I consider myself thorough and careful, and my editing skills a pride point, so when my mailer went out with the word mediation instead of meditation, I had a moment. I stood at my kitchen counter and counted a slow 10 because I really hate making mistakes. But one mantra for the year, JDI (Just Do It), means I’ve committed to breaking down big projects into smaller manageable items, taking action and moving on, and as a result I actually kind of love that it happened.
Because perfection paralysis has been a struggle for me, this is major work for me every day. The rationale? If I do nothing, no mistakes get made, no resulting embarrassment. It’s all good (can I get an amen?). But oh, the flip side. Do nothing?!? Well, then no progress and no meaningful growth. So after I got the news, I gave myself my slow count, and then made the conscious choice to laugh and shake it off. Perfection doesn’t exist, so no sense in gunning for fantasy land, right? Right.
I know that all this may result in missteps (and look, it already has). But imperfect action kicks inaction’s booty every time. And guess what? In addition to the couple of alerts I received about the mistake, I got at least 6 times as many positive comments about the impact what I sent had on recipients. So that’s one great outcome, another being that I was able to make a conscious, in the moment choice about how I wanted to react to a situation that didn’t exactly go my way. And we know it’s the only thing we can control anyway:
“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”
― Viktor E. Frankl
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You go girl! So proud of all you do and the positive impact you have on others! Miss ya!
Thanks so much Tanya–means a lot! Miss YOU (let’s fix that)!
Now THAT’S the difference between human being and a human doing. Thanks Shosh for your mediation on your intended meditation. I really love ALL of what you wrote AND the Frankl quote too. As Einstein said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” I already feel good from this post and have passed it along to two people who will appreciate and benefit as well. Rock on!
Jill– “mediation on your intended meditation” — HA, love it!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post, and thank you for sharing as well!
THIS is EVERYTHING!
“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”
Thank you, Havi!
Beautiful post, Shoshanna! Need to take it to heart in my life!
Thanks Gioia! It’s work for me every day!
Amen. I’ve chosen to learn from my mistakes… rather than being paralyzed to trying something new- or even getting started. Love the reminder- thanks, Shosh!
A great approach and perspective, Bill — thanks for sharing!