Expose Yourself

There is so much to experience in this world that one can’t possibly imagine they could see it all in one lifetime. Too many people spend their entire lives living in the place they grew up, never exposing themselves to different places and peoples, never truly taking in the awesome multitudes of possibility that await them around the globe. Whether it be through travel, reading, talking with someone that you disagree with, trying new foods, or countless other ways, I want you to dedicate your effort to exposing yourself to something new every chance you have. Don’t settle for a life of mindless repetition. Break boundaries, push yourself, and try to see as much of what this world has to offer as you can.

“Try it once, if you don’t like it, you can stop, but you’ll never know if you don’t try it at least once.” That is the line my mother would use whenever me or my sister were being stubborn about something new. It could be a new food, a sport we never played or any other thing that we were hesitant about trying. I can’t imagine the amount of things I would have never tried had I not been raised with this mentality. The foods I never would have tasted. The activities I would have shied away from. My life would be incredibly less fulfilled without having taken the effort to go outside my comfort zone and try something new.

I will admit, it is easy to become a creature of habit. I almost always order the same thing from my favorite restaurants for fear I might not like my order. I might read ten books in the same genre before I have to break myself away and start venturing into something new. I am guilty of binge watching Netflix on the couch with my girlfriend far too often, and for far too long. When you form habits, you become comfortable, and you lose the desire to break out of that comfort zone. Every time you look at that different menu item, each time you ponder a new activity, the negative “what-ifs” come along. What if I don’t like it? What if I waste my money on something I don’t enjoy? What if I win the lottery of the unlucky and my parachute doesn’t open and I come crashing to the ground at 100 miles per hour and splatter on the ground like a bag of meat? What-ifs are endless, and there is always some negative scenario you can come up with to justify not trying something new. Don’t let the what-ifs control you, don’t let them stop you from experiencing life.

When you are making a decision about what to do, you are directly in the moment. The second you start entertaining what-ifs, you have transported yourself to an imaginary place called the future. Nothing in this place is real, and too easily this place is bound by negative thought. Not only are you wasting your time by pondering all the horrible things that can happen to you, but you are further pushing yourself away from creating an amazing life by limiting your actions in the present. This is truly a level of insanity that we allow to happen too much. It doesn’t seem crazy until you look at it objectively…how sane would it sound if I told you “No, I can’t come camping with you guys, in my imaginary world I was attacked by a pack of wolves and mauled to death, so I can’t take that chance.” Would you nod and say, oh yea that’s reasonable. No, you wouldn’t, you would laugh in my face and tell me “Seriously? You want to give up all of the possible fun we could have because of a negative consequence you just made up in your head?”

Our lives should not be defined by what ifs, especially negative ones. We can’t know what our future present will hold, we can only be in the moment (be here now) and do what feels right. I admit, sometimes trying something new does not feel right, but as long as there is nothing evil, immoral, stupid, unkind or exceedingly dangerous about the decision, break that comfort zone and try something new, at least once. You can always find out that this new activity or experience is not for you, and then you can always choose against it the next time it is presented. There is always the possibility that this might end up being the best time of your life, the start of something new and amazing, or the path that will lead you to a fulfilling life. You won’t know unless you try, so take that chance.

Expose yourself to the new. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

You have one chance at this life, break free and truly live it.