I can…

I’d hardly noticed it.  It was so quiet.  It was a small voice in my head that kept telling me I couldn’t fix my oven door.

It’s silly.  I’m an engineer.  I should be confident in my intellectual ability to figure out how an oven door works and in my mechanical ability to fix it.  Yet, for months I’d been living with a busted oven door.

I thought I hadn’t fixed the door because it would take too long.

I thought I hadn’t fixed it because I knew I wouldn’t have the right parts.

Actually, I hadn’t fixed the door because I’d been telling myself I couldn’t, and I’d believe it.

Once I started believing I could do it, fixing my oven door was a snap.

It only took 45 minutes.  I found parts to repair it in my jar labeled “miscellaneous hardware.” And, I’d had the ability all along.

The experience prompted me to wonder, “What else have I been telling myself I can’t do?”

I made a list. At the top I wrote,

I can…

Since then I’ve fixed, finished, learned, and accomplished so many things.  It’s invigorating!

I’m going to keep listening for that little voice to say, “I can’t…” so I can remind myself, “Yes, I can!”

 

What have you been telling yourself you can’t do?  Make your list.

Write, “I can…”

Then, do it.

Why not try?