We are the artists who paint beautiful portraits, but we have no business sense. We are the teachers who know how to explain quadratic equations, but we are terrible writers. We are the parents who love our kids dearly, but we just aren't capable of demonstrating that love meaningfully.
The common word here is "but." We define our persona by inscribing a story of what we can do, but also what we can't do. And it is that story that keeps us from growing--from being who we envision ourselves to be.
What if we gave ourselves permission to rewrite our own story? To engage in a kind of self-editing that allows us to be more expansive? "But" tells us not to even try--and is based in fear. If we want to grow we strike "but" from our vocabulary. We replace it with "and." And we move beyond the fear that inevitably holds us back.
We are the artist who paints beautiful portraits and is learning how to sell them. We are the teacher who explains quadratic equations perfectly and is committed to writing about how well our students are learning. We are the parent who loves his kids and is making room in his heart to show them just how much.
Storytellers create characters, and they don't hesitate to revise the qualities of those characters as the story unfolds. Our story is perpetually unfolding, and the persona of our protagonist deserves to be revised to take on new capabilities and to move ever closer to actualizing who we truly wish to be.
