September 21, 2026 Trying New Things Helps You Grow
“You can’t discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
– André Gide
Listen to, or read this meditation:
What if you only ate one food for your whole life? Let’s say… only peanut butter sandwiches. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every day. Forever!
That would get really boring, right? You’d never taste pizza or apples or birthday cake! You’d miss out on so many yummy things.
Well, life is the same way. If you only do the things you already know how to do, you miss out on so many fun things!
I know trying new things can be scary. What if you’re not good at it? What if people laugh? What if you fail? These worries are normal. Even grown-ups have them!
But here’s the cool part: every single thing you can do now, you couldn’t do at some point. Walking? You had to learn that. Talking? You learned that too. Reading these words right now? You definitely had to learn that!
You’ve already tried hundreds of new things in your life. And you’re still here, doing great!
When you try something new, a few things might happen. You might be really good at it right away. That’s awesome! You might be terrible at it. That’s okay too! You might find out it’s really fun, or you might find out it’s not for you. All of these are good!
The more things you try, the more you find out about yourself. Maybe you try painting and discover you love art. Maybe you try soccer and find out you like running. Maybe you try singing and realize you want to be in a band!
And even if you try something and don’t like it, you still learned something important. Now you know! That’s not a waste of time. That’s smart!
Some of my favorite things are things I was scared to try at first. I was nervous to try swimming, but now I love it! I was worried about trying new foods, but I found some favorites!
Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. Being brave means you’re scared but you try anyway. And every time you do that, you get a little braver.
So what have you been wanting to try? A new game? A new food? A new activity? Today might be a perfect day to be brave!
Action Step: Choose one new thing to try this week. It can be small – a new food, a new game, or talking to someone new. Notice how it feels to be brave!
-Detroit
