"Wanted: full time office assistant.  Should be familiar with word processing and spreadsheet programs.  Experience required."

Sound familiar? We often read employment ads or hear others talk about how valuable having experience is.  And some times it is.  But some times being in-experienced is of greater value.  Now don't get me wrong:  experience is a terrific teacher.  The problem I see with it is that it can frequently stifle ingenuity, creativity and COURAGE!

Think about this. If you tried a new harmony in the church choir, and your sour notes were the topic on everyone's tongue at the next practice, you'd probably just stick to the music the director gives you.  Experience was your ingenuity-squelching teacher.

If you wrote a book that everyone said was really, really bad, you might just burn the manuscript in a disappointed cremation in the back yard.   Experience was your creativity-squelching teacher.

And if your first swimming lesson resulted in you swallowing half the pool, you aren't going to be real anxious to dive in again.  Experience was your courage-squelching teacher.

In an effort to understand my breast cancer diagnosis (and better answer the, "Why me?" question), I came to this realization. Without scary and bad and just plain crummy experiences in my life, I wouldn't really get the chance to test my courage. 

Helen Keller said, "We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world."  The same is true with experience.  If we only fell back on what was familiar to us, we'd never grow and we'd never discover the courage within in us kept hidden by our routines.

I'm not suggesting anyone go out in search of harmful experiences, and I'm certainly not suggesting you wish for a life-threatening illness  in order to expand your horizons.  Rather, what I'm saying is that when you have the chance to stretch a little with a new opportunity, go for it.  And when you're dealt with a new and less than ideal situation, don't be so quick to assume there's nothing good in it. 

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  I think there's a big serving in courage in every gulp!