“What if I take that trip and I end up hating the place and wasting money?”
“What if I take rest and say no to meeting people this weekend and end up alienating
everyone?”
“What if I take up a new job and it isn’t as rewarding as my previous one?”
“What if I state an opinion but later end up changing it?”
“What if I get a tattoo and regret it.?”
Now, be honest! How many times have you backed out of making a plan just because it
seemed like it was the wrong thing to do? Human beings are creatures of habit. We have
created set ways of living and we navigate life through experiences. Experiences can be our
own or that of someone else’s. What happens when we depend on these lived experiences is
that we start creating roadblocks for our ways of living. Many times, we come up with things
we want to try but abstain from doing them because it doesn’t align with our set patterns of
living. In other words, we refuse to do things for fear of getting life wrong!
This is important.
We have conditioned ourselves into set patterns of thinking. Anytime there is an opportunity
to go beyond the regular ways we always fear we might live life the wrong way. Or we
imagine the worst possible outcome to anything so we plan and back out just as a precaution.
It feels safe. It feels like the right thing to do. Sometimes we want to do it but we want it to be so perfect that we end up not doing it at all.
Here are some things that might happen if we just let things happen:
1. You’ll realize you were catastrophizing a lot of things: Many a time we think the
absolute worst is going to happen whenever we are trying something out of our
comfort zone. When we let things happen without the goal of success you will realize
just how many times you thought the absolute worst was going to happen but it didn’t.
The world didn’t end. You are still here. The more you take those chances the easier
it’ll get.
2. You’ll start finding joy in little achievements: When we try things as they come
and don’t wait for them to be perfect all the time; even the tiniest little developments
will feel fulfilling and rewarding.
3. The pressure to be right all the time will decrease: When you take chances enough
times you might also notice your need to have it all be just right reduced. You get
better at accepting that sometimes you might be wrong. This doesn’t mean it is all
over or you are not worthy. It just means you have another chance to do better.
4. Mistakes won’t seem like the end of the world: It is still quite possible that the
tattoo you got was a mistake and you do regret it. But it won’t be a huge deal. You do
things right now that your future self might not like. You don’t live for that person.
You live for the person you are right now. We know! Easier said than done! But
mistakes are just mistakes. They exist as a part of your experience as well.
5. You’ll find yourself being open to more experiences: The more liberty you give
yourself to do things that seem wrong, the more you’ll realize there is more to living
than the fear of living it the incorrect way. You’ll probably make mistakes and that
would be okay.
Here’s the thing. Nothing is perfect. Everything you want will not align perfectly every time.
It feels nice to want that but it just isn’t realistic and ends up crushing expectations. If we
wait for everything to be in its proper place at a proper assigned time, we’ll end up waiting
forever. Sometimes taking a chance will help you determine what it is that you truly enjoy.
Not just at work or in relationships but just for yourself. Do things. Just do them. Don’t put
roadblocks on your plans. Don’t push away plans fearing later regret. Do not try to dwell on
the past or generalize the future. Make mistakes and learn from them. Imperfect living is better than not living at all.
