Try Something New

The other day I was a little thirsty. Had some work to do so I delayed my short trip to the kitchen as much as I could. After one or two hours, the thirst become really important to me, so I left my home office and went to the kitchen. To my surprise, there was only a small bottle of water left in the house. This is happening extremely rare as I am quite a freak when it comes to water, food and supplies. Well, I took a glass of water, pour the whole bottle in it, then put in on my table and start looking at it.

“If I don’t drink the water, I’ll have this glass full for a long time”, I thought. “It’s the only water I have in the house, so it’s really precious, must take good care of it”. But after a few seconds I realized I’m still thirsty. More and more thirsty.

“If I drink the water, I won’t be thirsty anymore. But I won’t have any water left in the house. I know in several hours I’ll be thirsty again, and then I won’t have this glass full of water. It will be empty. That means I should really go out and start looking for some fresh water. And I really don’t wanna do this right now.”

Learning To Let Go

I’m sure you laughed while reading the monologue above. You have all the reasons, it’s a weird monologue. A guy talking with his glass full of water is always funny, I know. But as thirsty as I was, I realized this monologue was something very common to me. It’s a monologue I play every time I’m afraid to try something new. Every time I’m on a safe environment and I’m enjoying it and try to squeeze everything out of it. I was really enjoying working on my office and the idea of getting out for some fresh water was really unpleasant.

And I realized I have to do it. As unpleasant as it seemed, it was something necessary for me. And I also realized that every environment is perishable. Each situation is finite. Trying to extend a pleasurable situation beyond its natural boundaries it’s not only useless, but most of the time quite impossible. You must accept this sooner or later. You have to drink the water and accept that you’ll have to find fresh water soon. You can’t rely on a single glass of water to quench your thirst for your entire life.

Keeping your game into a single playground will soon dry it out. If you don’t do something to constantly refresh your resources, you’ll empty your field by using it. If you don’t get out in the wild to get some water you’ll run out of it.

Being Stuck

But soon I started to explore the advantages of the other side, the safer one: “I can hold on my thirst for a little while. I will still have this glass of water. I think I can resist at least 4-5 hours more. And whenever I’ll be really thirsty I know I have this backup plan.” The magic word here was “backup”.

Having a safety web is what everybody dreams of. Knowing that your life path is insured makes for a great sleep at night. That’s a mindset of conservation. Don’t use your resources. Don’t make that trip, don’t start that relationship, don’t even think to start something new in your life. You’re good as you are. You have enough water in that glass and your thirst will fade in time anyway.

Keeping a safe game will make the water older. Yes, even water can get older and its taste become worse. Your resources will conserve but your life won’t advance. You’ll remain safer but you won’t grow. I know I had this mindset for years. I was stuck.

Learning To Enjoy

It was only when I started to avoid conservation and seek joy when things started to improve. Only when I started to really use my resources without any fear of loss. And by resources I don’t mean only material resources. My ideas, my skills, my emotions, my physical energy, everything is a resource. If you don’t use one of your resources and strive just to conserve it, you will actually help it decay. In some cases it might even rot.

It was only when I gradually replaced my conservation mindset with a joy mindset that my life become really abundant. And by that I mean really going out and get what I wanted, without worrying that I might lose something in the process. And when I ran out of it, getting out again and get some more. That mindset created abundance, not the conservation one. And it worked in every area of my life: personal development, relationships, career, wealth. Every time I was focusing to maintain a status-quo things were actually shrinking. I had to go out and get some more.

It’s quite a paradox, but only in the beginning. The fact is the more you use what you’ve got, the more you attract what you want. The more you do the more you have. The conservation mindset is really a scarcity mindset, because conservation is another word for death.

You have to let go some stuff in order to make room in your life for something new. You have to let go of your habits, of your assets or of your emotions in order to experience new habits, new assets or new emotions. Doesn’t mean you should start clean every day, with zero resources. It’s about assessing what’s really old, what’s dragging you down. This is what makes you feel uncomfortable, not the new stuff you just started.

If you don’t drink your last glass of water, the only thing you’ll feed would be your thirst, you’ll make it bigger. If you drink the water while you’re thirsty, you’ll be forced to find some fresh water soon, but you know what: that’s the fun part.

