A wake up call

So today I received an email from my friend Bridget McNulty, who is by the way a very talented author- check out her book Strange Nervous Laughter. And she wrote something that really struck a chord with me. Then I went over to her blog saw a post on the same thing. The universe (and Bridget) are trying to tell me something LOL!

Hi. My name is Carol and I am too hard on myself.

I never thought of myself as the prettiest girl while growing up, so I thought if I couldn't be pretty I could be smart. Then I started thinking that I wasn't as smart as the other smart people, so I focused on my creativity. And once again there were people that I thought were MUCH better than me at the being-creative-thing. I eventually gave up on being better than anyone else.

Unfortunately as a result of my previous attempts at beating people, who weren't even running the race with me, I kept being hard on myself. Everyone around me could tell me how great my achievements are and I would think they were being nice and that I could do better.

Just recently I have discovered that there is a big difference between wanting to improve and constantly trying to win. For me an untidy house is a sign of weakness, not seeing something through is a sign of weakness, not doing things on time or quickly enough is a sign of weakness for me. That doesn't mean that I judge people who have untidy houses or don't finish what they started. I'm only THAT hard on myself.

It has just occured to me that there is nothing wrong with being weak, just as there is nothing wrong with being strong. I have to accept that I am perfect just the way I am. I have to learn how to take a compliment and pat myself on the back for all the great things I have done.

Bridget suggests being a little sweet to yourself. I'm going to take things slowly, exercise for a bit and take a soak in the bath for a while... Right after I finish up all my work ;)