I like to be comfortable. I enjoy routine and find that doing some things the same way every day is a good thing. You are probably the same. How often do you vary your morning routine? Probably not unless you absolutely have to, right? If you hit your snooze one time too many, it might throw your whole day off.
So the idea of trying things in a different way or just trying whole new processes is likely not something that occurs to us much. But as I near the halfway point between 40 and 50, I find myself striving to look for some new things in my life while still maintaining that comfort level I value so much.
Sometimes you don’t have a choice but to try something new. My optician told me that this summer when he prescribed bifocals (or progressive lenses – not sure if that’s just meant to make me feel better about myself). Those of you who also are bespectacled with these know of what I speak. Switching to this style of glasses is still a work in progress. I was told to watch my step the first couple of weeks, and I’m happy to report I only had one stumbling occurrence.
But I still find myself tilting my head throughout the day, especially as I’m reading or watching TV, to try and find just the right angle to see things clearly. And the lack of peripheral vision still throws me off. Luckily, I can still wear my old pair of glasses when I umpire or officiate; goodness knows I don’t need to give coaches and fans any more reason to question my calls!
There are other things we can choose to try on our own though. I was looking up some studies on people who try to learn something new. The Vancouver Wellness Studio says that there are many benefits to learning new things. One of the big things is that it’s good for your brain. The plasticity in your brain allows for the formation of new neural pathways, and an active brain is a good thing, especially as you get older. We all know that working on word puzzles and other items like that is important to maintain the health of our brains, but trying new things is another good idea.
So I decided to try and learn a new instrument this summer – the ukulele! Many of Jayna’s friends play this stringed instrument, and I’ve been impressed by how good they sound. Michelle got me one for Father’s Day, and I’ve been really working hard at it. Despite only four strings, ukuleles are difficult to play! Michelle continues to encourage me (and laugh a little when I encounter an E chord, which I just can’t get down pat), and that helps.
Trying new things can be scary. What if you fail? What if I’m never any good at the ukulele? Will I have wasted all that time? And that’s another benefit to trying new things. We get stress from those situations, but it can be positive stress when you are supported and encouraged by others, as I have been by Michelle with my new instrument. I want to be able to play “Over the Rainbow” really well, and I’m determined to get to that point, even if I never play in front of a crowd.
Have you ever tried something new and been afraid of the result? If you’ve ever become a parent, you know exactly what I’m talking about; we are all petrified that we’ll not know what to do with our kids, but we somehow find a way to help the children grow and thrive. And that relief every time the kids accomplish something new is a good thing. They’re trying new things, but we as parents also benefit from that. It can be the same way with other things later in life – trying something new and realizing it’s not as bad as we thought can be an awesome experience.
And sometimes things don’t work out. And that’s okay. We can say we tried and gave something our best effort, but it just didn’t fly as well as we’d hoped. We do this with food sometimes. We ask our kids just to try something new. Many times they realize the food is not as bad as they imagined. Still, there are times the kids or we won’t enjoy the new taste experience. I still can’t get my kids to add sauerkraut to their diet!
With the Steele County Fair here, I always make it a point to try a food I’ve never tried before. This has led to some great experiences (poutine is outstanding!), some so-so efforts (I could see myself eating another donut burger, maybe), and some things that I can say I tried but will never sample again (viper jerky, anyone?). I haven’t seen the new foods listed yet, but I’ll find something and test it out.
And that’s part of the fun of trying something new – the anticipation. I get excited about something new every year at the fair, just like I couldn’t wait to open my ukulele in June and get working at it. Whether the new experience is a success or a failure, though, I know I’ll be a better person for trying it.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is bathophobia, which means a fear of falling from a height, as in, “As much as he wanted to try a new ride at the fair, his bathophobia kept him off the new roller coaster.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!