I have tickets to see The Rolling Stones this week at a venue that is practically in my backyard. This is surely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, yet as of right now I don’t know if I’ll attend.
It was an exciting impulse buy but even as I hit the key to purchase, the option of selling the tickets was on my mind.
This ambiguousness has become a familiar frame of mind for months now, reflected in several areas of my life including my writing or lack thereof. Floundering in a fog of second guessing and self-doubt is not a totally unfamiliar state but I generally feel more in control of decision making and moving forward.
When friends come to me with their own dilemmas, it’s easy to provide my two cents’ worth of what I sincerely believe will be good advice but I’m often left wondering why they experienced the situation as a problem in the first place. Their strengths are clear to me and I absolutely believe they can succeed. No question about it.
Is it my imagination or is it easier to believe in others than in ourselves? It may be easier to help friends with their issues because we can be less emotional and therefore more rational with others than with ourselves.
There is, however, an air of arrogance or hypocrisy in thinking we know what’s best for others when we don’t take the same advice ourselves. The case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’. And no one wants to be a hypocrite.
So why do we have such a hard time following our own advice? Do we believe others have something we don’t or that their foibles are more easily overcome?
We are acutely aware of our weaknesses and failures and typically give them more credence than deserved, possibly to the point of seeing our successes as flukes.
Perhaps what’s required is to look at ourselves objectively, recognize our own talents and capabilities and realize we are just as strong as others. Not always an easy task but what would we advise others experiencing bouts of self-doubt or indecision?
Mostly it’s been easy for me to ‘walk my talk’ in life and I trust my confidence will return one of these days. I can start by becoming my own cheerleader in the game of writing.
I have always believed in taking leaps of faith, which is what led me to buy The Rolling Stones tickets in the first place. But I’m leaving the decision to attend the concert to fate. The tickets are for sale.
If they don’t sell, I will be at the party. Probably.
You’re a busy woman, Bernice! It can be difficult to have a writing practice when you have so much to do. Your life is definitely full! The writing marathon has definitely helped me break-down some of my resistance to writing. Enjoy the Stones! And happy writing!