“Can I tell you something?”
I could tell by the way my new friend asked the question, she had a bit of feedback. Most likely something she thought I might not want to hear.
“Of course,” I said, feeling like I just got a “we need to talk” text from a high school boyfriend. “I’d love to hear what you think!”
She nodded and paused. “It sounds like you’re putting pressure on yourself here.”
Oof.
You know my thing is “being better without pressure.” I believe in striving to improve while staying realistic and maintaining a commitment to being yourself.
And yet…
I wasn’t taking my own advice.
Instead, I was worried about what other people would think.
Noooo.
I’m happy she said something. It forced me to take a step back and see it for myself.
But this thing where we give great advice and don’t take it-–that’s nothing new. We all do it. If anything, we tend to give the advice we need to hear most.
Seeing this has made me reconsider my own advice and how well I live up to it.
You can’t be perfect. When you stray from the path, just get back to it.
Because if your advice is worth repeating to others, it’s worth using yourself.
To being better without pressure,
Elizabeth