LIST 37 | List the skills and qualities you have right now that make you feel prepared to handle the future, whatever may come.
This is tough, I usually focus on my shortcomings!
I keep in mind this little image:
So many truths in that!
I go forward with confidence that I can handle anything because I have handled everything so far, proof I am capable of dealing with anything life throws my way!
Not only am I infinitely more calm and patient than I ever thought possible; I have well-earned boundaries in place that will keep me safely on my course; and, I am confident in myself and my decisions – not in a brash way, but in a 56-year-old woman who’s earned her way in this world way.
- I know myself, the good, the bad, the everything in between. It may sound trite, but it took a long time to get to be me, and I like me, a lot.
- I can make tough decisions for the right reasons, not for the easier, selfish reasons. I can always be counted on to do the right thing regardless of my own feelings. (I’ve come to terms with the effects on me and have found healthy coping mechanisms.)
- I have learned many lessons from my children about how to be a good mother. Someday I’ll be their friend. That day is not today.
- I can lose my Anam Cara and wake up the next morning, and every morning after. My grief is ever-present but becoming more manageable every day.
- I can tell a story.
- I am a great friend. I’ve been fortunate to have curated a tremendous group of “bury the body” friends. I am happy living proof that you can make good, solid, loyal friends when you’ve gone over the age of 30, then 40, then 50 and beyond.
- I am curious, I love learning. I enjoy pure and honest debate. I welcome the opportunity to change my mind.
- I can cook, bake and make just about anything. I hate it, but I can do it.
- I can fish and hunt, scale a fish and skin a deer. I hate it, but I can do it.
- I’m open to exploring new things.
- I can handle myself in a boardroom and a bedroom. I prefer the latter. Alas …
- I have been desperately poor (searching through the couch cushions poor) before, and though hope to never be there again, I know what to do.
- I invest well and trust in my decisions.
- I recognize when I can’t do something well and am not afraid or embarrassed to ask for help from an expert, though I will always defer to my intuition.
- I was cut out of my mother’s will earlier this year. It was completely expected (by me), even with the nasty note at the end to everyone (including my children) about why she left me out. You really can’t fix mean, you can only survive it.
- I can cry and not be embarrassed about it. Crying is not a sign of weakness and if it makes others uncomfortable they can leave the room, but pass the tissue first. You know, manners.
- I have faith that whatever success in life I am pursuing is pursuing me.
- I can laugh without irony, with complete joy and happiness.
- I am never bored. Seriously. Only boring people are bored. I am not boring.
- I can organize the crap out of the inside of a cupboard or drawer.
- I have made decisions about what to keep, what to toss, what to donate. I do this on repeat.
- I can make a list and plan just about anything from an event to a trip to a family party to a Zoom call to a business start-up or shut down.
- I feel complete joy and support for friends who are finding love, getting married, having grandbabies, buying new homes, taking couples trips, adopting puppies, working and retiring, doing all the things we had planned but will never be able to do. I thought I’d be sad or hurt in some way, but I feel the complete opposite when I read every post and see every photo. I’ve never been a jealous person, but I thought that I’d feel something other than pure joy. I am happy to continually surprise myself with good and positive feelings.
Yep, I’m sure my skills have me uniquely prepared to handle anything the future might bring.
