Do you challenge yourself?

[LastNightMyPJsSavedMyLife]

As in do something difficult out of choice rather than deal with something difficult.

I’m going through a ‘just do it’ phase and decided to travel solo to the other side of the world. I’m glad I did it and have a sense of accomplishment but blimey I can’t wait to get home.

Anyone care to share their ‘just do it’ story?

I went up a level in my ballet class. It was humbling to say the least haha.

I do. But lately just going through normal life has felt challenging, I struggle with energy.

Not if I can help it! Surviving daily life on minimal energy is enough of a challenge for me.

No I don’t. I’m inherently lazy and also don’t have much faith in myself so I tend to think ‘I can’t do that’ and not do it.

I’m content though just bumbling along, I had plenty of excitement when I was younger and now I like a quiet life.

@Waitingfordoggoyou can do “it” though. You really can and if something doesn’t go to plan then you’ve already achieved something because you tried.

Yes, I do regularly, it’s really important to me to do things outside my comfort zone. I nearly always have a moment of regret!

Sure @LastNightMyPJsSavedMyLife. I don’t want to though. I’m completely unambitious tbh and always have been.

Yes I do. I count every day since I lost ds 2 years ago to suicide and push myself to do things out of my comfort zone

Not all the time, but sometimes. I have done a lot of Hard Things at work that have been very challenging. And then I decided to do things like a walking holiday where I did 15 miles a day with no training not sure it was the best idea I have ever had but there was a real sense of achievement. Same with the first ever solo travel I did. But I don't necessarily want to do things miles and miles outside my comfort zone - I'm not going to be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or whatever.

No. I suffer extreme anxiety and don’t leave the house. Just putting something in the outside bin is a challenge for me.

Not really, no.
I am up by 05.00 and work 4 days a week.
The rest of the time I just bimble along.
I do drive solo with the dog to Spain a couple of times a year. I'd prefer not to but go for 2-3 months ata time and he can't fy

Tell us more OP about travelling to the other side of the world - where have you gone and for how long?

I’m not a brilliant traveller - fine with familiar and not too far away places (and I travel a lot for work but mainly to very safe and nearby places). Am much less good the further away and more exotic it gets… so I find stories of adventurous travel quite inspiring and motivating!

Yes!

I love a challenge. And how it makes me feel afterwards.

Love this quote: "If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough."

I travelled solo around India for 6 weeks a few years ago. Very liberating and learnt a lot about myself! I actually moved to live abroad for 4 years a bit after that too, to a non-Eng speaking totally different culture, a whole new life. Leaving that new apartment for the first time making sure to take my bi-lingual language flashcards with me to communicate and navigate was terrifying! And exhilarating.

Doing a skydive was another one for me. I'm not great with heights and the plane was like a wibbly tin can. Remember telling myself "if so and so can do it, you can do it." Loved it so much. So exhilarating and freeing.

What holds you back, if you don't mind me asking?

Yes, but I don't understand why you would travel to the other side of the world, presumably spending quite a lot of time and money on a holiday you're not enjoying, because you knew you were going to find it 'difficult'. That seems like a colossal waste of energy to me, if you're now dying to go home and haven't actually enjoyed any of it, as you suspected you wouldn't.

Depends what you mean by 'challenge'. I do things that I find difficult, certainly. But only if I know I'll also enjoy them and/or the end result will definitely be worth it.

eg I wouldn't climb a mountain just for the challenge alone, but I would if I thought the view from the top would be worth it and/or I was going to be accompanied all the way up by a shirtless Henry Cavill.

I don't spend my free time doing shit I can't stand just so I can say I've done them, basically. I always need more of a reason than just 'I want to challenge mysefl'.

@ShopCake what on earth gave you that idea. Where did I say I haven’t enjoyed the experience. It has brought some unexpected challenges but that doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed it. I don’t know where you came up with me suspecting I wouldn’t enjoy it either. I think you are projecting.

