'Don't be daft. You can't do that!'

                                                          
I have the kind of nature that doesn't like to accept limitations. Once I decide I want to do something there is no dissuading me.
If I want to cut my own hair - I cut it.
If the house needs re-decorating - I do it.
If I want to use something and its broken - I take it apart to find out why.
Whilst my hair may not have the perfect cut, my painting not perfect and the vacuum left sitting in pieces next to the dustbin. I will still have given it my best shot, sometimes I even manage to do a good job.

When I was younger I had assumed that everyone was like this but over the years I have been forced to accept that this is not the case. Countless times I suffer people telling me ‘You cant do that.’ It only serves to make me more determined to give whatever ‘it’ is a go. I may take more time to look into whatever it is, or wait for the time no one is around to laugh at my possible failure but unless I find out for definite that they are right I am rarely deterred.

I must admit, most of my efforts have been driven by lack of money. Often the only way I will get something done that I require is to do it myself but there have also been plenty of times where I have just wanted to give something a go. I once started a jewellery business, bought in all the component stock and even had a London solicitor prepared to write up all the legal contracts for my sales representatives at a massive reduction in price because he believed in the business model. All this without ever having designed or even made a piece of jewellery in my life. My designs proved very popular and the jewellery went on to sell in numerous tourist outlets across Scotland. Those that had told me how silly I was were soon eating their words.


I know I am not alone in having such an ambitious nature. To me it is such a positive way to live your life, only accepting defeat when you have tried your best and not until. I really cannot understand these naysayers that love to pour doubt on peoples efforts. So what if we are trying to do something we have never done before? Why is it they think we cannot learn? Maybe the people who doubt so strongly are the people who would dearly love to be go getters themselves? It is true that some of my ideas are rather unusual. They can pop up out of the blue and seem to have no basis in common reason to most people but that doesn't reduce their validity. Each time I set myself a goal, however small or daft and I achieve it, my moral is instantly boosted. I can look back on the experience with a real sense of achievement, I can also look back on my failures with a chuckle and                                         know that at least I tried.

So come on all you doubting Thomas’s and Moaning Myrtle’s, next time someone you know tells you they are going to try something different. Maybe something daft, strange or just out of the ordinary for them. Instead of telling them all the reasons why they are wrong, mad or just plain stupid. Why not give them some encouragement, stand back and enjoy watching them giving it a go? You never know, you might even be inspired to try something different yourself.

To see the biggest achievement that I was told I could never do, visit my shop at:
www.nellyharper.co.uk/shop