"Well you didn't REALLY think you had a shot at that, did you?"
This, a while back, from a friend while I was lamenting the fact that I didn't get a sailing syndicate job I'd applied for.
What the hell kind of stupid question was that? Of course I had a shot! I'd done the same kind of job before, I'm highly qualified, I'm enthusiastic, I WAS PERFECT FOR IT. The only drawback was that I was in Kansas, not England. Pfft. Easily surmounted.
But that night...
"But the tigers come at night. With their voices soft as thunder. And they tear your hope apart. And they turn your dream to shame."
Stupid tigers. I should know better than to listen to them, but they were just repeating what my friend had said, over and over, adding little bits of their own commentary throughout the night, until I woke up the next day POSITIVE that I'd been on crack when I thought that I could do ANY job, let alone a job with a high-end sail racing syndicate.
I moped about until my husband asked me what was wrong.
"I should have never trah-ha-hied! What made me think I cooooould? I'll neh-he-hever..." ad nauseum, with tears.
Being the good husband, he listened patiently, and then said "Magnus thought you could."
Over the years, that has been sort of a refrain for my husband. Whenever I get down, my faith in my abilities starts to flag, he reminds me that a man who was the best in the world at what he did thought that I was good enough.
I think about that a lot when I'm feeling like I'll never reach my goals. And I take a breath, look at the future and think "Yeah. Magnus thought I could." Some days that's all it takes- one person to have faith in you. (one person for me, besides my husband that is)
Who is that person for you? And are you that person for someone?
This, a while back, from a friend while I was lamenting the fact that I didn't get a sailing syndicate job I'd applied for.
What the hell kind of stupid question was that? Of course I had a shot! I'd done the same kind of job before, I'm highly qualified, I'm enthusiastic, I WAS PERFECT FOR IT. The only drawback was that I was in Kansas, not England. Pfft. Easily surmounted.
But that night...
"But the tigers come at night. With their voices soft as thunder. And they tear your hope apart. And they turn your dream to shame."
Stupid tigers. I should know better than to listen to them, but they were just repeating what my friend had said, over and over, adding little bits of their own commentary throughout the night, until I woke up the next day POSITIVE that I'd been on crack when I thought that I could do ANY job, let alone a job with a high-end sail racing syndicate.
I moped about until my husband asked me what was wrong.
"I should have never trah-ha-hied! What made me think I cooooould? I'll neh-he-hever..." ad nauseum, with tears.
Being the good husband, he listened patiently, and then said "Magnus thought you could."
Over the years, that has been sort of a refrain for my husband. Whenever I get down, my faith in my abilities starts to flag, he reminds me that a man who was the best in the world at what he did thought that I was good enough.
I think about that a lot when I'm feeling like I'll never reach my goals. And I take a breath, look at the future and think "Yeah. Magnus thought I could." Some days that's all it takes- one person to have faith in you. (one person for me, besides my husband that is)
Who is that person for you? And are you that person for someone?
No comments:
Post a Comment