You wanna know what happened with my glass of water? With a harsh move I took it and drank the water to the bottom. Man, that was good. 🙂




24 thoughts on “Try Something New”

  1. Pingback: Ways To Live A Better Life | dreamscarnival.com
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  3. Great post!
    I am a constantly putting necessities off to maintain my comfort zone. The comment “if you’re not growing, you’re dying” struck a real chord with me. I basically lie around after work watching TV most nights. Guess I’ve been living in a conservation mindset for a long time now, its gotten to the point where I literally might as well be in a coffin most nights.

    This is a very interesting blog. I’m happy to have found it!

    Reply
  4. Pingback: 100 Ways To Live A Better Life
  5. @Evelyn Lim we all need a sense of security from time to time, it’s quite ok 🙂 And I know you know the message 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

    @timethief thank you! Glad you can find value here 🙂

    Reply
  6. Oh wow….I was quite stumped by your question for a while. I thought it over. I will drink the glass of water until half way or three quarters down. Then, I’d keep the rest for later! I somehow need a sense of security….LOL!! But I do realize what your message is about. We need to empty the cup to fill in fresh water!

    Evelyn Lim’s last blog post..My Personal Creed

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  7. @Tony great point! In the beginning I thought it was outside the post theme but then I realized you have a strong point: resources are everywhere, it’s up to us to chose the one we want.

    @Jay, thanks for the nice words, reminds me about what one of the WordPress main developers said: Code is poetry ;-).

    @BunnygotBlog you’re so right, in fact nothing is for granted you have to continuously reinforce your environment, your gifts, you assets. Thanks 🙂

    @Jonathan Thanks for keep getting back here, I appreciate it 🙂

    @Juancav terrific 🙂 Really, I loved your comment: make more room for your resources, something I really have to think of. Thanks for your comment 🙂

    @nutuba I am very thankful for your constant contribution on my blog, you always have a strong point, have patience in reading it and always try to take it beyond my initial goal. Thank you!

    @Daniel Brenton wow, that’s fantastic, I admit I never thought so far, but the more is making you think (or dream) the more my blog is fulfilling its initial goal. I’m always stunned by the richness of thoughts my readers are showing. Thanks for making ME think 🙂

    @Mihai good point here, it’s really emphasizing the fact that we’re all living creatures here and we all must use resources carefully. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  8. Dragos —

    This is excellent. We need to recognize all the ramifications of these basic principles. This sounds like an aspect of the Law of Attraction to me.

    I’m finding myself thinking of the story of Jesus and the loaves and fishes …

    Daniel Brenton’s last blog post..To Madeline L’Engle, with Thanks

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  9. This is great stuff and I totally agree. We are meant (I believe) to use the resources we’ve been given. The point of water is to nourish and refresh our bodies; if we sacrifice that and try to prolong it until later, we’re doing the opposite to our bodies than what we should be doing. The same applies to all else in life. Seek to grow that relationship; improve your job performance; learn that new skill (publish that book you’ve been dreaming about).
    Essentially, I’ve heard it put this way before: grow or die.
    Nice post here!

    nutuba’s last blog post..March Serenity

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  10. Great Article !

    You have to appreciate the thing you take for granted.

    Cheers

    BunnygotBlog’s last blog post..Productivity – Time And Change

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  11. You are quite the poet Dragos. It is certainly key to realize that the more we do, the more we attract, the more we get, and so on! Good reminder!

    Jay’s last blog post..Inner Noodle’s Guide to Dream Analysis-Step 4

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  12. Like most decisions which appear black and white, to drink or not to drink is not the whole story. From taking a sip, through drinking half, to leaving only a sip, there are lots of approaches.
    Looking outside the box, there is always tap water. It may not taste great, but is it worse than thirst? There are many people around the world who cannot get potable tap water and yet we disdain it and buy expensive and unsustainable bottled water.
    How about letting go of bottled water and buying a jug filter? You need never face the decision of whether to drink again…

    Reply
  13. @elena diaconu loved the line “resources versus resourcefulness” you said it better than me and in fewer words 🙂 Thank you.

    Reply
  14. well, yes, because it is not only about the resources that you have but also about being resourceful; in the end it is all about going out there and getting new water; yourself creating new resources all the time. 🙂

    Reply

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