The unknown is a scary place. We build it up in our imagination, telling ourselves that we’ll fail, we’ll look stupid, or we won’t know what to do. Basically, the unknown is a giant bogeyman upon which our inner critic can project our fears.
Doing something new, or even the thought of it, often paralyzes those faced with action. Many people are stuck in unhappy lives because they choose the known over the unknown…
No one likes to feel like the newbie. It’s uncomfortable being in new surroundings. Life is much easier when no thought is involved, and coasting is the way to go. It’s easier, but not usually rewarding. To grow personally, the unknown must be faced, and become the known. Only by plunging in, dealing with the discomfort and learning something new can we keep progressing on the path to contentment in life and work.
Pride often keeps us stuck. We’d rather have all the answers than have to ask questions. Being stuck is clutching onto your little ball of knowledge and refusing to reach beyond it intellectually. To grow, we have to continuously be beginners. New skills and knowledge must be gained. Instead of being a horrible ordeal each time, it gets easier. Each time we are a beginner we learn, and add to our knowledge base. We grow, and become expert, we begin again and we learn again.
Eat some different fruit!
Our knowledge and skills become an even bigger ball as we add to it. We realize that there is no shame in being a beginner… In wanting to learn.
Confidence builds with each skill, and we can see change and the unknown as positive forces in our life. Learning and growing, expanding our “youhood”, is fun!
Doug and I feel sorry for all the people we meet who are entrenched in rigid belief systems and protocols. “Pull yourself out of your hole, open your eyes and climb a different tree. Eat some new fruit!”… Is what we want to say to them.
We’re not so direct about it though. We try to guide and advise, and let others want to grow… let it be their idea. This blog is another way we hope to get people eating new fruit…
That’s where Doug and I are now. We’ve cashed in our old life and circumstances and jumped tail first into our dreams.
Growth comes from confronting the unknown and dealing with discomfort. We have to be beginners continuously. As we gain skills and knowledge, we will be both a beginner and an expert at the same time. In time, the labels will fall away and we’ll just be us. We’ll be question asking, answer sharing growth spurting monkeys who aren’t afraid of change and the unknown.
Doesn’t that sound better than keeping on keeping on, with no change in sight?
Remember when you did something new and uncomfortable? What happened?
Doug Does Life 
HELLO DOUG, I CAME BY TO THANK YOU FOR THE LIKE COMMENT. AS WELL AS READ SOME OF YOUR THOUGHTS..i SHOULD ADD IT IS VERY COOL TO MEET YOUR LITTLE FRIEND. AN UNEXPECTED PLEASURE.IT IS REFRESHING TO SHARE COMMON GROUND IN OUR PHILOSOPHY..I AM ENCOURAGED TO SEE I AM NOT ALONE HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN SOME TIME. NICK
Hey Nick- Thanks for stopping by. Doug thinks he’s a monkey from the 60s as well, even though he’s only five years old…
I enjoy hearing from others who are putting their thoughts out here.
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