“Over the summer, our ten year old daughter Gabby took a local theatre class. As part of her evening ritual of trying to avoid bedtime, she proceeded to (finally) talk about what happened during her day at camp. Gabby had been excited about the prospect of acting (“I want to be on TV!”) and that morning had shared her desire to try out for the main part in “Frankenstone.” That night she told me, “Mom, I didn’t get the main part in Frankenstone.” I asked her how she felt about that. “Oh, I decided it was okay because it allowed me to learn all the other parts in in the play.” I was a little surprised and impressed by her ability to remain positive, so I asked her how she did this and she replied, “Oh that’s easy, I ignored my little green monster! You know the little voice in my head that told me I should be angry and give up?”
We all have a “little green monster,” that is the voice in our head that tells us “we’re not smart enough, capable enough, thin enough – that is – simply just not good enough.”
It’s really up to each one of us, as part of our own self reflection practice, to simply notice our little green monster (maybe even make friends with it), and to not overact or harshly judge it, so we can move on to becoming our best selves. To borrow a Nike saying, Just Do It, or as one book suggests, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.