I stumble through life in the literal sense and give my family plenty of opportunity for laughter. And while the falling down is sometimes quite painful, thank goodness, I pay attention and learn how to lesson the potential for falls in the future.
Number 1 – Accept I am not a candidate for downhill skiing – and . . .
Walk slowly – Stay focused – And most importantly, laugh when it happens
The point in all this self-disclosure is that, most assuredly, as you experience life, you will fall down too. Maybe not in the physical sense, but rather a fall in the psychological sense. You will try something and it won’t go as expected. We’ll call it a mistake, failure, fiasco or catastrophe. I’ll talk more about labeling.
You all know that unless one falls off a cliff into an abyss, we are likely to recover from a physical fall. But the psychological fall???? Well that’s a little more challenging to bounce back from.
A blow to the ego can cause a lifetime of suffering and prevent you from ever trying again.
I accept that I will continue to make mistakes, so over the years I developed techniques to overcome the possible devastation, embarrassment, chagrin and paralyzing fear that could accompany a psychological fall. I am absolutely not immune to those feelings creeping back, but I am much more resilient and I don’t let a failure prevent me from trying again. To overcome the hesitation and fear of putting myself out there – I developed a brave heart.
Increasing my bravado was done in increments. When I was a younger woman, I never did anything spirited. I never did anything that I wasn’t good at and since I didn’t think I was good at anything, well you get the idea. I never put myself in a position to suffer public embarrassment. I never laughed when I fell down. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out.
So, how did I transform from a shy, never take a chance because you are such a failure at everything kind of girl into a woman who says she has a brave heart? I’ll tell you how I got it and you can have one too. Just think about the word B-R-A-V-E and change the internal label.
Next post: How to begin the journey
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