It's never too late. No, really.

Isn't it funny how there's so much generic advice floating around that even when we hear it, we never really stop to think about what it means? "Be the change you wish to see in the world," or "live life to the fullest," or "do unto others as you would have others do unto you." All those cliches that make us roll our eyes and say, "Well, duh. Now say something that's actually profound so I can ponder ways that it pertains to my life."

The one that's been on my mind lately is "It's never too late to start something" or anything along those lines. You're never too old to change careers. It's never too late to fall in love. Stuff you tell people who are going through a midlife crisis. Or your best friend after s/he just broke up with his/her significant other. Or your mom when she wants to start that yoga class. Or that 95 year old lady that you heard about on the news who finally went back to school an earned a college degree.

But what about me?

There are a lot of things I regret not being able to do when I was younger. Like have my mom teach me Tagalog while I was still learning how to speak English, or not taking dance classes back when I was determined to grow up to be the world's best ballerina. Not that I really could have changed either of those things, since my mom spent most of her time working, and we never had money for any sort of lesson outside of school anyway.

Now that I'm in college, I look around at all the different classes I can take (for free!) and a lot of those regrets come rushing back. I wish I could take a Spanish literature class, but it's been too many years since I took Spanish in high school. I wish I could double major in music, but I quit band in middle school. I wish I could audition for Aida, but I can't sing and I've never acted, and I'd trip over my own feet trying to get the dance moves right.

And just like that, I dismiss all the things that I never learned how to do. Until yesterday, when I couldn't seem to find any classes that fit my schedule for next quarter. So I picked up my course offering book and started looking through every possible thing I could take and I finally stopped in the music section, where they were offering group voice and piano lessons for non-majors. I've always wanted to play the piano, but I never had the money or the opportunity. And there it was, staring me in the face. So, I went to sign up for it and.... they weren't offering it.

I let my eyes drift down to my second option. Voice. Anyone who knows me know that I can't sing.

And then I laughed. Of course I can't sing! Because I never tried. I never learned.

And there was another one of those pesky cliched bits of advice: you can't succeed if you don't try.

So I added the class. A full ten weeks of guaranteed embarrassment. But who knows? Maybe I'll end up being good at it. It's never too late to try something new.