When was the last time you did something for the first time? Like, really for the first time?
If you’re older than 25, you might struggle to answer!
As we get older, our confidence in what we know grows, but we often become reluctant to be the novice again.
You know that feeling of being so outside your comfort zone, when you don’t know the rules or the language or the skills of a new game. You might flush with embarrassment, have butterflies in your belly, you might even get angry at your own clumsiness!
In my experience, there’s definitely an art to trying something new. A way of approaching being out of that comfort zone that can set you up for success. Or at the very least, you might have a bit of fun!
Here are 3 recent experiments I did to try new things and share the outcome.
The Pickleball experiment
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the world right now.
For the uninitiated:
It’s a paddle sport where two or four players hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net. A bit like tennis but with different rules.
I was never good at tennis (or ping pong, which it’s also likened to) and I’m not a natural athlete, so I was likely never going to take to this sport everyone was talking about.
But I was curious and so my husband and I signed up for a social Summer competition.
As I said before, being outside your comfort zone is… uncomfortable. And so was I at Pickleball.
My serves fell short or wide. I couldn’t return most balls, particularly when people like my husband put back spin on them (I still don’t understand what back spin is!).
I didn’t have the reach or the agility to move around the court, even though it’s smaller than a tennis court.
My husband, who has played tennis and squash and is more on the natural athlete end of that spectrum, took to it like a duck to water. I knew I was a liability to our success as a doubles team and was relieved when we played “King of the Court” and had to split up.
Verdict: I wasn’t good at it. I’ll probably never play again. I’m glad I gave it a go.
The Flash Mob experiment
I had little choice in this one.
My step-daughter-in-law was having a hen’s party and this was a fun surprise cooked up by her girlfriends.
To match the Greek Island Wedding theme, the song was “Dancing Queen”.
The night before the event, I made time to rehearse using the instructional You Tube clip.
Now I do consider myself a dancer, but I’m a ballet dancer, NOT a disco dancer.
And as one of the “older” guests at this party, (a woman of a certain age as I now prefer to refer to myself) I really wanted to blend in at the very least.
So dozens of times I played that clip and learned the moves. My 16 year old son came home as I was practicing, rolled his eyes and kept trudging upstairs. My husband simply sat on the lounge watching and encouraging me, patiently waiting until we could return to watching Friday night football.
The next day at the party, we were several hours (and many glasses of wine) into it when it came time for the flash mob.
I positioned myself towards the back of the pack.
Amongst all the giggling and singing (which is also not my strength!), we pulled it off, much to the delight of the bride-to-be.
The verdict: I tried it. I quite liked it. Back of the pack worked for me.
The Zumba Experiment
This looks like a cross between my previous two experiments – exercise and dancing!
Zumba: a fitness program that involves cardio and latin-inspired dance.
Suggested by my friend Julie after my recent post about finishing a 12 week workout challenge, I asked another friend, Janine, if she’d like to take a class with me to celebrate her birthday.
Janine’s a dancer, too, so it seemed like a fun way to celebrate her success in finishing another lap around the sun.
We rocked up to our local gym for the class.
Most the ladies there – including Julie and her Zumba mates – were regulars. This meant that (a) they took Zumba seriously and (b) they knew all the moves and practiced getting better at them.
Instant inferiority complex!
It started out wonky. I felt like a baby giraffe – all legs – with the added complexity of moving those limbs to music. Any determination to look accomplished went out the window.
BUT
What didn’t go out the window was decades of dance training and my recent improvement in fitness.
What came back to me after the first few warm up routines was something akin to spirit. Spirit of the dance!
This didn’t make me move any less awkwardly, but my resistance dropped away and I just let myself have a good time.
As I relaxed into it, some of the moves came more easily and I managed to enjoy moving in time with the music.
We laughed. We got into it. Our heart rates were elevated and so were our spirits.
Janine and I stopped worrying about what we looked like, or wishing we could move like some of the others (like Julie!) and just had an old fashioned good time.
The verdict: Awkward turned to fun. Spirit soared. Will definitely do it again (will never be as smooth as Julie!).
Hopefully this has inspired you to try something new! If you’re inspired but not sure how to get started, here are some helpful hints:
- What did you love doing as a kid? Perhaps you can try that anew, or something similar (like by ballet/zumba experiment)
- What’s something you always sensed you weren’t good at, like painting or singing or eating out alone. Try it and see!
- Think of someone you admire for their achievements, like a community advocate, an accomplished speaker or inspiring yoga teacher. Perhaps you can have a crack at trying their craft our for yourself!
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