Show Up
Hey, College Girl!
Aren’t you tired of making excuses for yourself? I mean come on, how many classes are you going to miss? How many more times will you not make room in your schedule to go to the gym? Start that business venture? Visit your dream city that’s a bus drive away? Doesn’t it hurt you to not take that baby step towards improvement for yourself? Well there is a solution: showing up.
When we hear show up, we often think this means showing up with as the ideal image, in perfection. This is not accurate nor the purpose. To show up is to be present for your dreams and your purpose. It means that you will get your responsibilities done even when you don’t feel like it, even when you are not 100% sure, and even when you are in fear. It also looks like instead of procrastinating on your health and choosing to miss that event that would have helped you develop your social skills, taking that medication so you can go. A lot of the steps we can take to showing up for ourselves is simple. It does not have to resemble a complete 180 but it does have to show effort and overtime you will reach your version of perfection.
Let’s use the example of wanting to be a teacher. If you want to be a teacher this requires that even on the days where the weather is terrible, when you got out of an argument with your boyfriend before entering the class, when you do not feel like dealing with that one terrible student, or you are still working towards perfecting your teaching for your students, you can not choose not to show up. You must learn to compartmentalize. You must learn when to sit with your emotions and when to transform that energy into something useful. Turn your fears into confidence by telling that student who misbehaves that they will either listen to you or deal with the principle. Cry before you walk out of your car so that you do not bring that argument with your boyfriend into the classroom. Take your time while teaching and do not rush the lesson to make sure your students are passing accordingly. Teach your students to respect you by setting boundaries even if you do it with a shaky voice.
When you allow your inconveniences to overtake you, you are telling it that it has more precedence over what you must get done. You are telling that inconvenience it is more important than who you are and what you are here to do. No negative situation shall have more presence than the things you desire to accomplish and pursue. Inconveniences never go away, but how you deal with them will determine if you can survive this thing we call life.
So College Girl, think about the ways in which you can better show up for yourself. what area in your life can you improve? You got this.
Sincerely,
Pitra