A pat on the back

A friend of mine and I try to make a point of scheduling regular buddy dates.  Sometimes we work and other times we play.  Most of the time what we do ends up somewhere in the middle.

A few months back we were playing around with lists -- the kind where you strive to turn off your inner editor.  100 things that make me happy.  100 things I am grateful for.  100 things I am good at.

Screeeeech.

100 things I am good at?  Suddenly I realized that my inner editor hadn’t actually turned off, she was just out gathering friends.  Inner critic, doubt, shyness – you name it – they were all dragged along to this party.  Ugh. 

My buddy urged me along.  And whenever she tripped, I dusted her off and urged her along too.    We gave each other permission to pat ourselves on the back and to have fun doing it.

When we were done wrangling 100 things out of our resistant muck, we read what we had written.  Yes, lots of what we came up with was silly and made us laugh.  But it also made us feel good.  It helped us to remember those little gifts we sometimes take for granted.

Today I’d like to give you permission to pat yourself on the back.  If you need some inspiration, I’ve included a few items off of my list below.  (I think this means I can add “sharing items from my list” to my list!)

…Getting lost while driving.  Finding things.  Speaking up when I believe something isn’t right.  Saying “Thank you”.  Saying “I’m sorry”.  Remembering funny/happy things.  Recognizing and highlighting other people’s strengths.  Noticing cool trees.  Making eye contact.  Enabling people to “open up”.  Making sure my car is maintained.  Organizing and executing road trips.  Detaching from material things lost or taken from me.  Thinking of anecdotes that reflect the current situation.  Helping someone even when I am frustrated or angry at them.  Spending within my means.  Creating conversational intimacy.  Stepping up to the plate when needed.  Estimating how long things will take.  Telling jokes.  Laughing.  Smiling at people…

What are you good at?  If you can’t think of anything off the top of your head, keep in mind that you just finished reading this whole blog post.  And from where I’m sitting, it appears you did a pretty darned good job of it.

Good luck and have fun!