Being A Dabbler Is The Greatest Thing Ever

If you want to lead your best life, you’ve got some thinking to do. Not much, but some. If you want Have you ever considered what life truly is to you? Why are you here? What is your real purpose? Better yet, what is your real passion? How do you find your purpose or your passion? So many people find themselves settling into a routine early in life that they never find their true purpose in life. Now, consider the question, do we have just one purpose or passion?

How We Find Ourselves

At some time in life, people go through a period of finding themselves. We’re flawed, feeling, caring, imperfect creatures. Like any flawed creature, we can get lost along our journey. What we do to find ourselves is up to us. One thing we should all do more of is dabbling.

Dabbling is taking part in an activity but doing it casually or superficially. We all know a dabbler or two. Those are the people in life that try everything at some point, finding themselves good and a wider variety of things. They are the “jacks of all trades and masters of none.” Even on medium, you’ll stumble across those people who are experts in one or two things. Then, you’ll notice people who have dabbled. They possess a wider knowledge of the world. Thus, they possess knowledge about a greater variety of topics about which they are qualified to write.

Finding our passions is one thing. Pigeonholing ourselves into just one avenue or specialty is quite another. Even dabbling in small things along the way keeps us from being pigeonholed and gives us a chance of still finding our passion.

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”

— Neil Gailman

How We Got Lost

Simply put, we stopped learning. We allowed ourselves to become so inundated by work, by home, by the everyday mundane tasks that we felt compelled to do to maintain what we had in our lives. We became so stuck in our ways, so comfortable where we were, that only an act of “God” or a tow truck could push us to move toward anything new.

Everybody takes a job at some point because they need money. Money doesn’t provide happiness. It will, however, get you a roof over your head and something to eat. There is no shame in chasing after the things you need to survive in the world. Acquiring a degree of comfort and security in something that we didn’t plan for can stop our true purpose from revealing itself and stop it dead in its tracks.

As we start making the most of what’s become the day-to-day of our lives, we stop thinking about other things. Slowly, those passions that we felt inside begin to dissipate. Our once amazing dreams are disappearing right in front of our eyes. We’re becoming something and someone less than we imagined. Just look back to when you were kids and ask yourself, is this what you dreamed of doing?

If the answer is no, it’s never too late.

Dabblers are going to learn new things about themselves this year and for as long as they’re dabbling in something new. Dipping your toes in tells you if you are any good. Most times, dabblers will regularly try something new. The best part of dabbling is that you’re learning, and we should never stop learning.

There is no time better than today to dabble in something new. People around you are dabbling in new and creative ways. My 92-year-old neighbor is dabbling with Facebook because of the pandemic. One of the happiest guys I ever met, dabbled in his passion for airplanes and flying while he was a full-time cop. Now, he’s a part-time cop and works full-time in aviation. As long as we are alive, there is a chance to dabble in new and interesting things. From that, we can find our passion in life.

“The tragedy of life is not found in failure but complacency. Not in doing too much, but doing too little. Not in living above your means, but below your capacity. It’s not failure but aiming too low, that is life’s greatest tragedy.”

— Benjamin E. Mays

Surprise, surprise, surprise. In 2017 a study by One Poll revealed that of 2,000 Americans surveyed, 80% felt like they were stuck in a rut. Nearly 50% of those surveyed admitted they were looking for a way to bring back a little excitement to their daily lives. Far too many have allowed themselves to be trapped by not trying new things. They’re not dabbling…in anything.

My Conclusion

The craziest thing I ever did was to admit how I felt at a point, tell myself I deserved more, that I was unfulfilled, and then went out and sought more of a fulfilling life. I’d stopped learning about anything outside of my usual environment. Life became stagnant. It was not a life I any longer loved.

Walking away from that world, I learned new things, tackled a new world that was far enough outside of my wheelhouse that I might as well have taken a trip to another planet, and returned to things I enjoyed once upon a time. I had spent far too many years complacently moving in place. Then, things got better.

Remember the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Then go out and change the world. Change your world if you’re not in a good place. Try new things. In this big and wonderful world, there are millions of things most of us will never see. Much of that is because we are not trying new things. We stopped being dabblers.

“The only way you improve is to try new things.”

— Charles Koch

Thanks for reading. Now, get out there and try something new. Dabble a bit more, and see what you find about yourself.

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