What Can’t You Do?
I was thinking today about my great grandmother and the story my mother used to tell about her. In her later years she’d complain “I used to be able to lift my arm to here but now I can only lift it to here.” The funny part was she would lift her arm up over her head to show how far she “used to” be able to lift it, and then she’d lower it to about shoulder level which was as far as she could lift it now. Never mind trying to call her out on it for having just lifted her arm beyond the “now” limit, she’d just show you that she couldn’t lift it above shoulder level any more. Unless, of course, she was showing you how far she used to be able to lift it.
It was always a running joke in our family but today it really got me thinking, how many things are we telling ourselves we “can’t” do just because we believe we can’t? It’s like the story of the sixty-something year old grandma who lifted a car off her grandson when he got pinned under it. I’m sure before that day she’d insist she could never lift a car, but lift it she did! Yes, that’s an extreme case and she was pumped with adrenaline, but still, what are we not doing because we think we can’t?
As I said, this got me thinking. What have I been believing about myself and what I “can’t” do that’s holding me back? Maybe I can hike that volcano in Hawaii. Or maybe I can start that business I’ve always dreamed of. Maybe I really could write a book. Or maybe, just maybe, I could find my willpower and finally get in shape. Once you start thinking about it, the possibilities really are endless!
So the next time I decide I “can’t” do something, I’m going to picture my great grandmother showing us how far she “used to” be able to lift her arm and ask myself, “Who says I can’t?”