On the first day of the New Year, I was excited to attend the closing night of the Broadway hit, Wicked. I had a brand new super cute holiday markdown dress on, a hot date, French-manicured Broadway nails pressed on tight and a new weave in tow! We were headed out for a fabulous evening of dinner and theatre – to be said out loud with a British accent, should you be reading this to your mum.
Besides the whole issue with no restaurants being open because it was a holiday causing our dinner to end up consisting of two hot pretzels and bottomless sodas for $15, we were still having a fabulous time. Who cares that I spilled mustard on the theatre’s carpet in front of my date and who cares that the guy behind us made the most interesting grunting sounds after every scene and may or may not have been passing gas every five minutes. That’s actually pretty typical if you ask me.
Prior to the show, I waited for the ladies room in what may have been longer than the Vortex line at Kings Island the day after senior prom in 1996. Unlike that line, we moved quickly. In and out – very impressive for a bunch of women in pantyhose. We neared the entry to the bathroom and the woman in front of me exclaimed as she peered through the door…
“OH NO, I AM NOT GETTING INTO THAT MESS!!”
She then stormed off and I’m positive 20 minutes into the show was regretting her decision. She had already done so much work! The finish line was right there! What on earth could have stopped her? I kept waiting and within moments had completed the task at hand. Full of relief, fresh clean hands and a show to be watched, I headed back to my seat and enjoyed one of the best BW shows I have ever seen.
Two days later I can’t stop thinking about that lady. Why did she give up? What had happened to her in previous bathroom lines that caused her so much grief?
My guess is that eventually she became quite miserable and had to wait in that treacherous line again. Only this time she was more uncomfortable, more agitated, and more impatient because her pain was much greater.
With the start of a new year everyone is thinking about resolutions – weight loss, quitting drinking and smoking, trying new things, get out of debt, etc. etc. I myself, will get back to the gym, work on selling awesome vintage clothes on Etsy.com and try not to be afraid.
Try not to be afraid? Yes, try not to be afraid, not give up due to fear, and embrace the unknown and more importantly, the known. Because this time – it might be different.
You see I believe fear is created only by what you’ve already been through. My guess is that bathroom lady had experienced long lines before and her fear stopped her from trying again. She knew that she would just have to wait more and it wasn’t worth it to her to endure such pain. I wish, that I had stopped her and said -
“Lady, what’s the worst that could happen if you keep waiting?”
She probably would have thought about it and her answer would be something like I might miss the show or my head might explode with negativity. If she had taken a moment to think about her decision and how it would affect her later she may have avoided an uncomfortable situation. Bad example? I don’t know, I’m not an expert. I just talk a lot.
Anyhow, my point is this. This year as you list out your goals and what you want to accomplish – don’t let the grumpy ol’ lady voice from the bathroom tarnish your vision. When you begin to doubt yourself or when others don’t support your goals, ask yourself ‘what is the worst that could happen if I keep trying?’ Then continually ask ‘what else?’. Chances are you’ll be surprised by how little there is to be afraid of. You’ve likely experienced these things before – failure, obstacles, setbacks, heartache, embarrassment, etc. And guess what, you’re reading this so I’m guessing you’re still kicking and you got through it with much more knowledge under your belt – let’s call it your emotional ass-kicking tool-belt which also contains memories of what success and accomplishments look and feel like.
That’s by far the cheesiest thing I’ve said all day. You can eat that cheese with some low-fat Triscuits.
SO… what’s your resolution for 2011 and how do you plan to stay motivated, silence the naysayers and accomplish great things?
