#18 You need to start seeing yourself as a bear

Today I’ve been thinking about our expectations for ourselves.

I tend to be (and be surrounded by) people with very high “ambitions”, plans and dreams. And there’s nothing wrong with that in itself, but what happens when things just don’t go our way?

I’m talking about events we can’t control. Illnesses. Family being unwell or needing us. A crying baby or flooded house.

I tend to be very inflexible with my expectations for myself. No matter what happens, how unlucky I am, how late a train was, that I have a migraine - I could’ve found a way to make my deadlines. If I tried harder, everything would be done in time and perfectly.

But, can it really?

I love this phrase:

The astounding thing about a waltzing bear is not how gracefully it waltzes but that it waltzes at all.

It’s made me see myself less as a potentially-perfect-robot who just needs to suck it up and get things done, and more as a disorganised mammal who surprisingly, despite it all, is still keeping it together.

If you’re on the end of the spectrum where you expect yourself to perform at a superhuman standard, it’s perhaps worth remembering that you, and me, are actually more like bears.

It is more amazing that we work hard when we do, than that we sometimes need a break.

And so, it helps to drive me back up that bell curve, towards a healthier, more average expectation of myself.

Thanks, Goldilocks :)

Wishing you a great week,

Elizabeth xx

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