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Hello there friends

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both old and new. It's been a

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while since we've last visited

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Welcome to strive seek fine

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podcast, I'm your host chance

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with strive seek find podcasts

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is home to bite sized lifestyle

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advice from a fellow traveler on

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the road to a better life.

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Brought to you by longtime

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educator, writer, parent, and

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outdoor enthusiast, because our

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future is set not just through

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our choices, but our willingness

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to explore and find a better

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way. So this week, it's the

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first episode of season three.

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Admittedly, it's been a long

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time coming. I did a few bonus

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episodes in July. But other than

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that, it's been kind of dark

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around here. I sat back with

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most of this time, and followed

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a little of my own advice. I was

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present with my family, I

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traveled a little bit. The month

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of July, I was gone as much as I

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was at home, between a family

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vacation, which you will hear

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something about in the next few

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weeks to helping a friend move

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to helping a family member. It

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was go go go for a while, while

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I was doing it. When I wasn't at

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work, I was trying some new

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things, and then came back

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around to some old ones. I'm

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looking at you writing, I

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focused on getting my mind

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right, and tried to find cool

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things to do. And because this

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whole process was restorative,

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it got my creative juices

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flowing again. Which leads me to

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the first question of our new

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season. Do you still like to try

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new things? Or is it all just

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variations on what you're

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already comfortable with? And is

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it getting harder to want to try

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something new? Now let's get

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started. While you're growing

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up, there is a expectation to

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try new things, call it

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cultural, calling it eventually

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they want you to be as

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productive member of society,

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call it anything you'd like.

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Obviously, part of this is

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because everything is new to a

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child. And there is so much to

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try to learn that as we get

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older, with our broad range of

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experience, things naturally

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begin to funnel towards things

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we perceive that we are either

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good at, or at least like and we

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begin to shy away from other

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things because of the negative

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perceptions we have of them. So

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back to that expectation. As kid

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you're expected to learn and

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develop skills constantly. And

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thanks to high neuroplasticity,

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it makes learning relatively

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easy. Relatively because when

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you're going through it, it

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still feels harder than hell.

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Think back to that time in your

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life. Can you imagine being

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allowed to try something once

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and being done with it forever?

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I know what happens. But I think

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it's the exception rather than

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the rule. I mean, it's not the

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norm, to have a kid go out to

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one athletic practice and decide

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he's done with the sport

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forever. Because he can't dunk

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like LeBron right out of the

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gate. Or did not learn to read

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because she didn't recognize the

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word dog right out of the gate.

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So pack it up and figure out

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that someone will always need to

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read for you. With children. We

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would consider this behavior

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ludicrous because we expect

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learning to be an incremental

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process for kids to fail on the

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first attempt. Because we keep

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in mind that eventually you're

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going to get better, maybe not

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be great, but get better. As we

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get older, and honestly more

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insecure. It changes whether

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it's wanting to stay in our own

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lane and focus our time and

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attention on things to make us

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feel successful. Or not wanting

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to feel shame or insecurity for

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not being great at something.

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Many of us just stop trying. Or

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we quit after one attempt

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declaring to the world it isn't

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what we're good at. Either way

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as we age, we are more likely to

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start throwing up barriers to

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new experiences. closed doors on

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opportunity East and generally

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start staying in the comfort of

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the straight ahead interstate

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lane that we've created for

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ourselves. And that's a damn

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shame. There's an aphorism out

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there that comfort can make us

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all cowards. And like anyone

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else, I do like to be

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comfortable. But missed

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opportunities and closed doors,

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in my opinion, lead to real

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negative outcomes. And forgive

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me while I while I pull out my

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best, I play a doctor on TV.

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Side effects may include regret,

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regret for the chances not taken

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and the experience you missed as

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you move into a time of your

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life, where you can't try them

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for 100 different reasons. And

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possibly more importantly, in my

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mind, as we get older, we

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naturally become more rigid. And

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one of the greatest ways to

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avoid that is to continue to try

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new things to keep learning keep

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growing. Otherwise you get

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rigid, and rigid things tend to

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shatter. Either way, the cure is

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much better than the disease

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that comes out of not trying. I

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don't feel like I'm alone in

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saying that this is something

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that I need to really work at.

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Because comfort zones are all

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too appealing. I hope you'll

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join me in striving to be more

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like our kids willing to try

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learn, to fail and to get

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better. Because it's only going

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through that that we have the

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ability to drink life to the

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lease as Tennyson put it, and

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keep seeking our own best life.

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How about you? What do you

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think? As we grow older? Are we

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more likely to grow rigid? Or

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are you still excited to seek

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out new opportunities? Please

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reach out let me know your

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opinion. Either on the Facebook

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group, or my emails in the show

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notes. Well, friends, that's it

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for episode 113 of strife seek

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fine. Thanks so much for tuning

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in. If you have episodes,

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suggestions or feedback, or just

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want to chat, join in on the

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strife seek find fete group on

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Facebook, and I'd love to have

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you join us there. If you'd like

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to support the podcast, either

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leave a review on your favorite

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podcasting app, or buy me a

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coffee to defray the cost of

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hosting the show. Until next

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time, keep seeking your own

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brilliant future