One evening our friends took us to a local hockey game. It was fun even though our team wasn’t doing very well. We all clapped and cheered for awhile, but after about an hour most of us got tired and focused more on our nachos than cheering. My younger daughter kept right on cheering even when our team missed. My older daughter – who was easily embarrassed at that age – tried to get her to sit down, but my youngest wasn’t having it. At the end of the game a couple from a few rows over came up and handed her the puck they had caught at the beginning of the game. They congratulated her on all her cheering and told her how wonderful it was she had such a positive spirit.
It’s not always others who are holding you back. Much of the time it is you. You are in your own head stopping yourself from getting where you need to go. Mind has two meanings: a person’s intellect and a person’s attention. Stop over-thinking and stop giving your attention to what others might be thinking. Instead, choose to never mind.
Never mind trying to save face. Never mind the crowd around you. Never mind what critics will say. Wear what you like, eat what you need, do activities you want to do. Choose to stop worrying about whether or not everyone is watching or approves and follow your heart. (Uh, by the way, if your heart says become a cat burglar, serial killer, or some other nefarious thing, seek professional help.)
Some people can begin living their truth in one fell swoop. They cut ties with those who are disrupting their peace and begin following their own path. Not all of us are so bold. We over think, we ponder, we consider, we make excuses, we are shy, but if we choose to, we can change.
You don’t have to make changes instantly or accomplish all your goals in one afternoon. You can make small changes over time and by doing so slowly, steadily, reach happiness.
Create a list of five things you want to never mind again. Maybe you keep worrying about what your neighbors think of your car. Perhaps you are staying up nights thinking about what people are really saying about your new haircut. You could be stressed out because you accidentally hit “Reply All” on that email at work today, or because it’s fund drive season. Everyone you know is about to ask you to buy something you don’t really want from their kid’s school and you have no spare cash. What do you want to stop wasting your brain power on? I’m almost always cold. People continuously harass me for wearing jackets in the summer and extra layers in the winter. For a number of years I tried to “tough it out” and be silently cold. No longer! I stopped letting their comments bother me and now I wear a jacket (or three) whenever I feel cold, and I never mind what people think or say about it.
A never mind could also be something you want to remove from your life so you can stop thinking about it, perhaps 10 pounds, an excessive collection of shoes, or a detrimental habit like smoking. Whatever it is that you want to let go, put it on your list of “Never Minds” and save it. We’ll go back to it on Day 30. By the way, you’ve just finished Day 15. You’re half way there!