Me pulling hair out of my head, whilst sitting on a rock in the river

I can’t do this…the message behind fear..

Part 1

So I have decided that I am going to Atlanta as part of my training for a conference on all things conscious parenting … ok, riiight… but the thing is I haven’t even got a passport!!

So I have to get one but in the UK the waiting time from application to having a passport in your hands is currently 10 weeks…umm, the conference is in 6.. so plan B was needed.

To stop me from breaking out in a cold sweat I have broken it all down into a 9 step plan to get me there, so nothing is too big to scare the heebie jeebies out of me, or that’s what I thought anyway!!

Steps 1 and 2 were fairly simple - get the application form and have some fetching photos taken so they were easily done (even if I do look like a rabbit in headlights 🤣).. step 3 was the one that literally floored me and that was to make an appointment to see someone in the passport office so I could have my application fast tracked… I kept distracting myself from pressing confirm.

Now why was that?

Was it cos I was scared witless about doing something on my own?

Was it cos I didn’t think I could do it?

Was it because I didn’t think I was worth spending that amount of money and energy on?

Actually it was a bit of a mix of the above plus doing something so out of my comfort zone that I hadn’t attempted to do in 20 years…

Wtf?! Yes I’m a Mum but I’m also a woman who wants to do things for herself…

Where had that person gone?

The one that was so free that I didn’t have to ask permission to do something for ME, the one that loved life and lived it to the full…

I realised I had lost myself along the way of bringing up my daughter. I had succumbed to the norms of society that you don’t do things for yourself and you don’t have fun BUT do you know what? I don’t want to be that person any more, I want to have fun and do adventurous things that literally scare the 💩 out of me.

And…do you know what?

My daughter is my biggest cheerleader.. She has sat there with me, telling me I could do it, I could book that train ticket to Glasgow so I could have the appointment so I could get my passport and book my flight to Atlanta. Omg, omg, omg I am actually going to do this!!

So what is the morale of this tale?

🪞Mirror the behaviours that you want to see in your teen daughter.

🧗‍♀️If you don’t push yourself out of your comfort zone, how the hell is she going to?

If you don’t stop procrastinating and focus on what needs doing, what is your daughter seeing 🙈?

You can’t tell your daughter one thing and then do the exact opposite 🙉. Remember she learns by what she sees you doing, not by what you say..

Be the best you can be so you reflect those behaviours onto your daughter.

Easy eh?

Edit…I’ve been to Glasgow and sorted my passport, now onto the next step - eek! I am actually doing this!!

Take care

Rach x

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