One great thing about getting older is that I now appreciate that people continue to grow, change and evolve. I realize what you currently think you would never do in a million years may become a reality in the future. Thus, we should all think twice before we ever start a sentence with “I would never.”
Earlier this year, we spent three weeks touring Scotland. We saw a significant number of people touring the countryside on their road bikes. They were even doing it in the rain, fighting the elements and carrying all their belongings on their bikes. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that I would NEVER spend time cycling around the remote countryside. It looked cold, wet and like a lot of work! At that moment, I had to stop myself. I realized that although it may not sound fun to me now , who knows what I might consider as fun ten years from now!
I thought back to our honeymoon, when we spent nine days exploring the incredible scenery of the South Island of New Zealand. We noticed a fair number of people touring the countryside in RVs. At the time, I remember taking notice and thinking to myself that touring the country in RVs did not sound even remotely fun.
A short time later, one of my clients was very excited about making the trip to New Zealand with friends to tour the country in RVs. I can distinctly remember saying, “hmmm” and thinking to myself that everyone is entitled to their definition of a dream vacation, but touring in an RV wasn’t mine. I would never choose to spend any vacation that way. There was just no way … camping in an RV was not for me!
A mere nine years later, we found ourselves spending twelve days touring New Zealand in RVs with our friends … and there was no peer pressure involved. I would have never predicted this turn of events back then. Nor did I realize how much fun it could be. We have even evaluated the potential of renting an RV for some of our upcoming travel in Australia!
As a result, whenever I catch myself thinking something that starts with those three words, “I would never…”, I immediately stop myself. Because you never know what your future holds. Years down the road, you might find that your “never” has become a reality.
