7 Things I Didn’t Think I Could Do Until I Moved to Costa Rica

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

I saw this quote the other day, and it really got to me the more I thought about it.  Turns out, I’ve already been doing a lot of the “things I thought I could not do” – just this year.

Here are 7 Things I Didn’t Think I Could Do Until I Moved to Costa Rica

1.  I never thought I could retire in my early-40s.

But yet – here I am.

2.  I never thought I could make my own pesto sauce.

This may sound odd to you, because I now know that making pesto from scratch is quite easy. While living in Dallas, I had looked up recipes for pesto several time, but I think the food processor business just scared me.  Whenever we dined at Italian restaurants, I’d ALWAYS order a dish with pesto sauce.

And now, I make my own – and it tastes so gourmet to me, it’s crazy.   BTW – swirled with tomato sauce on my homemade pizza?  – THE BEST!

3.  I never thought I could move to and live in a foreign country.

Fact.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could do this, or even consider such a thing.  But yet – here I am…  in a country where I don’t know the language and also in a place that has over 300,000 species of bugs!

4.  I never thought I could make my own tomato sauce.

Blanch tomatoes?  Peel the skin off?  Chop and de-seed?  That’s way too much work for this girl!  Well, I found an awesome easy crock pot recipe – where I don’t have to blanch or peel or de-seed.   I just chop the tomatoes up – throw ‘em in the pot, add a bunch of herbs and seasoning, simmer for a while – and presto!  This sauce is amazing – and you can keep it chunky when you’re done, or blend it for a smoother sauce.  I love it!

5.  I never thought I could make my own bread…  Or pizza dough…  Or pie crust…  Or anything with a rolling pin.

Before, whenever I saw the words “knead” or “roll out” in a recipe – I stopped reading. There was no way I was doing it.  I must give credit here to my friend Emily, for when she told me she made her own bread and a whole array of other things from scratch and I stared at her in amazement, she was like, “What?  You can do it too!”  She encouraged me to try…  And once I did, I was hooked. (She was right!  I could do it!)

There’s some wonderful pleasure to be had in cooking with whole ingredients and making your own items from scratch.  And really – after I took my first stab at things, like kneading and using a rolling pin, it wasn’t so bad.  I really could do these things…  look:

7 Things I Didn’t Think I Could Do Until I Moved to Costa Rica

6.  I never thought I could write a book.

I’ve read almost my whole life, since the time I first started reading, really.  But every time I actually thought of writing a book, I was like – no way.  How would I start?  How could I write to draw people in, or make it interesting?  Did I have to have an outline first?  UGH.

Yep – I am now writing a book (it gives me a thrill just to say those words).  And although it would be nice if people like it, I really don’t care – because I am doing one of the “things I thought I could never do.”  I think it’s pretty darn cool, regardless of whether my book is liked or not. (Remind me not to care later, when it’s published.)

7.  I never thought I would zip-line.