Some days, everything scares me.
I find myself falling into 'worst-case-scenario' mode, where I envision situations in which I fail, embarrass myself, or fall into a creek full of crocodiles and fresh-water sharks that pray upon those who ignored the 'Beware of Crocodiles and Fresh-Water Sharks' sign. Suddenly I'm jerked back to reality and find my shoulders tense, my heart racing and my face contorted into some 'unique' expression (think fugly).
Sometimes these stem from real-life events that I later rehash and embellish what might have been—like that one time Lynze Lenio and I actually did cross a shallow body of brackish water in Costa Rica that had a sign saying, 'Beware of Crocodiles' (look we really, really wanted to see the national park on the other side...which turned out to be closed).
The point is, sometimes we get wayyyyyyyy too heady about it all (and I don't mean crocodile ponds--please think hard bout those). Some days I spend so much time thinking about what could have gone wrong, what could potentially go wrong, or what people might think, that it's completely debilitating.
I had one of these bouts on a recent work trip. I was stressed about the job, and wanted to make a good impression. I'm used to jumping on board with a crew of strangers and making it work, but this time, I got heady. I started worrying that a certain person didn't take me seriously or thought I wasn't up for the job. I voiced this to my mentor (who also happens to be one of my best friends), and she blurted out, “Who the f$&! cares what she thinks!”
It took me a second to process what she said (mostly because it made me laugh), but then I realized how perfectly put that statement was. Who the f-bomb cares what other people think I'm capable of, and why the f-word would I let it dictate what I can or can't do?
So I'm calling today 'Think-Less Thursday.' This is not an excuse to stop using my brain--rather an exercise in fighting off any fears, negativity or counter-productive thoughts for a solid 24 hours. If they pop up, I will pep-talk them away. I will just act and do and move forward and give fear the bird. Care to join me?
Here's a little ditty by Pink Floyd that might offer some inspiration on this fine, fear-free Thursday.
