Coloring Outside the Lines
I’ll just start off by admitting that I'm not usually a glass-half-full kind of person. I tend to think of myself as a realist. I’m on the lookout for things to go wrong.
Today, however, is not that sort of day. The sun is streaming into my small dwelling, bouncing off all of the shabby chic white decor. It’s already warm enough to have my balcony door open and the birds are chirping, and I have made my perfectly frothed latte in my Nespresso machine. Already today I Face-timed with my beautiful granddaughter, Olivia, and received word that my daughter-in-law, Rachael, passed her nursing boards. I'm literally sitting here tearing up. Sometimes pressing forward through the hard times one step at a time just gets so depressing. Days like today can seem too far apart.
I'll admit to another weak trait of mine. I have to intentionally work very hard at thinking outside the box!!! I have to be even more deliberate to think outside of my introverted comfort zone. This morning two of my Facebook friends—who don't know each other—both posted the linked video of the unique version of Adele’s “Hello.”
https://www.facebook.com/MadeinShoreditch/videos/1102164486495080/
Watch it to the end. The tap dancing is awesome. The video got me thinking about coloring outside the lines. This version is every bit as beautiful as Adele’s original, but they’ve taken it and done their own, very creative version. I’ll bet they had a blast doing it together.
What are some of your crazy ideas? Do them!!!! Maybe don't quit your day job just yet, but allow yourself to envision the unique idea rolling around in your head. I say vision because introverted realists are more comfortable with that word than dream. I don't see myself as a writer and definitely not a public speaker, but I'm going to attempt to do both. Even if I never have much of a following, even if I never speak to anyone of notoriety, I will be happy if something I write or say resonates with one other person. Every day I, this dyslexic, introverted, realist, fight the voices in my mind–the ones telling me that I am not smart enough or pretty enough or any fun to be around. In fact, if you could see the red dotted lines on my screen with misspelled words and transposed letters, I'm sure you'd think, "find something else to do.”
But Olivia doesn't care a bit about any of those things. That’s why I am free to be the crazy Nanny that I am. Let's try to love and support each other in the same way. Your uniqueness just might be the thing that inspires you to do the amazing thing that no one else has done.