Hey there,
I know it’s been a while. Uni has been taking over my life and I rarely get a moment to sit down and relax, which is annoying but obviously comes with the territory of going to uni.
However, today I decided procrastination can be productive so here we go.
Trying new things is incredibly scary, isn’t it? I mean you don’t know what will happen and if you are an over- thinker like me, you will often miss out on opportunities and experiences just because you get terribly scared of failing or making a fool out of yourself or getting hurt emotionally or physically.
This semester I started with an attitude of “hey I don’t really care anymore what people think, ’cause here at uni no one really seems to care”. And for once that attitude actually lasted longer than 5 minutes and I actually attempted something new.
I went to my uni’s Ultimate Frisbee club. Yes it is a sport and let me tell you it is a lot more exhausting than you’d think. So why was this a big step for me? I love sports yes, but sadly I am not that talented which is part of the reason that I have stuck with badminton for over 10 years because I am decent at it and it means I won’t make a fool out of myself when I play it. I would say I am okay at the other racket sports that I have tried too, simply because I felt like I knew what to do with a racket in my hand. Now going to a sport that involved throwing and catching and running a lot when you have no hand eye coordination whatsoever and are predestined to fall every five seconds because you fall over your own feet might not seem like the best idea in the world.
So why would I do it? Well I have a lot of friends in the club and I spend a lot of time with them and knew all their training times and for two years they were like “oh yeah you should come by, it’s fun” for two years I said no being too scared of making a fool out of myself. This year I jumped the biggest hurdle by actually going to the give it a go where there were many other people who had never played before, so I didn’t feel like I was the only person completely lost. Now 9 weeks into the semester I really enjoy going, I have been to tournaments with them and played outdoors in the freezing cold and I slowly don’t feel as lost anymore and now only second throw completely sucks, but hey it’s fun.
So what did I get out of it? Well a lot of sore muscles that is sure. An evaluation of how horrible my fitness level is. Less time for the uni stuff I should be working on. But on the other hand I have gained confidence, I have learned that yes it may be hard at first but the more I do it the easier it gets. I have grown even closer with my friends on the team because they are just happy that I actually tried it and admitted that I liked it, plus I spend so much more time with them which is nice. Also, I have made new friends, other people who just started playing and are just as lost as I am but if you are lost together it suddenly doesn’t seem as bad and became friends with people who were mere acquaintances before and I spend sooooo much time with now. Everyone has been really supportive and taken the time to help me.
So why am I boring you with this? Well what I wanted to show you is that trying something new is hard and scary in any part of your life, may it be academically, sports-related, love and relationship related or any other part of your life. But usually the hurdle of making the first move is the hardest because it means you have to make yourself do it. We have a great saying for it in German actually saying “den inneren Schweinehund überwinden”, which literally means to overcome your inner pig dog and figuratively means to take that first hurdle which is usually your own mind.
Yet it is worth it and you’ll learn something, make experiences and despite things often not being the way you’d want them to, it’s worth a try because it can always be better!
Happy Tuesday and happy trying my loves,
lots of love, Katie