Trying Something New!

The other night we went to one of Anna's friend's Birthday Party. It was at a cool place called "Monkey Bizness." It was a huge (and I mean huge) indoor play area just for kids who attended the birthday party. It had a huge blow up slide (all the way to the ceiling), a huge blow up obstacle course, blow up basketball court and a climbing gym that had three sections to it that went all the way up to the ceiling as well. For the friends under 3, they had their own little play area with all kinds of slides and fun things to crawl through and under. Finally, they had a rock wall that was so tall it went almost to the ceiling too. We're not talking about an eight foot ceiling either, we're talking tall...

So, this brings me to my point... At first Anna didn't want to try the rock wall even though they had safety harnesses. She was much happier doing the things she knew how to do and the things that looked relatively safe. The rock wall was just too high and she just wasn't really into trying it. After a little coaxing and watching a friend or two try it, she got up enough nerve to "climb the wall."

I was so proud of her for trying something new. Then I got to thinking - how often do I not do something because I'm afraid of it? I might not be afraid to fall, but I'm afraid to fail, afraid to not be perfect the first time, afraid I won't get it right, afraid it will take too long or be too messy. As an adult I forget how often I take the easy route and just stick with what I know.

It's so easy to forget that we ask little ones all the time to try things that we have been doing for a long time (walking, riding bikes without training wheels, going new places, meeting new friends-how often do we put them in situations where they don't know anyone). We often take their courage for granted.

Anna has inspired me to change... I think from now on, I'm going to try and be more brave and start saying yes to things I might have said no to before -- even if I'm afraid.