It’s an old adage but it applies to more than just measurement. Something tells me that I’m also probably not the first person to use this saying as a metaphor for life, either. For the sake of argument (and this blog post), let’s just say I am, though.
As some of you (all 6 that follow this blog) may know, this has been a year (plus) of some significant change for me. I think I have gotten so much better at embracing change – though truthfully, much more so for that which was by my own making – and dealing with it, but the ability to silence the noise both in my head and outside of it has always been a challenge. Much of this anxiety has been driven not so much by the fact that people will react to changes that affect me, but more so by the fact that I have to deal with it at all.
To that, there is a collective “get over it” and rightfully so. It has also occurred to me that I really need to challenge my own thoughts and beliefs. Whether it’s showing up with a newly grown beard, showing an embarrassing video parody of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball”, admitting that I do stand-up comedy or having to face the awkward silences of telling those around me that I am going through a divorce, I have to stop predicting how this will be taken (my first “measure”) and consider the more positive alternative (my second “measure”) before forming an assumption or opinion.
In the end, unlike cutting a piece of lumber or structuring an overpass bridge, when it comes to perception and reality and how you are received both by yourself and those around you, it really doesn’t matter how many times you measure because there will be those internal thoughts and those external comments that will make you feel like a well crafted piece of oak furniture and on the other side, the corollary that will make you feel like the bridge in the picture above.
You’re probably sensing a theme (and maybe a tired one at this point) in a couple of these blog posts – it really is about getting comfortable with who you are. It’s one thing to not care about what other people think about you. It is quite another to give yourself a pass once in a while, too.
Until next time,
Marc