Nudge Challenge Week 49 = A New Place
NUDGED: "Go to a new place in my city"
BACKSTORY: I decided to add this nudge a few months ago after my patriotic week. That week in July, I went to two new local places that I had never been to before, even though I have lived in this same city for most of my life. I realized that there are other places within my city that I haven't been to yet. Time to try a new place again!
QUOTE: "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: In some ways, this was not a new and scary challenge for me. My husband and I have a list of restaurants in our city that are new or places we haven't eaten at yet. It is a long list! We try out new places about once a week, to show our support to new restaurants and find new favorite places. We have been doing this for years now. Incredibly enough, our list continues to grow as we add more places each year than what gets crossed off. I don't know if we will ever complete the list, but we are having fun working on it!
I started this week making a list then. I listed places that I haven't visited previously, and used the internet to help build my list. I then narrowed down my list with some internet recon work, determining hours and price mainly. Unfortunately, there were a couple of places that I really wanted to get to, but they didn't work with our schedule or budget this week.
But one place did work and we visited it. It was amazing!
Kevin and I checked out the (new!) Arc of Dreams. It was the first time for both of us, although we have seen it on the news. Per the website, the Arc of Dreams is a massive stainless steel sculpture that spans across the Big Sioux River and is nearly the length of a football field. At the center is a 15-foot gap, 85 feet above the river, representing "the leap of faith dreamers take to see their dreams come true."
We went after dark and it was lit up with purple lights. It was beautiful! I'm glad we finally got to see it in person and that it didn't cost us anything (per nudge guidelines). Bonus: we now know where it is located so we can take other guests there in the future.
I had another opportunity to check out a new place on Saturday evening. My husband and I finished dinner downtown and had extra time before the Symphony concert. We went to the Washington Pavilion and checked out the Art Gallery there on the second floor (free with our concert tickets!). It was a new place for both of us. We both stood and admired different pieces, and appreciated the talent of all the artists. It was great!!
LESSONS LEARNED: A statement from an online conference call really resonated with me this week and applies to this nudge. When discussing childlessness with other people in the same situation, one woman stated that it gets easier to talk about it and tell your story the more you do it. That is so true of my experiences so far in this nudge challenge and in my life.
The hardest part is getting started and getting out of my comfort zone, but then it gets easier as I do it more and more. This nudge didn't feel as challenging to me since I have tried new places before and survived (ha!). It was hard at first doing nudges or activities alone, but has gotten easier the more I have done them. Giving up drinking pop was hard at first, but got easier as time went on without it.
A good lesson for me = it gets easier after you start!
NEXT UP: The new nudge for the week will be to "make a Pinterest board of my favorite things". This may not sound challenging, but it's been a long time since I was on Pinterest and even longer since I last created a new board. Also, what are my favorite things? How will it be to wade through the numerous items to find what appeals to me - like finding a needle in a haystack? We'll see!
BACKSTORY: I decided to add this nudge a few months ago after my patriotic week. That week in July, I went to two new local places that I had never been to before, even though I have lived in this same city for most of my life. I realized that there are other places within my city that I haven't been to yet. Time to try a new place again!
QUOTE: "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: In some ways, this was not a new and scary challenge for me. My husband and I have a list of restaurants in our city that are new or places we haven't eaten at yet. It is a long list! We try out new places about once a week, to show our support to new restaurants and find new favorite places. We have been doing this for years now. Incredibly enough, our list continues to grow as we add more places each year than what gets crossed off. I don't know if we will ever complete the list, but we are having fun working on it!
I started this week making a list then. I listed places that I haven't visited previously, and used the internet to help build my list. I then narrowed down my list with some internet recon work, determining hours and price mainly. Unfortunately, there were a couple of places that I really wanted to get to, but they didn't work with our schedule or budget this week.
But one place did work and we visited it. It was amazing!
Kevin and I checked out the (new!) Arc of Dreams. It was the first time for both of us, although we have seen it on the news. Per the website, the Arc of Dreams is a massive stainless steel sculpture that spans across the Big Sioux River and is nearly the length of a football field. At the center is a 15-foot gap, 85 feet above the river, representing "the leap of faith dreamers take to see their dreams come true."
We went after dark and it was lit up with purple lights. It was beautiful! I'm glad we finally got to see it in person and that it didn't cost us anything (per nudge guidelines). Bonus: we now know where it is located so we can take other guests there in the future.
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| Arc of Dreams in Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
I had another opportunity to check out a new place on Saturday evening. My husband and I finished dinner downtown and had extra time before the Symphony concert. We went to the Washington Pavilion and checked out the Art Gallery there on the second floor (free with our concert tickets!). It was a new place for both of us. We both stood and admired different pieces, and appreciated the talent of all the artists. It was great!!
LESSONS LEARNED: A statement from an online conference call really resonated with me this week and applies to this nudge. When discussing childlessness with other people in the same situation, one woman stated that it gets easier to talk about it and tell your story the more you do it. That is so true of my experiences so far in this nudge challenge and in my life.
The hardest part is getting started and getting out of my comfort zone, but then it gets easier as I do it more and more. This nudge didn't feel as challenging to me since I have tried new places before and survived (ha!). It was hard at first doing nudges or activities alone, but has gotten easier the more I have done them. Giving up drinking pop was hard at first, but got easier as time went on without it.
A good lesson for me = it gets easier after you start!
NEXT UP: The new nudge for the week will be to "make a Pinterest board of my favorite things". This may not sound challenging, but it's been a long time since I was on Pinterest and even longer since I last created a new board. Also, what are my favorite things? How will it be to wade through the numerous items to find what appeals to me - like finding a needle in a haystack? We'll see!
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