This quote flashed across my screen the other day – “There is a 100% chance that we are going to die. So why do we spend 95% of our time worrying about how others think we should live?”
**Listen, the people that are going to judge you are going to judge you anyway, so they may as well judge you while you live your damn life!**
We all seem to live in fear, in some capacity, of how others see us, which if you think about it is ridiculous - if we’re all afraid of what others think, we are afraid of people who are afraid of us!
I wonder where this comes from?
Were you bullied at school?
Were you judged at home?
Were you mistreated in relationships in your youth?
Why does that notion of what other people are thinking of us have such power over us?
And I have found that it is never the fear of what my nearest and dearest will think or say that ever gives me pause before doing something. It is ALWAYS the fear of what will be going through the mind of Betty from my old job!
Which is ridiculous, right?! Betty has no standing in my life whatsoever. If Betty decided that I was no longer worthy of the title of Facebook Friend, my life would go on, completely unscathed.
So, I ask again, why do we allow ourselves to get stuck in our lives because of the fear of judgment from others?
Do you want to know the fascinating piece of this whole equation?
I have found that the people who I assumed would be most judgmental and have the least interest in what I'm up to in my life are the ones who send me messages about how proud they are of me!
And, here's the shitty part - the ones who I thought would be my biggest cheerleaders are the ones who are the most dismissive and critical.
It sucks, but here's what I tell myself - they react that way because me stepping outside of the norm and breaking through the glass ceilings brings their own mediocrity to the forefront. And I don't say that to be bitchy - I say it because it's reality. When someone you know is doing big things in their life, it makes you look at the things you "wish you could do". Your decision to stay safe and not do them makes you resentful.
So... do the damn thing honey!!
They are afraid. They are resentful. They wish they could be as brave as you.
Don't let the negative way they choose it express their awe stop you from being that person who went out and did the damn thing!
Believe in you.
First they'll ask you why you're doing it, then they'll ask you how you did it!
Sabs xxx
