Once a year folks of all ages and sizes seize the opportunity to dress up in
a scary (or not so scary) costume and go trick or treating. I have always liked
getting dressed up not because it meant there’d be candy at the end of the night
but becauase of the creativity. Sourcing out second hand shops and thrift stores
to find just the perfect accessory or finding something at a garage sale in the
summer that I knew would be “just perfect” for a costume some day. I was usually
right and I have to tell you my kids had a great trunk full of costume stuff to
play dress up when they were little.
It’s great to dress up and have fun for one day. It’s fun to pretend that
you’re some swashbuckling pirate or a princess or a jedi warrior or a beastly
beast or a monster or a vampire or a ……
Yesterday I presented a workshop to a group of amazing women who were helping
to raise funds for the Arthritis Society of Canada. We talked about the elephant in the room for each of the
ladies …Slowly those elephants began to appear as the fear of speaking up fell
away. “Making mistakes.” “Failing” “Not trying hard enough.” “Not being good
enough” “I’m too fat.” ” I feel like an imposter most of the time..” There were
a lot of elephants in that room
yesterday. As the workshop progressed I asked each one of the attendees to stand
up: close their eyes and declare (out loud or not) one dream that they would
commit to realizing. Then I asked each of them to draw an imaginary line in the
sand and if they were willing to jump over it to do so. The point of the line
is the sand is the difference between ” I can” and “I will”…”I can” is just
that…you can but you might not follow through. “I will” is a commitment to
yourself that you will find a way to make this dream come true…a step toward
making that elephant find a new place to live. That’s awesome! Do you know what
happened after that? Every single one of them took the step: some jumped: some
walked: some gingerly tiptoed over that line but they all did it!
I’m so excited to watch the unfolding of the dream for these glorious
women…
You know what’s scarier than any Halloween costume? Not having a costume and
pretending to be something you’re not. If you’re wearing a mask pretending to be
something you’re not isn’t it time to let it go? Halloween is one day a year:
masks are meant to be worn just once….put them away and let people see the
real you. You deserve it and so do they! Now go be fearless.
Jan
