When you want to reach your fullest potential, then it is key to get out of that comfort place- stop waiting on others to tell you who you are or how good you are or how much you suck at certain things – go out there and become who you have always been meant to be.
Water is such a remarkable thing, isn’t it it ? Not only does water cover more that 70% plus of the earth, it is what keeps us alive. You may be wondering – now come on – what is this water story – such a misleading title 🙂 Got you! Here is the catch – water has different forms … stay with me… water can be gas, can be liquid and can be ice depending on its conditions. Now imagine you are water; water that has always been in very cold conditions its whole life – you would grow up being icy… ( not that there is anything wrong with ice – it serves a very good purpose and is valuable) now what if you remained ice and never discovered your other capabilities?
All until the day something warms you up – and voila you discover you can be ever-flowing water – a completely different state. THIS – is what travelling does – it allows you to discover, explore and beyond that it gives you the ability to dare to be truly yourself in numerous conditions – it builds character.
Traveling helped me tremendously to be who I am today and it continues to help me grow. From the travels within my home country – the village get aways to my grandparents; to the dreaded boarding school experience away from home; to the holidays at my “mothers place” – my aunt; to the day outs with peers – all these various diverse travel trips within Zimbabwe taught me a lot about myself as well gave me backbone to appreciate the country I was born in and my cultural heritage.
It is these travel escapades that sparked something when I was young. It truly dawned on me that Every single one of these trip outside my comfort zone counted!
When you are outside your comfort zone and safely so – there is growth. So why not start early when you are young?
With all that fear, it’s much easier to stay at home in our comfort
zones than to break out and travel.
When I look back, it certainly helps to start young. The beauty of starting to explore when you are young, is that you start at a time that your character is open before the society jingles start overcoming your own thoughts.
Travelling when young gives you the ability to develop certain character muscles that develop the backbone of who you truly are early on before society snips at your brain…, For example it is much harder for someone older who has known only one sort of thing ( someone who has never travelled outside their town for example..) to accept certain types of people as also being the norm or unlearn certain views on society. It is easier for those who have seen diversity at play first hand to be able to recenter what normal means… it is this reason that I am truly grateful for having spent time in my home country experiencing diverse people of Zimbabwe; that I was able to recenter what a normal Zimbabwean or African meant. (In fact there is no such thing as “normal” Zimbabwean, even though society has defined aspects of culture linked to countries ) This allowed me to form my own strong stance of what it truly means to me to be Zimbabwean or African without using the narrative shown on media. I thank the experiences I had for this. Although it was only at a later stage that I rediscovered even more diverse beautiful sides of home and Africa.
To Learn more about Zimbabwe see this article
“Best Experience in Matopes I Zimbabwe”
“Home I Zimbabwe remains one place with lots to uncover”
So my young folks, here is why you should grab the chance now to face your fears and discover the world whilst you are still young. Many wait till there have time, money and are matured to travel ( which is all fine) however here is why it is better to start young.
We spoke of this above in detail. Travelling allows you to grow and discover yourself in various environments just like water develops various states in different conditions. It gives you the edge to explore what you like, dont like and are passionate about – it gives you the gift. of discovering your purpose along the way and embracing your true roots or cultural heritage without making your own culture or being the centre of it all. You are exposed to different things and people that can have an impact on you making you hopefully more empathetic and compassionate which are great skills to build.
- The Time effect
We all think we have more time that we might actually be gifted. Your time is now , you deserve to live fully. In reality the older and more matured we get – the less time we find ourselves having as more duties and adulting piles up. When you are young and have less responsibility, I hope you can gift yourself the opportunity to explore.
- The Money effect
Here is the thing , some wait till they have money to travel. In some countries you have better deals for travelling when you under a certain age – like rail and event discounts plus also student benefits to give young folks opportunities that support them becoming better citizens. Let me know if you would like me to cover something on this.
- The Freedom effect
independence is a sweet thing. When you are young travelling allows you to experiment on that independence.
- The Domino Effect
Interesting people with diverse experiences and skillets usually have the street smarts to make it in the long run in life. Become a skilled person beyond the studious book smart is something that travelling can do for you. The younger you get these skills the more sooner you can use these to build yourself up and develop.
So truly , its a win – win to start travelling now. Am rooting for you. Dare to discover – make memories.
