{"id":2510,"date":"2021-06-25T06:50:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T10:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=2510"},"modified":"2021-07-01T14:56:37","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T18:56:37","slug":"week-354-learn-something-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=2510","title":{"rendered":"Week #354 \u2013 Learn Something New!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
OG Surf & Skate (Ocean Grove, NJ)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Week #354 \u2013 Learn Something New!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greetings Tribe — and Happy Friday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Covid closed a lot of doors for many of us…but it for sure opened some others. Tennis is one example! Naturally socially distant and safely outdoors…tennis (like golf) saw an uptick in participation last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And my partner James was no exception to the trend!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With gyms and martial arts studios closed, Jim quickly turned his energy and attention from Cross-fit and Krav…to tennis. As a teen, he always wanted to play tennis but was pushed into football instead. Needless to say, his interest in sports waned quickly and it took years (decades really) for him to find his way back to his athletic self!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So on his birthday last year, I gave him the gift of a tennis lesson. Rackets, shoes, and cans of tennis balls followed (cans and cans of tennis balls!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was hooked! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flash forward to this year…and he is entering his first tournament! On his birthday! What a great way to celebrate how far he’s come this first year — and reaffirms that it’s never to late to ignite an old flame, renew a passion, or do that thing you always wanted to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which reminds me of this post from Week #47<\/a> from 2015:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t help but notice this sign outside of our local surf shop. \u00a0This was the shop that started it all for us! \u00a0About a decade ago\u00a0\u2014 OG Surf & Skate used to be called OG Surf Shop. \u00a0That is where I took my first surf lesson, bought my first wetsuit, and my first and only surfboard! \u00a0It wasn\u2019t too long after that\u00a0my brother Rob wanted to give it a try\u2026and, like most things he attempted, he picked it up\u00a0annoyingly quickly and easily! \u00a0Soon\u00a0he had his own wetsuit, his own board, and his very own hobby that he loved so much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surfing is a tricky sport.  It takes place on an unpredictable, moody, and moving surface.  Much has been written about The Wave\u2026but one thing is for sure: you cannot control it.  It doesn\u2019t stop, or wait, or even play nice sometimes.  Without question \u2014 YOU must adapt to it.  And if you take the time to learn and cooperate just a bit \u2014 you just might get to experience the absolute thrill of standing up and riding a wave in for the first time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never would have gotten there on my own.  I needed someone to teach me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m so glad I did!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think nothing of sending kids off for all kinds of lessons: swim, cooking, acting, dance, karate, band, and yes \u2014 even surf lessons!  Why do we do this?  To increase their learning curve?  To learn good habits?  And with surf or swim \u2014 to possibly save their lives?  Why then, as adults, do we try to do everything ourselves?  Why is it hard for us to humble ourselves to the expertise of another \u2014 all for the sake of learning, expediting, enjoying, and yes \u2014 possibly even saving our lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best experiences I\u2019ve had as an adult have been learning something new.  I took a ski lesson a DECADE after I first went skiing \u2014 to UN-learn bad habits and learn the \u201cright\u201d way!  I took a motorcycle class to learn how to properly (and hopefully safely) ride a motorcycle.  My sister and I treated my mom to a group golf lesson one year \u2014 and had a great time learning something new together (and playing a few rounds after that)!  And yes, I took surf lesson to not only learn how to surf \u2014 but how to fall, because wipeouts are inevitable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know a 20-something who takes piano, a 40-something who learned to swim, a 60+ year old who learned to play the trumpet, and an 80-something that will happily teach you how to knit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve used mentors, coaches, and webinars to learn \u2014 and try \u2014 something new.  I even used a tutorial to start this very blog!  You are never too old to learn something new \u2014 in fact, learning might be the very thing that keeps you young!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Learn something new!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Learn to surf, to cook, to play tennis, paddleboard, yoga, skeet shoot, whatever! \u00a0Whether it\u2019s been something you\u2019ve been doing for years \u2014 or something you want to try just now. \u00a0Give yourself the gift of experience and take a lesson! \u00a0Two things will happen \u2014 you\u2019ll either realize the thing you\u2019ve been wanting to do isn\u2019t quite for you; or you\u2019ll realize it is and have a whole new hobby to keep you busy! \u00a0Either way is just as important \u2014 to eliminate options opens you up for something else; to nurture and grow a budding interest\u00a0opens you up to a something new!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a lesson! \u00a0(Or give one!) \u00a0You can\u2019t\u00a0stop the wave \u2014 but you can learn to\u00a0surf!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spread Happyness \u2014 and share your thoughts in the comments!  What would you like to learn (or teach)?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6\/25\/21 by Grace Church
\u00a9 Grace Church<\/em>
grace@spreadhappyness.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week #354 \u2013 Learn Something New! Greetings Tribe — and Happy Friday! Last year, Covid closed a lot of doors for many of us…but it for sure opened some others. Tennis is one example! Naturally socially distant and safely outdoors…tennis (like golf) saw an uptick in participation last year. And my partner James was no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2513,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510\/revisions\/2513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}