On Eating Elephants

Ominously they beckon to me from a dark corner of my room, they are the devices that will contain me in the library and coffee shop this coming semester.

“They” are the stack of books that I recently ordered off of Amazon, which comprise the bulk of the reading I will do this semester. If ever the old adage/joke of “how do you eat an elephant?” were to come into play in my life, now would be the time.

The fears slowly creep into my mind, and I think to myself:

How in the world will I get all of my work done? Are you really cut out for this? What if you are a terrible counselor? And, the nastiest: You aren’t smart enough for this.

Ouch. Where do these thoughts come from? Am I the only one?

I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not the only one who deals with negative self-talk. I have found that the more focused, driven, and goal oriented I have become, the more attacked I feel. This is not a coincidence. I truly believe that when we are fighting to become our best selves the worst part of our selves comes out to play and, unfortunately, not by the rules.

Thankfully, if we fight hard enough, we have little victories that we can lean on and gain strength from. My confidence might teeter a bit when I look at the stack of books I have ordered, but when I think back to this last semester and how I was able to conquer my reading in the past, I am bolstered and renewed.

This can be true for you too. When we take tiny steps (or bites) out of our goals, before we know it, the elephant is gone. 

Happy Monday!