While rehearsing for a play years ago, I had a director tell me that no one in the audience would know the character better than me, as we had been running through the piece every day for nearly six weeks. In addition to research of the character, working through scenes and discussions with the director, I was the expert on that subject matter.

I just had to own those choices and run with them confidently.

Such is life. No one knows ourselves better than us. But, too often we are more interested in what others have accomplished or what people think of us rather than what we believe about ourselves.

This is why no one can ever tell you what you’re capable of doing or not doing. Unless of course, you choose to believe them.

We know what we’re capable of. We know what moves us. We know what’s important to us. We know what our strengths and weaknesses are.

We just need to move forward with confidence in doing so.

When I’m physically sore I know that I’m pushing my muscles to becoming bigger and stronger.

If I I’m struggling with issues at work or at home, I know that I’m evolving mentally and emotionally.

We cannot move forward without a few growing pains along the way. It may not feel comfortable and we might wish we weren’t going through the ordeal, but this is the only way can we learn these life-lessons intimately to raise our IQ.

Otherwise, it’s just hear-say.

Accepting where we are right now in this moment and learning from it can be a challenge, but what’s the alternative?

I am certainly guilty of getting into a routine of doing the same things over and over again throughout my day and week that there is little room for new adventures.

No doubt healthy habits lead to good results over time, but we can all find the time to discover exciting and new gems we had no idea existed if we’re willing to stray from the worn path and risk just a wee bit.

Whether it be a midnight walk, a 15 minute exploration of the night sky with a pair of binoculars or a short trip to an unexplored area of town, expanding our mind with new ideas and destinations keeps our creativity and mind sharp and in shape.

A chance to step into the unknown is always an opportunity for growth and a natural high.

Inherently, there is nothing wrong with wanting more. Hopefully, we all want to move forward with our evolvement to be the best versions of ourselves we can be.

But, we also may want to keep the big picture in mind knowing where we’ve come from and how far we’ve traveled. Often times, these are great anchors in our lives for us in order to stay humble and grounded. I like to call it, keeping our perspective.

It’s in our nature to build upon what we know and what we have to be bigger and better. This is our human drive to always keep moving forward.

But every so often it doesn’t hurt to pull back the zoom from our lives in order to see the entire forest so we can appreciate this wonderfully long event and all the miracles laced throughout called life.

How often are we coming up with ideas that have never been seen or heard before?

When are we moving forward in life in ways no one else has ever done?

Have we ever created a piece of work that’s the first of it’s kind?

I suppose the answer is never, not very often and no. We will always stand on the shoulders of those that came before us.

This is how we learn, grow and evolve.

But, that doesn’t mean we can’t put our personal touch on something we’ve created from scratch because we’ve been inspired by those who came before us.