~it's a given~

There are several things that I've tried to do in this life.  Some I've been very successful at and others woefully not so successful at.  So let me just say this from the "get go"~

"I'm glad that my family did not rely on my ability as a pottery painter to put food on the table in our household.  If they would have, I'm afraid there would have been 3 very hungry children."

I took a trip with my daughter this afternoon to a place here in Montrose called "Amazing Glaze" where we both spent an afternoon at a table filled with brushes of all types, paint all over the place to choose from, and the determination to turn a piece of bisque into a beautiful work of art. It was a brand new experience for me, my very first time ever.  I was assured it would be quite fun and it turned out to be a very enjoyable experience.  A little over 2 hours after we started, both of us determined our pieces to be complete.  Now all that is left is the firing of each of them in their kiln.  They will be ready for me to pick them up at week's end.  I will be anxious to see how they look in their finished glazed state.

Shoot, it looked so easy at first but it was a little bit more than just dipping a brush into a little vial of paint and creating your own masterpiece.

I didn't know if my hand was steady enough to do this.  I made about a gazillion mistakes but was reminded that it's only my first try at it.  Like I said, the good Lord knew that I'd make a much better teacher than I would a painter.  Having said all of that, I rest my case.

I've done a whole lot of "first" things in my life.  Some of them I wanted to do again because they were lots of fun.  Things like power parachuting for example.  It was a totally last minute decision to head up in the air, flying around in a contraption that looks something akin to a go-cart with a colorful parachute packed in behind.  For the record, it was great.  Wait a minute.  I'm going to stand corrected on that one.  It was better than great.  The first time I did it was a little unnerving in the initial minutes of preparation on the ground but just as soon as I got into the air, I knew that I'd want to go again sometime.  And for the record, I did.  Twice more.

It's not near as scary as it looks and if you have never tried it, please take the chance to do so some day.  I have power parachuted all 3 times near my old home in Hutchinson, Kansas.  For less than $100, you can have the ride of your life.

A few years back I wanted to learn how to shoot a small handgun, shotgun, and rifle.  Since I had never done it before, it was really kind of scary at first but once I aimed at the target and fired my first shot, it got easier.  Not too crazy about the "kick" that a shotgun has but I was able to figure it out.  I'm in a part of the world right now where many of the women I work with at school hunt on a regular basis.  It's totally commonplace for them to handle guns of all types and calibers.  For me, I had the desire to give it a try for the "first time".  It was not so bad after all but once again, how thankful I am that my family didn't depend upon my hunting prowess to provide food for the table.

It only took me slightly under 200 rounds of ammunition but I actually managed to get one "bulls eye".  I wanted to get over my fear of handling a gun and I was able to do just that.

Once for the very first time, I rode my bike more than 75 miles in one day.  It wasn't easy but I made it.  That was the last time I was able to accomplish that feat but at least I did it once.  Unfortunately for me, only 8 weeks later I tried to jump a curb on my bike for the very first time and came away  with little success.  9 months later, I finally got the long arm cast off of "Old Lefty".

In order to get over my fear of snakes, I journeyed to Oklahoma City a couple of summers back and met with my good friend Kyle who has a whole menagerie of them at his house.  It was not really the most comfortable of adventures but after I left there, I no longer feared those things that had scared the living daylights out of me all of my life.  Before I left, I held a snake for the very first time in my life and for the record, once has proven to be enough.

Everything was going fine until my "new friend" decided to start heading up towards my left shoulder.  Would I enjoy a life as a herpetologist?  Nah, probably not but at least for one time in my life I felt brave enough to at least give handling a snake a fair try.  I think that my mouth was agape as it was getting ready to form the word "help!".

Well, so I'd never make a snake handler or trick stunt bicycle rider in life.  Probably wouldn't be a professional bicyclist who made money on the circuit.  You can figure that I'd make a poor security guard and by the way I only like to ride in a power parachute.  I don't have any desire to be the driver.  But all of that doesn't matter because I'm doing exactly what I want to each day by entering the classroom and having the life that I cherish the most.  I'm a teacher and that suits me just fine.  I need nothing else.

I don't know if I will ever paint another piece of pottery in my life but at least for this day I was able to try something that was very much out of my comfort zone and enjoy time with my daughter.  How about it, my dear family and friends.  Is there something that you haven't tried yet that you'd like to?  What is holding you back?  Whatever it is, why not give it a try?  You won't regret it if you do but you might regret it if you don't.