Happy Friday Traveling Souls….
One of the things that make life so precious is having more opportunities to do more, and therefore be more.
I want to talk today about learning new things at a mature age. Some of us are very shy or intimidated by learning new things, especially when we turn to be an age when most people start coming to you, asking you tough life questions because you look like you are supposed to know "everything"?
First, small confession … I learned to cook full meals and really started enjoying it as a grown woman. And that to me is it a great accomplishment.
Coming from a single father household, where you didn't have to proove anything to anyone outside of grades, learning to cook or clean was secondary. Household chores was not a prerequisite to feel valued, loved, celebrated by daddy around the household that i grew up in.
Cooking became a bitter sweet experience early on in life quickly, around the times when as a child, i would go to my shool girlfriends' houses to visit, and notice how busy they would get helping their mothers out around the house. And i wasn't asked to do anything but be a child and smile at strangers who come to visit around my own home.
Today, My once cooking (not eating) anxiety is disappearing and turning into a successful testimony. And i don't mind sharing. Learning to cook home meals (like African traditional meals) at a mature age has become a milestone in my life. So i'm here to encourage someone today. Learning can be hard, especially when you are also battling the tough mental barriers that you set on yourself or that somebody set on you. But living to see the day when your hard learning pays off; and your story is complete is highly rewarding. What are you still scared of learning (hint. Scared that other people find out that you don't know how to do, or that you' ve never done?)
I want to encourage you. Cooking, or anything you set your mind to learning, can turn out to be a precious milestone experience on your journey. it can even teach you lessons about letting go of guilt, lessons about forgiving yourself, and those who judged you because they could not see you beyond your former insecurities or "disabilities", or life circumstances…
I' ve realized as i'm getting older now into my cooking, that learning (to cook) has never been the first issue.
The bigger issue about learning (to cook) the new is letting go of the old. To learn the new for me, I had to let go of every negative word or thought ( words that, as Peggy O'mara would say, "became an inner voice") i was ever told growing up that made me despise cooking as a hobby, or an everyday activity. When you let go of the old, you are ready to unlearn the setbacks that you created as a result of people putting their negative expectations on you. Ever. When you don't know any better, you become what you are told.
I am here to tell you that you can enjoy learning new things no matter how old or young you are. No matter how late you think it already is. Many women out there, i know, are not born impeccable house cleaners or fine chefs. They had mothers, or mother figures, to teach them. And some other women, then children, refused to learn growing up. And that's okay. Some women didn't have anyone to learn house management from. And that's okay too. It's all a matter of attitude. Some women only gave it a try one day, as they grew older, and they keep learning everyday. Yet they are not afraid to keep trying, and overcome fine invisible boundaries set by society, famillies, neighborhoods, religion .
Take it as a privilegde if you didn't have to learn to be grown at an age where you were just a child. Cherish it. Always. But don't stop there. Make yourself available for a new learning/teaching experience.
What did people tell you that you couldn't do that stopped you dead in your tracks before you even tried? Fight it. Unlearn anything that is standing in your way of reaching personal fullfiment. You may not be the best cook, but you can eat your own food and enjoy it. And you might even make few believers in you along the way. You can defeat the odds and spread your wings past the age limits..
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