Mind blown. I can’t believe I didn’t watch Mel Robbins’ Ted Talk about How to stop screwing yourself over sooner. Such a great talk. You must go watch it now!
It was referenced at RISE. Yes, this is another RISE follow-up post about my quest to give myself grace and pursue my dreams. It was the foundation for us leaping out of our chairs and dancing like idiots. (Which by the way, I’m still occasionally making my co-workers do and it is still about 100% effective in making us laugh like school children). But, now I understand the context of launching yourself forward. That we need to quit telling ourselves we’re fine and actually do something about making our life better… which involves forcing ourselves to be uncomfortable.
Now let’s be real for a second. I’ve managed to do this. Running races at my size is not comfortable. Attending RISE solo was extremely UNCOMFORTABLE. Changing jobs when I thrive on stability and the known is scary and uncomfortable. Making a concerted effort to be social when I’m the world’s largest introvert is painfully uncomfortable. So yes, I force myself out of my comfort zone regularly for things that I think will make me a better person for others… but not necessarily for myself.
Yep – back to that whole thing of grace. That whole thing of while being there for everyone else is great, it is too uncomfortable to put myself first. To act on the things that would make me achieve the selfish thing I want for myself. And what a shame… Gibbons makes it clear that there is only a 1:400,000,000,000 chance we are here. (That’s 1 in 400 trillion for those who aren’t good at numbers). So, why do I feel it is ok to waste that? It isn’t. End. Of. Story.
And so, I’m throwing this out to the universe (or the 5 people still reading this post). I’m self-publishing a book. I’m doing it for me. It will not be a New York Time Best Seller. It will not necessarily inspire others. But, it will be a tangible, in-print book that shares my why. It’ll be framed around running. It’ll be honest and raw and probably include a few typos and a lot of run-on sentences. It will not be perfect. But it will be mine.
I hope 1-year from now I’m talking about the book that nobody’s talking about. I hope that I have found enough inner peace that rather than wonder if anyone has read it, I’m just happy I put my words out into the universe.
Working title: Sh*t Happens.
I’ve always found when I put something on this blog, it happens. For better or worse, I’m a person who knows that once I say something, I’m committed. And so here we go…
Last note, if you are still reading this, thank you. But take 20-minutes and go watch Mel. Take a minute to appreciate how flipping amazing it is that we are given this gift and to ask yourself, what do you want?