I had a cold for a few weeks, and was just miserable. Stuffy head, cough, achy – the usual stuff. Plus my energy was just sapped. Going up one flight of stairs wiped me out.
Unexpectedly, exhaustion provided me with a gift.
In the middle of feeling totally lousy, I was contacted by a friend who told me I needed to create a coaching proposal. No big deal, right? But this was for a coaching gig that I thought I was already hired for. Take my exhaustion, and add one part disappointment and one part aggravation.
I still wanted the gig, but at that point I had a terrible cold and an even worse attitude. So I said to myself (very maturely), “FINE. I’ll put together your stupid proposal. I’m just going to write whatever comes to mind and that’s going to have to be good enough. Screw ‘em.” (forgive my manners here, I was miserable).
I put together the proposal, and just disengaged that voice in my head that encourages/nags me to always be doing better. I honestly just didn’t have the energy to both do the proposal and listen to the nag.
What happened was pretty magical. What I knew flowed out onto the paper, and it was excellent. I completed it in less than half an hour, and ended up getting the gig.
As my energy and health return, I strive to keep this gift of my confidence in being good enough. Of letting what I know flow out into the world without holding back, and not worrying that it should be better.
So glad to hear you are feeling better. I like what you shared in your blog about “disengaging the voice in your head.” That never satisfied voice is hungry to compare and always pushes us all to perform and be perfect. What human is perfect? The freedom and joy of doing what we love (as only we can) and being known and sought after for the gift(s) we were given- is success. Accepting ourselves inspires our creativity and builds confidence in our delivery. May your journey to better health bring you many moments of joy discovering and rediscovering your many gift(s) and how to best share them with the world around you. Thanks for sharing.