Try New Things…
A recent article in USA Today written by Nanci Hellmich discussed ways that people could enrich their lives during their retirement years. She said the key is to: “…get out and try new things.” I think she’s right on the money, but we don’t have to wait until we retire to take advantage of this idea. Trying new things adds spice to life no matter what our age is. For example, during the last year, I started preparing and eating more vegetarian dishes. Because of this, I’ve tasted many new flavors that I didn’t even know existed. This experience has been a wonderful, exciting and fun adventure and there are still many flavors I haven’t tasted. The article pointed out how many pre-retirees feared being bored when they retired. My response to this is how can you be bored when there are so many new things to try? I’m not just talking about new foods, but new restaurants, new books, new activities, new stores, new friends and so forth. So follow Ms. Hellmich’s advice and get out there and try some new things. If you don’t want to do it alone, do it with a friend or a group of friends. You’ve got everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose.
I set a personal goal to get out of my comfort zone this year by learning new things, doing new things and doing things that are hard for me. The most exciting ones were zip-lining, swimming with dolphins and stingrays (pretty thrilling especially because I can’t swim!) But I’m also making phone calls that are hard and visiting new networking groups. I decided to keep a log and make a note of the learning after each event. There is a definite pattern in the note: it was not so hard after all; what was I afraid of? That inspires me to try more new and challenging things! It is invigorating!