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Belongs to: Therapist Reacts to LEAVE ME ALONE by NF
@HeartSupport, I took a stand-up comedy class last year and have wanted to do more with it, but it seems like there are so many new comedians I feel like I won’t be able to compete so I do nothing.
Hi friend,
I think that in any field one may go in, there will undoubtedly be competition to consider, but that shouldn’t stop us from doing what we are interested in and what makes us happy. We may not have control over what others do and how good they are, but we do have control over what we decide to do, and we should try to stick to what speaks to us. Plus, there is no certainty as to what lies ahead, there may very well be great potential out there for you, but you have to try and see! I know the uncertainty may be scary, but I believe that as long as you’re doing something because it makes you happy, then it is all worthwhile in the end no matter what <3
Yeah, it’s really challenging when it feels like, the thing you love is already done. The opportunities are already taken. Nothing new can be created. Starting now, you’d just be so far behind to ever really make something of it.
Personally, I relate to this a lot - I wonder…does what I do even matter?
I literally asked someone two days ago - isn’t it too late to create a _____?
These kinds of doubts - they’re like our own balloons. “I’m too late. I’m not good enough. I won’t ever catch up. People won’t like what I have to create.”
But that’s just what they are: balloons! I love NF so much, and this perspective gives us the opportunity to tell our self-doubts - you aren’t me, and I’m not you. When you do that, you can see that it’s separate from you. It’s outside of you. That means that it doesn’t mean they’re true.
One of the best things one of my counselor did was simply call my thinking “cognitive distortions”. There was something so refreshing to hear that my thinking was broken. It was like I had been living thinking that my thoughts were right, these balloons were me, and when he called them “broken thinking”, it helped me snap out of it and say oh…wow…interesting, okay, then what is “right” thinking? How do I fix this? There’s another way to think? What is it? It got me curious, instead of stuck, and that was a really powerful shift.
I think what you’re doing here, writing out these thoughts, is super helpful because it allows you to get it out of your head. When you NAME IT, it becomes a balloon you can examine, look at, get curious about, and eventually, do something with. When it’s in your mind, and that’s the only place it exists, there is very little hope for us to handle it, because we can’t see it, and we feel like it’s just…“us”.
Strong work naming that thought and sharing it here!
I believe you have something unique to bring into the world. Something beautiful and wonderful and powerful and important, and something ONLY YOU can bring. And in that sense, you’re right on time, because you’re not competing with anyone. It’s just about the journey, for you, and we’re all better off with you choosing to engage with it and bring it to life.
Thanks for sharing.