You know how sometimes you start something, then end up wishing you had done it differently? Like inviting people to a fancy dinner party in the woods and belatedly realizing you didn’t think about dirty dishes. Or Halloween festivities with elaborate decorations, legions of stemware, and jello in the carpet.
Guess mine are all about parties.
I usually go through a little judgment and recrimination before landing on resignation and humor. The trick is to shorten your arrival time to humor.
Why humor? People often think I’m frivolous, disrespectful, or plain silly for chuckling. There’s a problem, and Renée is laughing. I’ve just learned to move through the negative reaction quickly. Why bother staying there? It feels yucky, isn’t fun, and can’t be healthy. If I missed the obvious or did something ridiculous, laughing is better than complaining.
My latest What Was I Thinking was a program launch that took weeks of brainstorming, discussions, copywriting, revising, and editing. As soon as I launched it, I thought, You big dummy. You don’t want to do this.
I had to reframe that thought immediately. It took the launch and people’s response to refine the program into something better. I was actually tired of all the planning, which drained my excitement and clarity. I just needed to DO the program, not think about it. So no shame, no judgment, just a recalibration.
It’s a So What. Just another party! And a reminder how we need to take risks and work hard at the important things. That they aren’t meant to be easy, clean, or even clear. That we take the first step in order to know the second. That we are capable of so much more than we know.