Latest / Beyond the Arc: Reflections on Resilience, Identity, & Life Podcast / The Closer I Am to Me, The Better I Can Celebrate We

Transcript

The Closer I Am to Me, The Better I Can Celebrate We · Beyond the Arc: Reflections on Resilience, Identity, & Life Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Beyond the Arc.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Amy Gamble.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've been a competitor most of my life,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: but some of the greatest lessons I've learned have had nothing to do with winning
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: or losing.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: This morning,
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: I found myself reflecting on comparison,
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: accepting help, and what it means to become comfortable in our own skin.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Today's essay is a reminder that life isn't a race,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: and we don't have to measure ourselves against anyone else.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Here's my Sunday morning reflection.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: The closer I am to me, the better I can celebrate we.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is perhaps more of a reflective piece of writing.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you find one thing you can take away from it.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I've been a competitor most of my life,
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: but the highest level of my competitive spirit has not been directed outwardly.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's been directed toward myself.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Asking questions of myself, such as how can I get better?
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: How can I improve?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: What goals do I want to set?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Can I allow myself to dream again?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: When you are trying to do your best in life, our culture rewards those who pursue excellence.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Other times,
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: people quietly live their lives doing amazing things that never get anywhere near
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: a spotlight.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the person who donates to a cause anonymously.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the person who is loved by friends and family.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the person who sits quietly in nature and enjoys every day to the fullest.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that person is you.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Comfortable in your own skin,
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: trudging along in life,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: doing the best you can, not competing with anyone other than yourself.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: When we learn to celebrate our own accomplishments,
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: challenge our cynicism,
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: and appreciate the gift of every day, it becomes much easier to lift others up.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: My success doesn't diminish yours.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: My accomplishments or skills or experiences aren't a measuring stick for anyone else.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: If we learn how to allow others to help us, life certainly gets much easier.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I admit asking for help has never been one of my strengths,
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: because quite honestly,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: asking for help means we must be vulnerable, and vulnerability is uncomfortable.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Looking in the mirror and being able to give ourselves an honest assessment of
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: where we've traveled in life,
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: and perhaps where we'd still like to go, gives us the freedom to move forward.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: With each step we take along the way, we encounter people who are walking their paths.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Each one has some kind of lesson to teach us.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to spend hours every day reflecting on your life,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: but I've noticed when I've taken time to really dig in deep,
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: the rewards have been tremendous.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: The insights I've gained by looking at the light side of my life,
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: as well as the dark side,
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: has given me more strength than I could have gained by comparing my life
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: to someone else's.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Comparison is the death of joy.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: It steals from us the very essence of who we are.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what other people have or what they don't.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: It truly only matters what we have and what we don't.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean material things.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: To me,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: material things are only as valuable as they are contributing to my own safety,
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: security, and overall well-being.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I've lived enough life and had enough experiences to understand the bigger house,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: the numerous cars in the driveway, the toys we collect.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: They may bring a moment of happiness,
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: but the enduring peace and happiness will never come
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: from something outside ourselves.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Enduring peace and happiness comes from within.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Can we find beauty in everyday things we notice?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Can we appreciate the little things in life that make big differences?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Can we put aside our own opinions and judgments and really see our fellow man
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: as someone else walking their own journey?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: On this Sunday morning,
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: as the sun rises over the horizon and the birds drop by my feeders,
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm reminded that life isn't a race.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's not intended to teach me how to beat anyone else.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's intended for me to learn and grow and be exactly who I'm meant to be.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing more, nothing less.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: The question I ask myself is not
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: whether I've got enough accomplishments I can check off my list,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: but rather,
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: how can I be in the world my most authentic self,
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: and how can I walk freely and confidently without being tempted
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: by comparison tropes?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm living my best life,
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm lifting myself up, but I'm also reaching outward and lifting others up too.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm celebrating their gifts and talents and recognizing that I'm not competing with anyone.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just being me.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: The closer I am to me, the better I can celebrate we.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Here's to a beautiful day.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for reading and listening to Beyond the Arc.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: If something I said resonated with you,
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: please feel free to share this post to encourage others to subscribe.