‘Cutting yourself some slack’ – because we only get one pair of legs!
As I sit here writing this, my husband is in the loft, trying to resolve the issues created by a poorly co-ordinated project that we had little influence over. Or did we? His usually calm and measured approach to life is significantly more colourful today, with a rainbow of expletives and the echo of angrily abandoned tools, echoing down the stairs. What might we have done differently?
As I sit here writing this, with my foot upon a pile of pillows, I wince a little and berate myself for only having run a little over two kilometres since the weekend, when inflamed veins and a beautiful indigo bruise forced a doctor’s visit. Take it easy, he said, so I have. But I could not bring myself to rest completely, so even though I felt ‘less than’ I ran the 2.5 kilometres that I now know that I should have left for another day. What was it that surrounded that decision to continue regardless?
As I sit here writing this, I am thinking of the many school leaders that I am privileged to work with. They have their own versions of the frustration in the loft and the drive for distance, despite the known damage it can inflict. We are often slaves to our own impossible expectations. Why is that? Maybe, John Cleese is right. He says:
“Because, as we all know, it’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about.” John Cleese
Yes, it is a sorry truth that many of us drive ourselves too hard, for too long and sometimes for so little. We live in a world where wellbeing is central to discussion but so often does not play out in our actions and potentially deny us new ways of being that create change and often greater ease. For us and those we live and work alongside.
I am privileged to work with school leaders at all levels who are trying to change that mental model to which we have become wedded.
So I am making a vow to ‘cut myself some slack’ so that I can let go of the urgent trivial and concentrate on the not so urgent but important. Although, I am of the belief that if we are going to change the world, we must begin with us, right here and now. And it does not necessarily mean doing less and blaming each other, it means taking responsibility and knowing that you do have the power of influence. How can you be a small part of that?
If you would like to learn more about John Cleese, Amazon has some excellent reading.
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