The joy of being a beginner

Sometimes we don’t want to try new things, as we think we may be bad at them. We may say we haven’t done it, we don’t need to, we’re not good at that, we even encourage others to try instead of us.

But in reality, if we want to enjoy life, we have to be willing to fail. To be bad at something, to make mistakes & have to try again, attempt things we’ve never done.

We have to be willing to have people laugh at us.

Why?

Because we need to keep challenging ourselves. That’s the whole idea. It makes our minds engage, think differently. When we’re new to something, it takes so much more concentration & focus.

When we’re new to something, we have fewer expectations, so we think we’ve been fumbling around for a few hours, when really, we’ve worked your brain & our nervous system more than we know.

When we don’t learn, we become bored. A 2009 survey by University College, London, carried out over 24 years, showed that people who reported they were bored had heart disease rates twice as high compared to people who reported the opposite.

Learning something new forces our brain to create new connections & neurons, strengthening existing pathways. It also causes a rush of dopamine, which causes excitement & makes us want to repeat the process.

Also, trying new things keeps you humble, even a little na?ve. Humility is saying, “I don’t know.” But na?veté is not knowing that you don’t know. Just like a child and look how much fun they have!

Learning keeps you young. Learning keeps you healthy. Learning keeps you curious.

There’s a joy in learning, in being a beginner. So what are you going to try next?