I recently told you about my baby daughter’s new activity, which we descriptively call the Yell and Run. Aside from getting me out of breath inappropriately in public places, it has been teaching me about where I need to be more me in my life as of late.
The reality is that I’ve spent a whole lot of time not really being me in my life. I’ve done all kinds of things that don’t have much to do with who I want to be, but rather are all about what others think I should be doing, or what some to-do list or New Year’s Resolution tells me is a priority
And, slowly, I’m trying to change this. I hear it can take years. Decades, maybe. Scores of them, perhaps.
But the point is being on the road.
If the Yell and Run, at its core, is about embracing who you are and who you want to be, then it’s also all about pulling you safely away from the stuff you shouldn’t be doing and the people you shouldn’t be trying to be.
This week this came home to me as I was reading the late Debbie Ford (author of a number of amazing books, including the awesome The Best Year of Your Life). In the particular one I was reading, Debbie encouraged readers to think about what you really want, and then make a list of everything you did in the past 12 months that ran in direct contrast to that aim.
I did it, and suffice it to say it was mighty scary spice.
As in, there was all kinds of stuff on that list that needed a big ole dose of red marker cross-outs. All kinds of stuff I should not be doing if I say I want to be who I want to be.
The point of the exercise, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is that it’s a starting point to figuring out small things you can do today to get you where you really want to be. So do the first thing (the list), and then do the next thing (think about where you really want to be). Then, as Debbie says, think of two small (or itty-bitty) things you can do this week to go on the path you want, not the path others want of you.
Then do one, and then the other.
Yell and Run it, folks. Yell and Run.
