driving range several times a week, take a lesson every so often, and get out on the golf course to learn how the actual game is played, we improve. We improve our physical skills, our understanding of what we are doing wrong, how to correct and improve our skills overall, and we begin to enjoy this no-longer-new game of golf. Looking back at the scared beginner, who was more concerned with looking and feeling foolish, we said ‘yes,’ and can now see how our journey progressed, and opened a new world we enjoy.
Saying yes to new things, situations, people offers us the chance to learn something new. With this new mindset, we begin to create new opportunities, projects, and adventures that contribute to our overall health, as we’re now in a position to help others, as well as better understand the world in which we live. Stepping out of our comfort zone—for ourselves and others—allows us to become more comfortable with our own vulnerability, which opens us to learn and experience life as it comes to us.