Do one thing every day that scares you.
Have you heard this saying? (Interestingly, although it’s often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, the true author is Mary Schmich.) That’s a bit of a stretch for most people, myself definitely included. But regularly doing things out of my comfort zone? That I can handle. If I remember. Ruts are easy; adventures take work.
My most recent adventure: a dramatic haircut. I had my hair all sorts of lengths when I was younger, but it’s been in long layers, between chin length and shoulder length, for many years. But I’ve been thinking for a while about long pixie cuts, and short bobs (and doing enough research to know what to call the haircuts I’m interested in!). I just haven’t dared to do it.
This weekend I finally took the plunge.
Now I have a very short straight-across bob with bangs — think 1920s flapper hair. It’s cute as all get-out, and very different. I like it. But even more, I’m excited to play with different cuts now that I’ve realized that going short isn’t so scary after all.
Other scary and/or new things I’ve done so far this year:
- Wrote a back-of-the book description with Kit for City of Hope and Ruin (it took a lot of drafts, let me tell you)…not to mention going through all the stages of getting this novel ready for publication
- Gradually slid into helping to run the social dance series I’ve been attending for years — I’m currently running the emails, co-running our Facebook page, and working on two subcommittees
- Learned how to use a slow cooker
- Took an impromptu trip to NYC with my husband and brother
- Went to the biggest dance weekend ever (The Flurry) AND met two longtime Internet friends at the same time
And there’s more, but I think I’ll stop there because you get the idea.
I had to stop myself and delete some explanations of how some of the things on the list are not really that big or scary, but…hey, they were new and intimidating and I rocked them. In this age of daring YouTube videos and extreme selfies, it can be easy to forget that small things take courage too. Doesn’t matter if it was objectively hard. If it was hard for you, it’s worth celebrating and being proud of.
Here’s to adventures.
Your turn! What adventures, big or small, have you been on recently? What are you proud of?