“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”- Theodore Roosevelt
How often do we tell our children or the younger generation, "You can do it!" "Believe in yourself!" or "Don't be afraid of failure"?
But then why are we so quick to be our worst critic and so afraid to try new things ourselves? In the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, she makes an argument that we can only expect our children to be as daring and fearless as we are; nothing more. So does this mean I need to be willing to fail and try new things if I want my daughter to be willing to stretch herself and explore the world and her talents? Absolutely.
There has been this fear inside of me of failing. I am afraid to put myself out there into the world and come up looking weak. It's a perfectionist tendency, one that I am striving to overcome. On my mirror I have a small poster that says, "Be Vulnerable." I need to be willing to make mistakes and to be honest about what is brewing in my heart. If I want to teach my daughter to trust herself and to be vulnerable, I will try to do the same.
So I entered the Naturally Nutritious Cooking Contest at the 2017 Douglas County Fair. Last year I entered the international category, but this year I chose to follow my gut and enter the Meatless Main Dish category, the category that had the most entries the past two years I attended. I wanted the challenge. I needed to push myself and be vulnerable.
I didn't know what dish to enter, but I was struck with inspiration when my mom visited recently and helped me make one of my favorite Italian dishes, eggplant parmesan. That would be the dish I would enter.
The day of the contest arrived and I was blessed to have a two hour slot at lunch time to hash out the main portion of the prep work. Thank you, baby girl for taking your nap! I was excited and could not wait to take my creation to be judged. As scary as it can be to have something critiqued and judged, it was so therapeutic for me to take on a task that was specifically for me, not for my daughter or my husband. This was my event. This was my thing.
I was pleasantly surprised when they announced that I won 1st place out of four entries in the Meatless Main dish category. I know four entries is pretty weak competition, but I still did it! I put myself out there and my confidence was boosted. I can do something and I can do something well. The only time I fail is when I don't put myself in the arena and just try. Next time something challenging comes up, I may fail. But is it really failing if I give my daughter the example of showing up and trying? Is it really failing if I expand my horizons and push my limits? Am I really failing when I strive valiantly and dare greatly?
No. That is what I call success.
But then why are we so quick to be our worst critic and so afraid to try new things ourselves? In the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, she makes an argument that we can only expect our children to be as daring and fearless as we are; nothing more. So does this mean I need to be willing to fail and try new things if I want my daughter to be willing to stretch herself and explore the world and her talents? Absolutely.
There has been this fear inside of me of failing. I am afraid to put myself out there into the world and come up looking weak. It's a perfectionist tendency, one that I am striving to overcome. On my mirror I have a small poster that says, "Be Vulnerable." I need to be willing to make mistakes and to be honest about what is brewing in my heart. If I want to teach my daughter to trust herself and to be vulnerable, I will try to do the same.
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| They already had cut up the eggplant parmesan by the time I remembered to take a picture |
So I entered the Naturally Nutritious Cooking Contest at the 2017 Douglas County Fair. Last year I entered the international category, but this year I chose to follow my gut and enter the Meatless Main Dish category, the category that had the most entries the past two years I attended. I wanted the challenge. I needed to push myself and be vulnerable.
I didn't know what dish to enter, but I was struck with inspiration when my mom visited recently and helped me make one of my favorite Italian dishes, eggplant parmesan. That would be the dish I would enter.
The day of the contest arrived and I was blessed to have a two hour slot at lunch time to hash out the main portion of the prep work. Thank you, baby girl for taking your nap! I was excited and could not wait to take my creation to be judged. As scary as it can be to have something critiqued and judged, it was so therapeutic for me to take on a task that was specifically for me, not for my daughter or my husband. This was my event. This was my thing.
I was pleasantly surprised when they announced that I won 1st place out of four entries in the Meatless Main dish category. I know four entries is pretty weak competition, but I still did it! I put myself out there and my confidence was boosted. I can do something and I can do something well. The only time I fail is when I don't put myself in the arena and just try. Next time something challenging comes up, I may fail. But is it really failing if I give my daughter the example of showing up and trying? Is it really failing if I expand my horizons and push my limits? Am I really failing when I strive valiantly and dare greatly?
No. That is what I call success.
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