Funny how something you recently discussed or contemplated suddenly shows up in an unexpected place. Only a few days ago, my wife and I were talking about things we wish we knew how to do or how to do better.
We were streaming a show (“Hart of Dixie”) that featured a person playing an acoustic guitar, and I mentioned how I would love to have taken lessons when I was younger. She encouraged me to contemplate taking lessons now, reminding me of the old adage, “it’s never too late”.
Today’s post plays well into that conversation of skills we wish we had. Here’s my list off the top of my head of skills I’d love to learn:
IMPROVING MY MEMORY
Some people are blessed with a photographic memory and have the ability to recall things from decades before as if it happened yesterday. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Not sure I can get through a successful game of Concentration for that matter!
LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE
About ten years ago, we were in Europe on vacation (England, France & Italy). With each subsequent country change, it felt like I lost my comprehension of what was being said and how to convey a thought to a local, even with English being on signs and menus and such.
Because of that experience, I think it would be awesome to take the time to learn a different language fluently, and to foster it in practice somehow. Plus, I think it would help with the previous desired skill of memory!
PLAYING THE GUITAR
They say all pop songs are a combination of only three chords. That leads me to think learning to play guitar would be a simple task. One site even says it can be done in “5 Easy Steps”! They apparently don’t know me well.
Something tends to be so nostalgic about sitting around a campfire holding a guitar and singing songs while roasting marshmallows and eating smores. Hopefully one day I’ll be doing just that!
REPAIRING DRYWALL
When we first moved into our house a number of years ago, there was an issue with my lawn mower. Being that this was before everyone had a smart phone in their pocket, I literally rolled the lawn mower into my office in the house and brought up YouTube to figure out how to diagnose and make the repair. Years later, I’d roll my snowblower into the foyer to replace the paddles!
For some reason, fixing drywall is something I’ve never been terribly comfortable with. I imagine if I watched a few videos, I could do it, but I worry that the end result would resemble a repair job by some guy who watched a YouTube video to make the repair.
OVERCOMING ACROPHOBIA
Several years ago, while on vacation to Estes Park, Colorado, we ventured into Rocky Mountain National Park for a day of hiking. I was excited to visit Emerald Lake and the views were simply breathtaking.
With the family in tow, we started down the hiking trail, stepping over boulders and trees at times, while admiring the beauty that was all around us. Eventually, we wound around a curve as the elevation slowly increased and it seemed to me the air thinned a bit more (could have been my imagination or the onset of a panic attack). With no guard rails preventing a sheer drop over a cliff, I continued until I came to an overhanging boulder which left less than 12 inches of path to walk (while also leaning down over the precipice). Just as I was about to move forward, a child of about 4 or 5 came running down the path, scooting right by me to the other side! It was at that moment I decided I’d had enough of heights. I backed away from the cliff edge and sat on a nearby rock until the rest of the family had made it to the lake and back.
So, with that story, I’d say I’d love to overcome the fear of heights. Oddly enough, I don’t have problems at all with roller coasters and other amusement park rides. Go figure.
ATTRACTING MORE FOLLOWERS TO MY BLOG
Although the blog has been very successful in attracting a lot of readers so far, I’d love to figure out how to take it to the next level of engagement with my audience. The content is interesting, and the presentation is compelling (I think), but on other platforms, I’m not seeing a ton of comments, likes, etc. I’d love to know what to do with keywords, hashtags, etc. to spread the Moteventure site much further.
Honestly, I think that’s a nice starting list to work on for me. I’ll have to provide an update on my progress as I go. What skills would you like to learn in your own life? Do you have suggestions for me on accomplishing my own goals? Take a moment to leave a comment and share with our readers your thoughts and feelings on learning something new!
MOTEVENTURE 
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