They Were All Just Thoughts
Yesterday my husband and I had some extra time after doing our normal Saturday chores/home repairs, so he suggested we tackle a project that I have been putting off doing for a while now.
We started by watching a training video (an hour long!) and during the video my brain kept offering me thoughts like, “this is going to be a lot harder than I thought!” “I am so confused”, “couldn’t we just hire someone else to do this for me?”. Needless to say, I was not excited at all! The training video ended, and we got to work.
And it did NOT go very smoothly. I could not get certain things lined up, the content I wrote didn’t fit in the spaces, and what looked so simple from the video became more complicated. I found myself getting more frustrated and my brain kept reminding me that this was too hard.
After 7 hours, I was feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and even angry that I just couldn’t let someone else do this for me. This was something new to learn and it felt completely uncomfortable. I wanted to run back to my comfort zone!
At one point I had to leave the project and soak in a bubble bath to regroup. My brain gave me all the evidence that there was no way I should have ever tackled such a project on my own. What was I thinking? Why couldn’t I make my husband see that this was just too hard and that I didn’t want to do it.
After about 45 min, I went back downstairs. My husband had taken over where I had left off. With enthusiasm he showed me what he had learned and the additions he had made to the project. And then he offered this thought, “Look at us! We are learning how to do something new! Sure, it’s not perfect, but it is pretty darn good, if I say so myself”.
Isn’t it funny how our brains work? My brain offered thoughts of “this is too hard”, “ I don’t want to do this”, “I hate feeling uncomfortable”, and his brain offered thoughts that were completely the opposite! They were all just thoughts! And those thoughts created completely different results for both of us in relation to this project.
Thank you, David, for giving me that perspective and helping me to see my own brain!
Yesterday he was my life coach! Yep, even Life Coaches need a coach!