Don't Grow Old. Grow Interesting.

Every week I was embarrassed.

The outfield kept moving in every time I got to bat.

They knew I couldn’t hit the ball far.

We used to play baseball every Friday after school. A bunch of us would get together in the field behind our church school.

I was uncoordinated. Not a good batter. I wanted to quit.

Instead I practiced.

I took a bat and went down to a river bed and started practicing with rocks. I’d pick up a rock, toss it in the air, and practice hitting it.

Over and over again. Thousands of times.

The next time we played I hit a triple to win the game.

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I used to be scared of heights.

Until I went up the ladder enough times.

After a month of being on the roof I was no longer afraid. Haven’t been afraid of ledges ever since.

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The key to overcoming fear is practice. You practice doing exactly what you don’t want to do. Find something that’s just out of your comfort zone. Do it over and over again.

If it’s really outside your comfort zone you won’t want to do it. Do it anyway.

Every time you do something outside your comfort zone you stretch. You expand.

Comfort zones never stay the same. They either get bigger or smaller. Ever notice old people only come in two varieties? — OLD or INTERESTING.

OLD people keep doing the same things. They try and maintain status quo. But they get more lonely and more scared because they keep losing things.

Time always takes. If you let time take too much, without adding new things back to your life, you grow old.

It’s your job to ADD things. Every time you stretch your comfort zone you just added something.

If you add more to your life than you lose you will never grow old.

Don’t grow old. Grow interesting.

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I wanted to quit playing baseball. But then I would never have hit a triple.

I wanted to stay away from the roof. But then I’d still be afraid of heights.

I want to make my posts perfect.

But then I wouldn’t get this one published today…

… and you wouldn’t get to read it.

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Joseph Hurtsellers is an Author, Speaker and Professional Martial Arts Teacher. To get more information about Joe and his book “Break The Chain” please visit:http://www.ohiomartialarts.com/sensei-joseph-hurtsellers/