When I was 10 years old my sister and I went with my mom to visit one my mom’s childhood friends in Jackson, Mississippi. My mom’s friend had kids around our age and every afternoon we’d head to the local swimming pool. At first I didn’t want to go because I didn’t know how to swim. Being in the water was terrifying. I thought I might go under and drown.
It was the middle of August and let me tell you it was hot, really hot. It didn’t take long before I decided I had to get in the deeper water to cool off. My mom’s friend’s son showed me how to do it and it didn’t take long for me to catch on. By the end of the week I was looking forward to going to the pool. I learned to swim in one week!
This is in stark contrast to my swimming lessons from five years early. My mom bid on, and won, swimming lessons from the Channel 10 PBS auction. She thought it’d be good for me to learn how to swim. Only I wasn’t ready to learn. Every time I got in the pool I began screaming. Even though I had a board to help me stay afloat I resisted every chance I got. I was sitting in the bleachers by the end of every lesson. I only went to about three or four lessons before my mom stopped taking me, I think out of sheer embarrassment.
There are many reasons we resist learning something new; our own ignorance of the subject, prior history, other people’s opinions, a bad experience the first time we attempted it. Whatever the reason, we can overcome it.
If we want to learn something new we are fully capable of doing so. We just need to make up our minds and see the value in it. When I was five there was no value to me in learning how to swim. I didn’t care, and that was reflected in my attitude. When I was 10 there was a huge value to me – I didn’t want to fry in the sun!
What have you been putting off doing because you’d have to learn something new? Find value in learning it and then start. Find a mentor, attend classes, or watch tutorials on YouTube. Just start. It will be rewarding when you learn it, and you’ll be surprised how much more of the world is open to you.
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