Challenge Yourself
You probably are aware that I have been trying to challenge myself to do something different each month this year as a part of my new year’s resolutions. This, in addition to following through on my new year’s resolutions, is something that I get asked about a lot. The first question I usually get: Why?
Usually, I just answer “Because.” A little less than thrilling, but it’s the truth.
So many people (including me) have let life just sort of pass them by. We get in a routine, and that is it, day in, day out. Eat-Sleep-Work, over and over and over again. What is really terrifying to me about this is that once it happens, time just seems to slip away. Days melt into weeks, then into months, and you look back and say, hey, what just happened? Where did my summer go? (Remember in school when summer seemed to last about ten times as long as it does now?) Life becomes a kind of blur, with nothing standing out against the background enough to make you stop and think. It’s all too easy to let it happen, and talking to other people, it’s a pretty widespread problem. So I said to myself, enough, I’m going to do something about it. That’s when I first started seriously setting and working towards my new years resolutions.
It has lead to a lot of interesting things I wouldn’t have guessed. Since then, I’ve started a business, completed a triathlon, gone a year without pop, helped my friend share his comics online, drank a ridiculous amount of tea, and generally had a good time. What’s ironic, is that despite all this, I’ve failed at as many goals as I have set. I am by no means one of those super motivated, type-A, take the world by storm people who always seem to 12 steps ahead of everyone else. But what I have found is that in just trying to do something – anything – different, life is more fun. Things slow down, there are milestones in the everyday rush of life that actually mean something and make you take a step back and enjoy yourself.
That, at its core, is why I do this. I want to slow things down, I want to do something different. It doesn’t have to be some great thing, or even something most people understand, just something different. It’s really fun, and you should give it a try.
Why do I challenge myself?
Because – Why wouldn’t I?