There are a lot of things I can't do. I can't grow peppers. I can't wear leggings. I can't be a redhead. I can't get excited about baseball. I can't stay awake at 1:00 in the afternoon if I'm in class- even if I'm teaching.
But you know what I can do? I can make people have hard conversations and thank me for the privilege. I can say hard things and people listen. I can throw around words like "pedagogy" and "dichotomy" and "differentiation" and I'm using them right. In short, I have mad skills where my work is concerned.
Today, I kicked ass. My client worked me like a rented mule, but I measured up. I knew when to talk, when to pause, and when to just look pensive ("smell the fart" facilitation, as I call it).
For years I felt like I shouldn't talk about what I could do well. I have vivid memories of the childhood taunt, "You think you're so hot but you're not," which later turned into "You think you're all that, don't you?" So I denied that I did anything more than passably well. I was sufficient at best and just fooling folks at worst. That little self-imposed bit of deceit- that I'm nothing special- led to years of feeling not-good-enough. I'm starting to realize that:
1) No one is paying attention anymore, ready to tell me to get over myself, and
B) I'm selling myself short.
I can also drive a stick- and hills don't scare me.
Yup. Mad mad super mad full on skills. That's me
A badass is willing to make an honest assessment of her strengths without shame, fear or embarrassment.
WooooHoooo! I agree! Women are still suffering under the "be nice" rule for females. Being assertive is "bitchy" and knowing your own self worth and not being afraid to tell someone about it is being a "stuckup bitch".
ReplyDeleteSomewhere between the "be nice" and "bitch" there is a place for being proud of your abilities and not being afraid to celebrate that! Oh, that must be the "Badass Zone"!
love ya, sis
You got it!
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