The Long Road Ahead

So this was something I didn’t think much of, and if you’d have talked with me a few years ago, I probably wouldn’t have even thought it was true. What do you mean my experiences have shaped who I am? I am the same as I have ever been, not paying attention to the subtle shifts in things like my mood or body, or even the way I interact with people all brought on by those experiential changes. 

An easy example of how your experience shapes who you are is when you’re a child going through life, as in the single numbers I’m sure your parents have told you the horrifying stories of you doing or saying things that are very funny, but wholly inappropriate for the circumstance. We’ve often gotten scolded for such behaviour, hence why we aren’t as keen to say such things nowadays, often favouring leaving such things to our tight knit circle of friends & family. 

In life, you gain experience learning new things. This can be anything. Maybe you learn how to cook delicious new meals, learn a new language, pick up a hobby or just want to specialise more with a given field or job interest, and even talking to people is giving you experience. Try that next time you go to your local shop. Everything you do is giving you experience, and as you might have guessed, its effects are compounded. The more you do things, and you should generally never stop gaining experience, barring you don’t become a nomad and live in the mountains away from society.

Why should we try new things?

I don’t like this saying because of how overused it has become, but you only have one life on this earth, you should try and get the most out of it. I’ll be honest, I’m a huge baby when it comes to trying new foods, especially ones that don’t seem appealing to me. It took me till 24 to try things that I thought were gross, even though I was told that when I was young I liked these things, you could not have paid me enough to eat it. But now as I find new things, my preferences change, hence why those experiences change the way I view food. (Still not a fan of mustard though.) 

Or I’ll take one that I’m extremely familiar with i used to play a game called Hearthstone in this game, like every online game you had the cream of the crop in terms of skill and talent. Well, after years of playing the game, they get hired as part of the games development team, or in some cases poached by a rival game company, or even as a caster for the games tournaments or shows. The possibilities for what you can learn and bring to the table are endless, so why not take advantage of that?

What if you can’t do it?

Very simple: don’t traumatise yourself, but have a friend/or family member (preferably someone who likes to have a laugh to lighten the mood) come with and do it too. For a few very simple reasons, support and you can use them for guinea pig. If you’re like me, I act way too confident round my friends to the point where I will do said thing like I’ve always done it. Within reason, of course, I will say, when it comes to family, try to get someone closer to your age, as older members either dote on you or think you’re a baby, which can be off-putting.

In closing, you should always try new things. If nothing else, you’ll have a new perspective on yourself and the world, which is never a bad thing, as long as you’re comfortable with it. Life is for the living, also these posts aren’t fully fleshed out. I’m just writing to grease the gears of my brain by sharing my thoughts and perspective on this topic.