Thinking about this goal gives me mixed feelings. First of them is a mix of determination and inspiration. I really want to push my boundaries, try things even if it means I might fail and enrich my way of living. But the second one is a mix of hesitance, doubt and, honestly, pure terror. I don’t like doing things I’m not familiar with. I don’t like to fail, I’m not good at it. If I have a choice, 100% of the time I’d rather not do something than risk failure in other people’s eyes. I don’t mind failing by myself, and often I spend a lot of time practising new things in secret so that when I have to do it publicly, I won’t make a fool out of myself.
I know a lot of people who aren’t afraid to fail. However, to me it sometimes does seem like these people are inferior to others and end up wasting the time of themselves and others because they make so many mistakes and do things even though they’re not good at them. This is exactly the mindset I need to get rid of. I know that everybody must begin somewhere, but find it hard to admit that it goes for myself, too. It doesn’t make anyone worse than someone else. If anything, it’s making my life narrow and repetitive, because rather than jumping at new chances, I stick with things I already know I can do.
I’m very curious to hear your thoughts about this. Are you the kind of person who doesn’t mind making mistakes? Or are you like me, stuck with your life because you’re afraid of screwing up? Have you managed to challenge yourself? Any tips? Inspiring stories?
This is the hardest goal I could ever set for myself, and I am not looking forward to actually making it happen. However, happiness doesn’t always mean feeling happy… and in the end, I do believe it will improve the quality of my life, so I know I must do it. Any help appreciated! 1 month ago
Even though i recently came home from a couple of moths travelling through Central America, i feel like i`m back in the comfort zone that everyday life gives us if we don`t fight it..
I don´t want to take the easy way anymore..I just started working at a new place, and that was a challenge for about one week. Now i`more bored than ever, even though i know it´s just for a couple of months before i start my University studies.. Hopefully studying will bring me enough challenges to keep me away from boredom.. 1 month ago
Now I’m sitting here looking at three entries: “inspire myself”, “challenge myself” and “fulfill myself”. Wanting to end up with just one when I’m through. I like all three but I think…..
It’s fulfill my potential… Hands down. That one covers A LOT of ground out there…. That’ll work. For now, anyway. wink, grin3 months ago
... is my next challenge. The last few times we have ordered Wor Wonton Soup, it’s been disappointing with very little flavor. Would like Dim Sum on the weekends without going to Los Angeles and good Chinese food on a weeknight.
It’s challenging to make all the foods we like in small quantities, so I will freeze most of the dim sum, spring rolls and char siu.
Soups:
Dim Sum (another goal, so I won’t list them here)
Spring rolls (baked)
Char siu (for several recipes)
Entrees
Panfried noodles
Plain rice (not the Hawaiian-style sticky rice hubby thinks goes with everything)
Fried rice 4 months ago
... and baking is one way I challenge myself. My latest challenge is to make tamales for a holiday dinner. I have no interest in finding the easiest recipe, and often spend an entire day or two preparing the main course for a holiday meal.
My challenge starts before I even start cooking by researching and gathering ingredients. I have never made tamales before and decided to use Masa Harina with lard instead of buying fresh masa. After reading that non-hydrogenated lard is healthier than other animal fats, I purchased Leaf Lard during a trip to Los Angeles. The rendering process of the lard should be interesting since the directions say to open the windows because of the smell and will take several hours to render. Getting the pork smell out of my house may be another challenge if it’s too cold and rainy to open windows.
It’s difficult for me choose only three kinds of tamales, but don’t want to overwhelm the family with too many choices. There isn’t enough time to sample many local tamales before making my own, so I will have to wait until next year to do more research and adjust my recipes.
Update: ended up making 5 types of tamales. Will probably save the sweet tamales for later. 6 months ago
So next month I’m doing this thing at Mammoth Cave called “The Wild Cave Tour”. It’s 7 hours of crawling, climbing, “Canyon Walking”, and who know’s what else. I’m kinda anxious about it, but I know a big factor is mentally pushing myself to do it.
Even though there’s a chance I could get seriously injured lol 21 months ago
I challenge myself to create streams of income starting August 2011. 23 months ago
Just have to stay on top of the things – errands (some unpleasant), cooking, grocery shopping, dry cleaning, laundry, etc. I have to study more photoshop daily! Also I have to start writing for my blog now that it is online! Need to be on time with due dates my sister set for me. Those are my priorities. 2 years ago
For today it will be finishing Chapter 6 of my photoshop tutorials, sending kids’ present and writing another blog entry. I can do it! 2 years ago
Meeting new people is definitely a challenge for me. It’s not like I avoid it completely, but I am not psyched about it. Unfortunately, most of the time it ends up as something I try to skip or wiggle my way out. Now that I finally acknowledged the problem I am working on it. Yesterday we met my husband’s colleague for a beer in a pub. It wasn’t bad. This Saturday we got an invitation for a bbq from another colleague. We accepted even though we don’t stay here for much longer. It was really nice of him to invite us because no one really does it here and he invited only a few other guys. There will be other Russian people there, so I really hope they are not nosy asking us all kinds of questions like why did we leave US, why did we come here, why do we go to Canada. Yeah, those are fun… 2 years ago
