Try Something New

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things.  The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions:  could have, might have, 

and should have."

-Louis E. Boone

The unknown is a scary place.  We fear the unknown because it brings the possibility of failure but how often do we reminisce about a situation and what the outcome could have been had we tried something new?  My mom always said that people don't mind trying new things as long as they're exactly like the old ones.  Trying new things is important and intricate in the human experience.  It's garners growth, creativity, and keeps you from becoming bored.  That rut that a lot of us go through is a rut that we've created by staying in our normal mundane routine.  Trying new things is our key to getting out of that rut.  So where should you start?  Well I compiled a list of 5 small things you can do that will allow you to venture into the unknown so read up and go forth young grasshoppers.  

1.  Start small.  Do something that makes you nervous, like going to the movies by yourself or going to dinner alone. 

2.  Take a class to learn a new skill. Karate maybe or even ballet just sign up for it.  Your goal isn't to become an expert you're just trying something new.

3. Hang out with new people.  You know that coworker that you always decline when she invites you out, well next time don't decline. 

4.  Compliment a stranger.  It's a great way to start a conversation and everyone likes to be complimented. 

5.  Volunteer somewhere.  First of all you're helping others and you'll get the added advantage of meeting new people.  

Trying new things may not always lead to something monumental but it's better than nothing.   So get up, get out, and just try something new.  

Until next time...XOXO

Book Review: Tuesdays With Morrie

tuesdays with Morrie

"The last class of my old professor's life took place once a week in his house, by a window in the study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves.  The class met on Tuesdays."

Mitch Albom sums it up well with the first sentence of the book.  Tuesdays with Morrie is a class, it's the most important class that any person can take.  For the last few months of Morrie Schwartz's life he received a visit every Tuesday from his faithful student Mitch Albom.  Each week they would cover a particular subject ranging from family to forgiveness and each week Morrie would provide Mitch with a little more knowledge than he had before.  They treated this time together in this 'class' as Mitch's final thesis.  It would be his final because Morrie was dying.  Morrie had ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) an incurable and  brutal disease.  Mitch had lost touch with his beloved professor but after seeing him on Nightline he began to visit him as he had promised.  This book is a a powerful account of courage and wisdom.  It's a loving and moving look at a man who as he is staring inevitable death in the eye somehow remains grateful and content with the situation.  This book is full of inspiration and I can't go too far into details because I want others to experience it for themselves.    Any summation that I type could not fully incorporate what this book does, what is teaches, or how it makes you feel.  Please if you haven't read it I urge you to go out and get a copy.  It is a classic, I just had to revisit this book. It is an oldie but a goodie as my mom used to say.