I know, it's been a minute.
My fall workload is intense, and this year has been no exception. But let's move on to today's installment. The lyrics I want to reflect on today are from Wicked, another very favorite musical of mine.
"I'm through accepting limits
'Cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But 'til I try, I'll never know"
There are so many lyrics I could have chosen from Wicked. But in recent years, I've been most impacted by the lines I just shared.
I've spent a good portion of my life accepting limits. Limits I put on myself, by saying things like "Oh, I could never ____" or "I'm not good at ____". Limits other people have put on me, like telling me I was too shy, too fat, too young, too old. But once I hit my mid 30's, I started to break free from these limits. Why was I holding myself back from seeing how far I could soar? Just because someone, even if it was my own self-doubt, was telling me I couldn't do it?
The example that comes to mind is my personality at work. I used to be quite shy and timid. I would nod along during conversations but rarely express my own opinion. Over time though, I have broken out of that shell. I now speak up in team meetings, lead webinars, talk on radio shows, testify in front of our state legislators...and I don't even get that nervous anymore. My manager, who has only known me for the last 6 months made a comment that she cannot even imagine me being an introvert.
So, what changed? Part of it is experience, in my role I HAVE to speak up at meetings. But the larger part is my confidence in who I am as a person, and not allowing myself or anyone around me to set limits on myself.
Let's be real though, I can talk about my confidence and not setting limits but there is always that sprinkle of self-doubt that WILL be there and may even be the first thing that comes up. For example, Recently, I was sort of half joking about MAYBE trying to train to do a half marathon next year. I had seen friends and friends of friends posting their post-race celebrations and I thought "hmm. I think maybe I could do that". But the self-doubt voice kept creeping in there too, saying things like "are you crazy? you can barely run 3 miles, how are you going to do 13? When will you have time to train?".
my friend Danielle sent me a text message that said:
"I have no doubt that you could do it if you wanted to".
If she had instead said "yeah, a half marathon is REALLY hard, so maybe really think about it"... my limiting self-doubt thoughts may have won. I may have decided, for certainty, I would not do it. But her text gave me the boost that I needed. I'm still considering it, because I truly don't know if I can make the training time commitment, but I may just take the leap and do it. Because, after all, until I try, I'll never know.
My message for anyone reading this is this: You are more than the labels that are put on you. You are capable of going beyond the limits that have been set on you and your life. You have all you need to fly. It's time you try defying gravity.
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