We Don’t Know Our True Limits

(air whooshing) (mouse clicking) (bright music) Headspace Studios. (birds chirping) (gentle music) Hello and welcome to Radio Headspace and to Friday. It's Eve here. So I'm pretty sure that when President Kennedy said to Congress in his 1961 speech that they were going to send a man to the moon, many, many people would've gone, "There is no way that will ever happen." How many times have you been in a situation where your first thought of being asked to do something or to try something was along the lines of "Oh, I can't do that?" The truth is, we don't actually know what we're capable of until we're sometimes forced to try it out. I remember when I was asked if I'd be willing to move out to America for work, I thought, "Nope, I'll never be able to leave family and friends." But here I am five years on and I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Had I not been willing to try, I never would've known. Mindfulness is a practice that can actually help us to reposition how we see things, how we can approach things with a fresh perspective. So often we create a box in the mind and we can't deviate from it. Through mindfulness, we can start to see that there actually is no box. The box doesn't exist except for the fact that we think it does. And this extends past just, problem-solving or trying new things. We tend to label or judge other people as well. We put them in boxes based on our preconceived idea of who we think they are. And I was in the grocery store the other day and there was a long line of people waiting to check out. And this lady was struggling to find her wallet and you could hear all the tuts and the moans from folks. And one person even muttered, "Oh, typical, there's always someone like this "when I'm trying to check out." And I tried to put myself in her shoes, having been in the same situation before, it's a horrible feeling not being able to find your wallet. But the truth is, we actually don't know everyone's story. And a teacher said to me once, "Never assume "because you'll make an ass out of you and me." And I regularly say this to myself and it really helps. It can be helpful to see if your beliefs, attitudes, thoughts or feelings are finding ways for you to not try something, for not taking risks and exploring what might be possible. So the next time you're perhaps asked to do something for the first time or you're faced with a challenge, just notice are you putting a box around yourself? Because truly, we don't know our limits until we try. And there's a really great animation in the Headspace app called changing perspective. It helps to remind us that we are not our thoughts. If you'd...