Are you white knuckling your way through life, terrified of making a mistake? Me too.
For years, I went around thinking, “What if I say the wrong thing?” “What if I do the wrong thing?” “What if I mess up?” “What if no one likes me?" Do any of those sound familiar? Do any of those thoughts make your life better? Do they make it worse? How?
What if you decided to retire as Grand Poo Bah of the Universe? What if you decided that from here on in, you’re just going to show up and do your best – no judgement, no criticism (all right, not much criticism) and no yelling at yourself for not being Perfect!
How would your life be different if you stopped trying to scare yourself into always being that good boy or that good girl?
Imagine you’re back in third grade. Your teacher announces everyone is going to write an essay on, “What you did last weekend.” She tells the class, “You have twenty minutes to get it done. It must be perfect and it must be in ink. There can be no mistakes.”
How are you feeling? How do you think you’ll do?
But what if your teacher says (or you tell yourself) “Take your time. It will get done when it gets done. Just do your best. No one is perfect. And you can write this essay using a pencil with a big, fat pink eraser on the end.” How does that feel? Does it change the way you approach the assignment? Do you think it might change the way you approach your life?
What if you decided today, that from here on in, you’re going to live your life as if everything you do is written in pencil, with a big, fat, pink eraser attached. Would you feel different? Would your life be different?
Why not give it a try?