Over the years I have enjoyed reading many Dr. Seuss books with my children.
You may be familiar with the book “Happy Birthday to You.”
One quote from this book that I have pondered is:
“Today you are You, that is true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
So why is this quote so inspiring??
Well I think that’s up to you.
Maybe right now, this quote is the opposite of inspiring to you.
You get to decide what you think about being you.
What are you thinking about being you??
Somewhere along the way from my early teens to now I adopted a pattern of thinking about me that has not served me very well.
This pattern was showing up often and it especially reared it’s head when I would think about my abilities as a mother.
These sneaky little thoughts would tell me that I wasn’t being a good enough mom, I wasn’t doing enough to help my kids learn to be better humans. I wasn’t spending enough quality time with them. I wasn’t teaching them enough. I was failing them.
These thoughts were making me feel pretty bad about being me.
“Yes it’s true Dr Seuss, I am as Me as Me can be, and ME is just not good enough.” or so I thought.
I am sure you can imagine what this line of thinking was creating for me in my life.
It was creating a lot of worry, stress and anxiety. These feelings were driving inaction and a failure to show up as a Mom. This created the proof my brain was looking for to prove true all the lies I was already believing about myself as a mother. A vicious cycle.
I can see so clearly now that what I was choosing to believe about myself was creating the dis-empowering feelings I was feeling and the inevitable inaction that followed.
And then I discovered that what I choose to think about me is absolutely OPTIONAL.
Everyday I TRY to make a conscious effort to think about myself in a way that will allow me to show up the best that I can for my kids.
And guess what, I still come up short sometimes. I still have to work on my beliefs about me. But the more work I do on my beliefs about me the easier it becomes to really believe them.
This means in the moments that I question or doubt my abilities I recognize where my brain wants to go and direct it instead to my less rehearsed beliefs:
I have a very unique part to play in this life and the lives of my children. My part is different than anyone else’s so I just need NOT compare it to anyone else’s.
When I choose to think otherwise I deny myself, my children and the world of what I have to offer as a unique individual.
And yes, unique includes the good days and the not so good days. It includes the days you lose your temper and the days you spend extra time just listening.
We all have our very own gifts, talents and purposes.
The world needs ALL of it.
Allow yourself to believe this and stop beating yourself up in your quest for perfection.
We need each other just as we are. It’s what makes the world a better place.
You can just be yourself and I give you complete permission to do so.
GO BE YOU!
