I have done a good bit of thinking. So much so, that I’ve stopped going to the gym, gained weight, lost motivation, binged on a shitload of TV, and gathered a fair amount of bitterness. I don’t like it. In fact, it fucking pisses me off.
I am angry at myself and I get angry sometimes just looking at someone else. I don’t like being angry nor do I like the darkness that has grown inside. I. get. on. my. own. nerves. I can’t do anything but giggle and cry at that.
There are excuses for everything and I am an excellent user. The things I strategize in my head...”I will do this in this way, make this happen like this, work through this by meeting small goals, etc”. The simple fact is, shit doesn’t get done.
I ask myself often: Who are you? What do you want? What makes you happy? Where is your passion? See, I am good at a lot of things. I can write, cook, make jewelry, create things, mother, work; BUT I am not at all excellent at one thing.
Most people have their “thing”. They’ve known their thing since they were 3 years old. Chefs have known since toddlerhood that cooking exhilarates them. Musicians began playing at 18 months and never stopped. Scientists were studying things at 2, developing new inventions, curing bad things, discovering unknown species, or understanding with ease a once unsolved mystery. What about those people who completely turn their lives around because of a seemingly menial moment? The ones who overcame their emotional despair due to one comment from another (awful) human. I envy these people. I feel like my life has been mediocre and untapped. Did I miss my moment? The one where I was supposed to find why I was put on this Earth? I’m 44, time is kind of running out. I don’t want to look back and see mediocre. I don’t want to see an overweight, unhealthy, slightly sad, so-so kind of woman. I want to see something remarkable. It was a word used in an obit I read. This man was the father of one of our patients who lived to be 103, very well lived and loved by all.
The thing is, there has been something inside of me that has always felt a little different, wilder, freer, bound for something more. She is in there. I just don’t know quite how to switch skins. The skin I wear now was developed from fears, sadness, judgment, doubt, anger, and worrying about what others thought of me. I’m tired of this skin, so very tired. I want that gypsy skin. The face that shines on life, opens her arms to all, walks lightly through each day, and touches others by simply being.
It is so easy to say “I’m going to let go of my doubt, throw out the baggage, live my life this way”. It is much, much harder to actualize. I have a doctor, a counselor, a psychiatrist, a gym membership, and a pretty quick mind. WTF is so hard? I’ve gone for so long worrying about other’s thoughts of me that I’ve lost myself in their feelings. I wear their skin...not mine.
This brings me back to where I am.
Right now is the only moment I have. I won’t ever have this right now again. So, because I am good at keeping a task list at work and marking things off, I am composing a task list for my life.
1. Be - unabashedly me. If that means I cuss like a sailor because it makes me feel good, write things that may offend people, do things that I am judged for, laugh at things that aren’t appropriate, remain silent when someone wants me to say what they want, or say the exact thing that I want when others want me to be silent. I am not the kind of person to hurt or offend on purpose, rather I want to be me and whether you accept me is up to you. I know in my heart I am a good person. I know your skin no longer fits me and I would hope that you like me better in my own. If not, I’ve given up caring.
2. Speak up - if you put me in a bad light just so it doesn’t get shown on you, I will shut that shit off. Mind you, I won’t be angry nor will I bear resentment. You just won’t get to make me your shadow. If you feel the need to make me the bad guy just because you won’t look in the mirror, I will wave goodbye and not look back. I won’t beg nor will I change just for you. I will simply walk a new less worn path. If you look at me through someone else’s descriptions, I will notice. I won’t try to change your mind nor will I want to. If you look at the world and others that way, I don’t really want you in mine. No anger, no judgment, no resentment. Just not needed.
3. Learn - if I feel like I am mediocre in something that makes me happy, I vow to learn more so I can become better. If I feel a change is due, I will make the effort to learn so the transition is successful. Even if that means I have to leave behind so I can find what I need.
4. Feel - I will not apologize for who I am or how I am. Understand, I have no malintent (my word) towards humankind. I am emotional and sensitive. I cry when I’m angry, sad, happy, worried, etc. It. Is. Who. I. Am. It doesn’t make me irrational or incapable. In fact, I dare say it makes me much more perceptive and understanding. To me, this is a better characteristic than using nothing more than muscle to move up some ridiculous life ladder that was created out of greed and conceit.
5. Work - I will take care of me. I’ve come to learn the only way to care for anyone or anything else is to be well yourself. My body is my own. It is meant to move, dance out in the open, swim in open water, run with my children, hike through mountains, walk down side streets, be pushed a little further. The work I put into making myself healthy will flow into the work I do for others.
6. Relax - I will not be too hurried, too distracted, or too impatient not to notice the little things. Life is, after all, made of the little things. Those are what you will remember when you look back. They are what holds all of the meaning. I don’t want to miss them. I will if I keep running though life holding on to other’s ideals and loading my shoulders with the weight of their skin. As Ayn Rand says: “If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders - What would you tell him?" I…don't know. What…could he do? What would you tell him?" To shrug.”
