I’ve been thinking about people who are ready to CLAIM THEIR SPACE and be full players in the game. It is our time to shine!
When I was a kid I was pretty uncoordinated and TERRIBLE at sports, mostly because I was a late bloomer.
My two older brothers were exactly the opposite. They were excellent athletes.
We lived on a dead end street with loads of other families with kids, mostly older than me. Everyday after school everyone gathered outside to play.
Sometimes we broke into small groups and at other times my brothers would organize one big game of football. I was probably a hindrance to whichever team I was on since I couldn’t run very fast or catch a football very well (if at all) and throwing it - yikes!
Every time my “play” was “take three steps and turn around”. Yes once in a while they threw it to me, but mostly they played around me or over me, or even through me. The less in the way I could be the better.
Now as an adult I can see it from their point of view. I really couldn’t play the game. I mean, I couldn’t catch OR throw the ball! And my brothers LOVED to compete and best each other. So each football game was serious business to them.
I know it wasn’t about me. They were trying to be kind by including me.
But, the messages my child brain got was “you are not needed”, “you are in the way”, “we don’t really want you to play”, etc.
One of the things I have been trying to teach myself over these past few years is that it is okay to claim space AND to want to play for real. To show up fully!
It is probably why I like to paint so large. I have been chasing my inner child, to re-nurture her through painting, to encourage her to be fully in the game. Working large-scale helps me do that. When you show up large there is no hiding in a corner. Playing is way messier than that, and you are in control of deciding your own plays.
“Taking three steps and turning around” was not playing football.
We each deserve to experience life as a full player - even if we aren’t very good at first.
What memories do you have of being told to be small and to stay out of the way?
Are you ready to change your “play” and become a fully engaged player, too?