What Stifles Us

I haven't posted for several days; this is due to my husband finally being home and finishing up a bear of a class. Nevertheless, this has been on my mind for quite a while so I'm excited to share it with you and maybe even get your opinions too!!

I got a phone call from a dear friend the other day, it was one of those calls that really makes you step back and think about things. He said he'd been reading my blog (oh my goodness can't tell you how excited that part made me!) and he had a life question for me.

He said that he's got a friend who's got the potential to be a fantastic bullrider and has everything he needs sitting in front of him, but he doesn't know if he'll do it or not. At this point he asked me,

What is it that make us turn away from things we know we could be great at?

I'd like to tell you that immediately following his question I replied with a great wealth of knowledge that forever changed his life and his friends but…I probably didn't.

It got me thinking though, how often do we shy away from a new adventure because we doubt ourselves? Is it in fact easier to just not try than to potentially fail? I once heard that the fear of striking out shouldn't keep you from the game, but I fear that there have been many instances in my own personal life where I have chosen to "sit the bench" so to speak as opposed to possibly failing. I would have to say that the most recent occurrence of this has been with blogging. It may sound silly but I was seriously mortified to post a blog, to have my thoughts and ideas out there that someone might judge, someone might hate. Because of this I erased several starts to what could've been an interesting blog, for fear that you may not like me. So then I asked myself why it is that it would matter anyway? Your opinion of me will not be the end of me, but it means that I would have to make a choice. To be open to the idea of failing, of not being perfect or to just wonder. I did the same with parenting the first time around, I super interested in cloth diapering and all natural childbirth, but when I mentioned it people laughed or made comments. In this instance I chose to give in, that maybe it wasn't that big of a deal anyway and it wasn't worth having people think I was "weird". Sad? Yes, I know!

I tried to think back to a time where I believed I could do anything; I honestly don't think it was since I was a child. You know when it changes every week what you're going to be when you grow up? What changes? Is it something we do as parents, or is it our society? I think it's an honorable thing to be humble, but imagine the opportunities we would all strive for if we truly believed we could do anything
we set our mind to! And so I decided that I'm going to take on new adventures, with the idea that I could totally fall flat on my face, and that would be ok. Because no matter what the outcome, I will have grown, and taking new adventures could lead me to an amazing experience I otherwise would've missed. So my question is, what is it that makes you doubt yourself? And how do you overcome it?

Oh and my first adventure, doing all the things I didn't do with my first baby, making baby food, using cloth diapers, and heck letting my baby sleep in bed with us if that's what I want to do J

Thanks for listening!

Brenna