You dont have to be great to start

but you have to start to be great

A few years back a mad notion came over me and I signed up to ‘Ride the Night’ a 100 km cycle around London to raise money for women’s cancers. Not long after putting my name on the dotted line, it dawned on me that the furthest I’d ever cycled was about 10 km on a family holiday. I got my bike out of the garage and bought a cycling jacket. New gear is a rule for a new endeavor. It, of course, would make all the difference. Well, the time came for my first training ride. I thought I might die cycling up the first hill, which is just at the end of our road! (Carr Lane for those who know it) I was regretting my bravado and naive confidence. I wanted to jump on my bike and easily do say 20 km on my first outing. I started to feel discouraged. The negative committee in my head got going. Then I saw a This girl can campaign. One caption really caught my attention.

“I may be slow but I’m lapping everyone on the couch”

It inspired me to be proud of myself and my starting efforts.

I kept training. I never did get very quick but I did finish the ride. I raised a good amount of money for women’s cancers and that was great!

Recently I almost missed out on a fabulous opportunity because I was afraid of not being good enough. I saw a pottery course advertised at a local ceramics studio. It was something I had wanted to do since becoming an avid fan of ‘The Pottery Throwdown’. As I thought about it I imagined the wonderful works of the other participants and the probability of my makes being disappointing. “It’ll just be a waste of money if I end up frustrated” I gave myself a good talking too. I needed to be brave enough to be bad at something new. I paid up and joined 7 other wonderful ladies in the class. It turned out to be a brilliant course with lots of fun, laughter, and learning. We all made some great pieces. To be honest I did still want to be as good as the tutor and got nowhere near but rather than be frustrated with myself I just gave myself a smile and a metaphorical hug. One day I may tame my perfectionism?!

Is there something new you’d like to have a go at? Could you arrange it? Go on be brave. Do share your thoughts in the comments.