What could you try for the first time?

I remember the first time I went snorkeling. The challenge was huge as I have a fear of suffocation and drowning due to my life long struggle with asthma. It was almost a disaster I enjoyed it in the end. And I remember the first time we went on our road trip, we had never packed for on-the-go travelling. On the second night Derek decided that we needed to unpack the whole van onto the ground round about us. I was mortified because it was like confessing to everyone else in the campsite that we didn’t know what we were doing. And? Well we didn’t; but it signaled to others that we needed their support. What I learnt was: That admitting my failure to pack well wasn’t shameful it was just a learning curve. I learnt a valuable lesson through it.

Moving to Scotland is a fresh start, like a new chapter in my life (our lives). There are so many opportunities for new things to be done, to learn and try out. Here are three things on my long list to try…

• In the summer I would like to try canoeing with Derek along the river Tweed that runs past the bottom of our garden. That’s quite doable as Derek knows how to canoe. It would be a nice thing to do together.
• I would like to try basket weaving and natural fiber twine with vegetation that I forage from the surrounding area. We will have to see how deft my hands are and if my hands will be up to the jobs as I tend to have delicate muscles in my hands.
• One day I would like to try running an Air B&B. I think this could be part of our future plans especially when Derek retires. We could alter his work-from-home office into a guest room. Walkerburn is situated in a cycling and hiking belt and it would be so nice to offer an opportunity to people to experience it. Apart from bringing in an income it would be a great way to meet new people and share our home and gift of hospitality.

Life is full of surprises, with new situations coming along and I think we should never stop learning and being curious. I want to seize the opportunities and challenges even if my first or second attempt end up being mediocre or less than I expected. It just means that I have not come to the end of my journey of leaning. There are greater things to come. There are successes waiting along the way. Failure can be my teacher, teaching me what to do next time, what to aim for, how to tweak my actions and adjust my course for future success.

I am learning to befriend failure and listen to what she needs. It is not easy because I have been inherently taught that you don’t associate with failure, you shun her for she is to be scorned. Of course we all want to shoot for Gold, and we should have an eye on excellence, our ultimate goal, but baby steps gets us to that point, practicing all the way. I mainly talk to myself here, as I am sure most of you think this to be terribly obvious. I know it intellectually but I need to embrace it deep into the fiber of my being for it to truly sink in and for me to know it experientially.

How about you? Do you still try new things? Do you run from failure? What does that look like?

Take care,

Morag.