Hello from sweltering Sydney!
Today, as half of you rest after Thanksgiving, and some of us roast slowly in the heat or have the aircon cranked to high, and some of you walk through a wintery day…I had a thought I wanted to share.
This week I sat in the parking lot at the mall talking with my cousin in Canada about why her family of origin (who lived so close to a community ski hill) never learned how to ski. And she said something that stopped me in my tracks.
Whoa. Stop everything.
How many times in my life have I not done something because I thought, “That’s for other people”?
Sometimes the thought is completely subconscious.
I started to make a list.
skiing. That’s for other people.
training to the point of actually feeling like an athlete. That’s for other people.
buying and selling multiple homes (flipping houses). That’s for other people.
taking care of my body as a priority, to the point of being naturally slim. That’s for other people. (I do this one partially, not completely because…that’s somehow selfish, or too time-consuming, or too self-focused, and for other people???)
playing an instrument. That’s for other people.
This question resonated with me so much.
You might be different, and not get this at all. You might be a super logical person. You might just do whatever the heck you want, when you want.
But me? I have stopped myself because deep inside I think, “Oh, that’s for other people. Not for me.”
I have to admit it: a lot of life’s opportunities that are fully available to me I shut down automatically. I don’t even LOOK AT how to get there, or THINK ABOUT what I could do, or what I want because— “That’s for other people.”
Your turn.
Do you limit yourself, too?
Are there a few things you could do that you just don’t (yet)?
Here’s the promise I’m making to myself: in 2021, I am going to do some things that I’ve always secretly thought were for “other people.”
Will you join me?
When I think about what I’d choose or where I’d start, my brain feels like this:
This could be fun, but where do I start?
But you guys, it’s the Mary Oliver line from her poem, “The Summer’s Day”:
“Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
If 2020 has brought us anything good, it’s this: we have more time to think about things, and make some decisions about the future.
Happy Sunday!
(If this resonates with you, drop me a note if you have time. I feel a little vulnerable sharing this idea with you, but maybe you feel the same about your own life? Is there anything you’ve stopped yourself from doing?)
Love Catherine x
PS.
Hello to all the new people this week! You are so welcome here at Love Our Age.
Tree’s up in our home and I’m loving our early start to the holidays! Fun tip if your family is struggling a little: a puzzle, whether you finish it or not, somehow makes people feel like there is space and time in the world. Puzzles feel jolly, and holiday-like. You probably have one lying around the house somewhere. The piece of felt means you can roll it up anytime…or just box it up when you’re tired of it.