@OhHobnobsI don’t mind you asking at all! I’m not a good flyer and have got worse in recent years so while I can do it when I need to, the thought of a flight to (for example) Australia fills me with horror. And more generally than that, I’m just a bit of an anxious worst case scenario person so like to go to places which have (for example) good healthcare in case of emergencies, democratic governments in stable parts of the world and so on…

Yes I do. I've just started a second undergrad degree in a hard science in my 40s.

I'm also rehearsing to perform on stage, involving quite a technical physical skill which I used to practice but I've lapsed for ten years. I've been able to bounce back surprisingly well!

I did a bit of solo travel in my 20s although it was semi-organised . I'm not sure I'd ever do solo travel now, I have a DH and young dcs.

Gosh, yes! Somewhat ironically, mine started after a nervous breakdown. I thought to myself, "I did everything that my family said to do, and although they were proud and happy, I didn't feel happy doing any of it. Perhaps if I did what I want to do instead, I'll be happy". It worked!

I started out small, just going swimming or to the pictures by myself. I did the deeply uncool thing of learning to knit, which was useful for keeping my nervous hands busy.

I retrained doing what I'd wanted to do when I left school. This required me to drive on the motorway (much pooh-poohed by my family as it is "too dangerous"). I got a lot of experience in an industry that my family does not perceive as a "proper" job. Then I moved sufficiently far away from the village that my family has inhabited since the dawn of time (not the done thing; I am expected to move back and I will not). Basically, I just rebelled while doing normal adult things instead of doing as I was told!

This year, I have been on holiday by myself. I had never been on a plane before, and ended up on six to get there and back. I learnt to use a knitting machine. I do not like crowds, but went to my first live music event. I did my power-boat certificate. I've been carriage driving ("not for the likes of us") and do aerial silks (there are lots of raised eyebrows about that). I've been to an eco-village and have no fear of compost loos. I'm going doing some courses of interest later this year, and am considering braving London (I am much more at home in the countryside)... mainly for its museums, theatres and galleries. Sky-diving is on the list, too, in the hope of getting over my fear of heights. I'm considering doing a post-graduate degree, and having a child as a single parent by choice.

Well done for getting out there to the other side of the world, OP! Keep branching out.

Not any more. Whenever I've thought I should, I was terrified beforehand, hated it during and no better off afterwards. I know what I like, I know what I don't and I know my limits. So while I like a varied life and try to have lots of new experiences, I don't stray deliberately into the difficult or the frightening. It's not for me.

Someone I know did a fundraising challenge for London marathon where she did Dares... eg, one time someone paid her £15 to stand in middle of Lidl and shout "Aldi is better!" Or she wore a silly Onesie for the school run, stuff like that.

This was brilliant and I must remember that idea if I ever want to fund raise.

I am quite adventurous but not about certain things. I wouldn't do something where people will ridicule me afterwards or I'll do it incredibly badly in a public way or It will cost me stupid amounts of money to fix.

Definitely not. DH just walked across the top of the bridge in Porto today, I hate heights so chickened out and walked the lower level. I hate the feeling of adrenaline. Why put yourself through it!

I’m literally going on what you said. You said your post was about ‘doing something difficult out of choice’. Most people approach optional travel for leisure as a source of pure pleasure, not as a ‘difficult’ challenge. You also said that despite a sense of accomplishment, you were ‘dying to go home’. None of that sounds as if you enjoyed your trip.

To an extent. I feel like I am letting myself down if I don't do capable things.

So two years ago I had to give up running so I went for adult swimming lessons as I'd never learnt how to do anything but old lady swimming.

I taught myself to gut a fish after a neighbour left a pair of freshly caught river trout on the gate post.

If we are on holiday I make a point of doing some of the driving in the hire car so I don't lose the skill of left hand driving. I am very confident driving in a right hand drive car on the right hand side. I've driven through much of France Italy and Switzerland.

I took DD to a US city I'd never been to before and she relied on me to arrange everything. Plus she wanted to lie in so I spent a lot of hours exploring on my own. I LOVE doing that kind of thing.

I'm a bit stuck now though and definitely need my next idea.