Sneak Up On Your Dreams

Micronesia

I have a friend who owns a little shop a couple of towns over. Whenever I have a free day with no appointments or major requirements I bike over to visit her.  We usually sit in her shop and talk.  This last visit she had another friend in the shop at the same time so we’ll all talked.  One story that this man told was fascinating from the concept of changing your life the way you want it.  Unfortunately the story was second hand, years old and I’ve already forgotten details so this will be a bit fictionalized version of what happened.

The man I was talking to was riding on a train across the country.  He said that when you’re riding alone you’re placed at a table with other people, wherever you’ll fit. One evening he found himself seated with a number of people.  When they went around the table to find out what everybody did, one man said that he made beads, buttons and bowls from the Micronesian ivory nut.  My friend said, “What?”  the man then explained that back I the 80s Ronald Reagan said something about making some kind of drug policy and this man decided that the U.S. was no longer his country.  He decided to look for another place to live in the world.  He decided through some process on Micronesia.  He went to live there.  Soon he became tired of walking all the way to the central well for his water so he rigged up some kind of pipe system to bring the water closer to him and to his neighbors.  The people in the town were so grateful that they gave the man some land to own.  The man continued to live there and one day was reading up on his newly adopted country and discovered that its primary export was the ivory nut.  He realized he didn’t even know what that was, so he wanted to find out.  He found out that it was a nice looking nut that could be made into different things so he started to carve it and make it into a variety of useful things.

It’s certainly not everyone’s dream to escape to some tiny country without running water and carve nuts, but this story, even without accuracy, shows the flexibility of what can be done with motivation and desire.  What’s the most outlandish thing you can think of that you want?  Consider some seriously “out of the box” ways of getting what you want.  Most people will not take the most unusual and different way of getting somewhere, but thinking about it helps flex the creative solving-problem muscle.  Perhaps moving to Micronesia is not your idea of a good time, but maybe taking some time off from your job and moving to a much cheaper place to live for a short time is.  Basically, there are many ways to get what you want.  Consider the craziest to see what insight it gives you.

Perhaps it’s part of looking back that makes me nostalgic for the days when I felt like I was blindly, but excitingly bumbling through life. I felt so scared then. I felt like every mistake I might make could be life altering and harmful. I felt like I was tiptoeing through everything, trying to do everything right. I felt I was being very careful although, I’m sure I did some (okay many) numbskull things.

Now, I feel like encouraging my younger self to go ahead and make mistakes, sleep with the “wrong” person, take the “wrong” job, say the “wrong” thing. Life responds to you and makes it clear what works and what doesn’t. Just stay aware of the feedback the world is giving you and you’ll be able to move away from the harmful things and towards the helpful.

Making sure you don’t do drugs or drive drunk or other dangerous things are very good decisions, but trying to always say and do the “right” things and predict what will work and what won’t is counterproductive.

In trying to start my magazine article writing career, I’ve decide to try to collect 60 rejection letters (or just no responses). I’m also learning what I can about blogging, by going ahead and doing it even though I feel like I know very little and can’t figure out how to get all the cute technological buttons on my site. I’m going ahead and ready to make mistakes.

Collecting regrets is a good idea. Collecting regrets means that you’re going ahead and doing something. You’re moving ahead and not expecting to be perfect. It means welcoming the mistakes that can lead to growth and learning.

Go ahead, Collect Regrets!