{photo credit: instagram_peterchanur}

I only discovered meditation about five years ago, and I only really started learning how to tune into, and turn on, my own intuition in the past two years. For me it’s been a pretty profound journey… discovering more about the world, and also myself… what’s working, what’s not working, and making more space in my life for the things I really want to come in… Recently I was telling a very close friend of mine about some new classes starting at my school, thinking they might be interested… and they joked that beginner things aren’t for them. They were just joking around but it got me thinking …

How often do we avoid change because we are afraid we will try something new and we won’t be good at it?

How often do we not try something new because we are afraid we will look dumb or make a fool of ourselves?

How often do we not try something new because we’ve already somehow experienced everything in our imagination decided that we wouldn’t like it, so why waste the time?

How often to we start something new, and expect to be amazing at it right away? Then, when that doesn’t happen – because we are just beginners – we quit?

How often do we start something new, or even just start thinking about, or wanting something new, and then suddenly become filled with doubt. Things are fine the way they are, we feel safe, it’s familiar, we might not be super happy but we aren’t unhappy, is this all a big mistake? Will it even work out?

Some fear and hesitation is good, and healthy, but often times if what we are feeling seems overwhelming, or is drowning out the voice that’s telling us the good things that feel right for us, like this is our passion, or this is amazing and what we’ve always wanted, then it’s pretty certain that it’s not even your own fear and doubt swirling around in there.

Being good at things is awesome. Being a pro is awesome. We feel good, things are easy, familiar… but it can get easy to stop growing and learning new things. If we stop trying new things because of any of the fears I just mentioned, or any of the millions of others that are out there, we can’t discover anything new that we might love even more. Learning, even though we might very well suck as beginners, ignites excitement and passion… interest… sure, frustration at the growing pains, but also some good old fashioned amusement at how silly we might look and feel while we are in the beginner zone.

Being a beginner can be frustrating and uncomfortable – for sure. But if it means having the big dreams that I want in life, sign me up any day. Looking silly, feeling clumsy, or dealing with other people’s doubt is a small price to pay… and the best part is that there’s no waking up some morning down the road and facing an even worse feeling – the feeling of ‘what if I had just given it a try’… and having to wonder if you could have had your dreams after all.