June 30, 2022
Amazing Jane Wins MVP Trophy July 2018
"Argue for your limitations and you shall have them." ~author unknown
One day a friend was showing me a book which inspired her. The book was about an old woman's art and the lifestyle which nurtured this art. The book contained pictures of the woman painting in her garden and pictures of the art she created.
My friend felt this woman sparked something positive in herself. She could imagine living a similar life. "But," she said, "Of course my art will never be as good as that."
How often have you limited yourself this way? How often have your friends made similar statements about their potential abilities? Your past is not your potential... no matter how old you are.
We don't know what our potential is in any area of our lives. Though some things come easier than others, we don't know the limits of our capabilities. Because something seems impossible, doesn't mean that it is.
No benefit results from saying we can't do something. We may choose not to try, but why put energy into saying or thinking that we can't.
If something inspires me, I simply recognize that in some way I aspire to the particular thing. For example, I always liked the running style of Mary Decker. She was an Olympic class runner who ran with incredible grace and ease. When I ran, I would imagine what it felt like to run like that, to be gifted at running, to run swiftly and smoothly.
I didn't think, "I will never run like that." Somehow, I knew that thought would have immediately limited my running possibilities. I enjoyed the fantasy and pretending. This visualizing usually improved my own run.
This imagining triggered new feelings in my body and mind. It shifted the way I ran. It opened me to a running potential I never would have dreamed possible. It was fun, too.
Try to never allow a limiting thought to enter your mind. Negative thoughts weaken. Recognize what inspires you, then allow that inspiration to guide you. We don't know what is possible. Why waste energy arguing for what we can't do?
We are surrounded by images of what is possible in every area of human endeavor. From the beginning of time, people have been breaking records and transcending what was thought possible.
When runner Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile, scientists had even proven why it was physically impossible for a human to run that fast. Bannister said that he never focused on the obstacle, on the barrier of time or the controversy around it. He focused on the joy he experienced running. The rest is history.
Let inspiration guide you. Don't argue for your limitations. Joyfully set out to do what you are inspired to do. Enjoy the process. Allow whatever results may come.
The journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step.
Amazing Jane!!
Soul of an Artist
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