Funny, how that fear works. Something looks like an opportunity, and we are paralyzed. The chair of a volunteer group I'm involved with is going to Florida for a month, and she wants me to be the point person for a huge event we're putting on. Eeek. My first thought is to take up the position of the unfortunate in the picture, mittens and all.
Then I remind myself that I am nominally an adult. In fact, I've legally been an adult for a very long time, well over half of my life. It's a scary thought. There really is nowhere to hide, if you want to present yourself to the world as competent and worthy of respect.
Luckily, there is my friend Holly Jahangiri, whose words of wisdom never fail to calm me down. Eating the elephant one bite at a time is always a good thing to do, and expecting immediate perfection is foolish.
How about you, are you paralyzed by opportunity? How do you make the Lizard Brain shut up so you can go about your business as the competent adult you know you really are?
I can relate to this "paralyzed by opportunity" feeling, and the only "words of wisdom" I have to offer, beyond that post, are to throw a mental cloth over the lizard cage or put blinders on it. I think this paralysis is often the result of thinking too far ahead and being hyper-aware of all the things that could go wrong. I really think some people do well in this area because they are just blissfully unaware and unable to think that far ahead. ;)
ReplyDeleteBut unless "people could die" is on that list of things that could go wrong, you just eat the elephant one bite at a time.
Thanks, Holly! It's not like I'm doing it alone, either. There are competent professionals taking care of things like booking the venue and deciding on the refreshments ;-). It's just the *though* of any responsibility of the matter (and the whole thing was my idea!). Silly me. I'll get over it.
ReplyDeleteI'll talk more about it closer to the time.
Um, if I could type properly maybe I'd have less trouble ... I meant *thought*, of course.
ReplyDeleteI totally hear you Hadass, and great picture by the way! I think sometimes our "adulthood" becomes shaky when we are afraid. For a moment, we do want to hide in the bathtub. But your logical self is right, it's not "rocket science," you have help, and one step at a time:-). I totally know that fear, though. .
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lynne! It'll be fine. And no, Holly, "people might die" is not on the list of possible consequences of my screwing up. Just "I might embarrass a large group of influential people and damage an opportunity for two disparate groups in my community to get together." Nowhere near as world-shaking ;-).
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