A writer friend of mine started a Facebook page dedicated to positive, uplifting and encouraging thoughts. Each Monday there’s a new topic for us to post comments on. This week, it was “Trying something new.” I  got to thinking about how trying something new has enriched my life, challenged me to be a better person, given me some new insight, taught me humility, taught me grace and so much more.

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A couple years ago when the subject of my Peace Corps experience came up, a woman told me she thought I was very brave to volunteer. That comment caught me off guard. Brave? Really? Admittedly, I didn’t join the Peace Corps when I was an idealistic young kid straight out of college with the belief that I could change the world, but rather, I was fifty-six. I’d been married, raised four kids, and buried by husband who died of cancer at the age of forty four. My youngest child had graduated from college and I was wondering “what next?” I was looking for an adventure. It never occurred to me that it might be a brave thing to do. It was stepping out of my comfort zone for sure. I’m lousy at languages and I knew I’d have to learn a new one in spite of that handicap. I’d have to dedicate two years of my life living half a world away in a very different place than I was accustomed to, doing who knew what for work, but that was part of the adventure.

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Taking that leap of faith turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. I have a family on the other side of the world who opened their home and hearts to me and taught me so much. I made friends I’d never have met had I not gone and enjoyed some of the most amazing experiences. I even met and spoke with a queen. I swam with humpback whales, taught English to grade school students, snorkeled over beautiful, colorful reefs, camped on deserted South Pacific islands, climbed a volcanic mountain and crawled and swam into caves. I was bit by a pig, learned to live in sweat-damp clothing all the time and welcome the rain when it came every afternoon. I heard church bells ring all over the island at midnight on New Year’s Eve, and learned how to weave a mat Tongan style. Working in a culture very different from my own was a challenge, but the rewards of taking that step out of my comfort zone outweighed the hardships about 100 to 1. So, maybe I didn’t change the world, but I changed the world for the people whose lives I touched. And they changed me forever.

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So try something new. You just never know how much it might change you  -- for the better.

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And if you need a little inspiration, check out this speech given by a Navy Admiral at a college graduation.

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You can read more about my adventures in the Peace Corps under the Peace Corps tab on this website.