I am angry at myself and I get angry sometimes just looking at someone else. I don’t like being angry nor do I like the darkness that has grown inside. I. get. on. my. own. nerves. I can’t do anything but giggle and cry at that.
There are excuses for everything and I am an excellent user. The things I strategize in my head...”I will do this in this way, make this happen like this, work through this by meeting small goals, etc”. The simple fact is, shit doesn’t get done.
I ask myself often: Who are you? What do you want? What makes you happy? Where is your passion? See, I am good at a lot of things. I can write, cook, make jewelry, create things, mother, work; BUT I am not at all excellent at one thing.
Most people have their “thing”. They’ve known their thing since they were 3 years old. Chefs have known since toddlerhood that cooking exhilarates them. Musicians began playing at 18 months and never stopped. Scientists were studying things at 2, developing new inventions, curing bad things, discovering unknown species, or understanding with ease a once unsolved mystery. What about those people who completely turn their lives around because of a seemingly menial moment? The ones who overcame their emotional despair due to one comment from another (awful) human. I envy these people. I feel like my life has been mediocre and untapped. Did I miss my moment? The one where I was supposed to find why I was put on this Earth? I’m 44, time is kind of running out. I don’t want to look back and see mediocre. I don’t want to see an overweight, unhealthy, slightly sad, so-so kind of woman. I want to see something remarkable. It was a word used in an obit I read. This man was the father of one of our patients who lived to be 103, very well lived and loved by all.
The thing is, there has been something inside of me that has always felt a little different, wilder, freer, bound for something more. She is in there. I just don’t know quite how to switch skins. The skin I wear now was developed from fears, sadness, judgment, doubt, anger, and worrying about what others thought of me. I’m tired of this skin, so very tired. I want that gypsy skin. The face that shines on life, opens her arms to all, walks lightly through each day, and touches others by simply being.
It is so easy to say “I’m going to let go of my doubt, throw out the baggage, live my life this way”. It is much, much harder to actualize. I have a doctor, a counselor, a psychiatrist, a gym membership, and a pretty quick mind. WTF is so hard? I’ve gone for so long worrying about other’s thoughts of me that I’ve lost myself in their feelings. I wear their skin...not mine.
This brings me back to where I am.
Right now is the only moment I have. I won’t ever have this right now again. So, because I am good at keeping a task list at work and marking things off, I am composing a task list for my life.
1. Be - unabashedly me. If that means I cuss like a sailor because it makes me feel good, write things that may offend people, do things that I am judged for, laugh at things that aren’t appropriate, remain silent when someone wants me to say what they want, or say the exact thing that I want when others want me to be silent. I am not the kind of person to hurt or offend on purpose, rather I want to be me and whether you accept me is up to you. I know in my heart I am a good person. I know your skin no longer fits me and I would hope that you like me better in my own. If not, I’ve given up caring.
2. Speak up - if you put me in a bad light just so it doesn’t get shown on you, I will shut that shit off. Mind you, I won’t be angry nor will I bear resentment. You just won’t get to make me your shadow. If you feel the need to make me the bad guy just because you won’t look in the mirror, I will wave goodbye and not look back. I won’t beg nor will I change just for you. I will simply walk a new less worn path. If you look at me through someone else’s descriptions, I will notice. I won’t try to change your mind nor will I want to. If you look at the world and others that way, I don’t really want you in mine. No anger, no judgment, no resentment. Just not needed.
3. Learn - if I feel like I am mediocre in something that makes me happy, I vow to learn more so I can become better. If I feel a change is due, I will make the effort to learn so the transition is successful. Even if that means I have to leave behind so I can find what I need.
4. Feel - I will not apologize for who I am or how I am. Understand, I have no malintent (my word) towards humankind. I am emotional and sensitive. I cry when I’m angry, sad, happy, worried, etc. It. Is. Who. I. Am. It doesn’t make me irrational or incapable. In fact, I dare say it makes me much more perceptive and understanding. To me, this is a better characteristic than using nothing more than muscle to move up some ridiculous life ladder that was created out of greed and conceit.
5. Work - I will take care of me. I’ve come to learn the only way to care for anyone or anything else is to be well yourself. My body is my own. It is meant to move, dance out in the open, swim in open water, run with my children, hike through mountains, walk down side streets, be pushed a little further. The work I put into making myself healthy will flow into the work I do for others.
6. Relax - I will not be too hurried, too distracted, or too impatient not to notice the little things. Life is, after all, made of the little things. Those are what you will remember when you look back. They are what holds all of the meaning. I don’t want to miss them. I will if I keep running though life holding on to other’s ideals and loading my shoulders with the weight of their skin. As Ayn Rand says: “If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders - What would you tell him?" I…don't know. What…could he do? What would you tell him?" To shrug.”
I’m shrugging.
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