Learn Something New!



This past weekend, I went to a class at Hobby Lobby to learn the Bob Ross method of paining from my good friend, Kim McLaughlin.  Yes, that picture above is my finished painting!  I was excited about attending the class, yet at the same time I had anxiety about it.  I haven’t painted a picture since grade school and my adult painting experience was limited to covering the walls with a roller.  I even had a dream about how hard this class was going to be!

            I used to be very self-conscious in my teens and early twenties, and that held me back from trying new things.  Some time ago, I decided that I needed to get over myself and be willing to look foolish while learning something new.  Most people don’t expect us to be good at something we’re trying for the first time anyways. It turns out that painting isn’t so hard when you have a great instructor and a teachable attitude.  Often we psych ourselves out, saying, “That’s too hard.  I’ll never learn how to do that.”  We are defeated before we even try! 

            Since making the decision that it’s okay to looking foolish when trying something new, I’ve learned a lot – how to golf, wakeboard, drive a boat, fly fish for salmon, and bake a mean rum cake….  Now I can add painting to the list!  Obviously, I have plenty more to learn about painting and it will be up to me to decide how far I want to take it.  There are other things that I still want to learn. I’d like to learn how to speak a foreign language, Spanish or maybe Italian.  I’d like to get SCUBA certified.  My friend, Ericka, just about has me talked into getting my concealed carry license (and I don’t even own a gun – yet)!

            So, are you a life-long learner?  There’s always more to discover, so decide today to broaden your horizons and try something new!  Learn how to use a sewing machine, decorate a cake, drive a motorcycle, build a deck, (even couponing!) or whatever you’ve always said you’d like to learn but it’s probably too hard.  Give it a try – you just might surprise yourself!

            (If you’d like to give painting a whirl, check out Kim’s blog: http://happylittletreesstudio.blogspot.com/ )