Have you ever heard that small voice in your head…the one that says to stop trying, you’re not good enough. The one that tries hard to instill fear into what is a strong, confident woman. The Enemy in the form of Fear reared its ugly head yesterday and I’m declaring that I’m not listening…
I’m
Not
Listening.
An amazing opportunity opened up for me, but it also opened up the opportunity for me to be critiqued, judged and for my pride to be out for all to see. I stood face forward into that opportunity and declared that it could say whatever it wanted, do whatever it wanted…I was going to jump. I wasn’t going to sit by and fear what might happen anymore.
As I was browsing a fellow local photographer’s site…I started to feel competition wave over me…actually there isn’t any competition at all…I know that they have more advanced talents than I do. I imagine they have more fancy cameras and they have been using photoshop for longer than I have. They are older, more established and definitely not the mommy-blogger type. They keep their blog professional and don’t spill their guts for all to see like I do. I started to feel small…so very very small.
Then I heard the Other Voice. It said loud and clear, “Shut it down”. And I did. I shut the window to their site down so fast that I didn’t have time to second guess who was telling me to do it.
Do you second guess yourself? There is always someone out there that is better…bigger…stronger…
Who
Cares.
I decided a long time ago that I wouldn’t compare myself to others. If you start to compare your photos to the next person’s you will find that you won’t even want to pick up your camera. How tragic. I can say this because I have lived it.
How can I ever get as good as (fill in the blank)???
Let’s change our thinking…how about…How can I gain more confidence in myself? I guarantee it isn’t comparing yourself to someone else. I guarantee it comes from practice, picking up your camera and shooting. It comes from tinkering in your editing program and asking friends if you can take their photos. It comes from looking at your work and saying, “that is good!”. Come on…say it. “That is good!”
I commit to staying out of the comparing game. It is exhausting. It is fruitless.
This is me…
I’m not fancy, I learn new things every day, I make a fool of myself so that your kids will crack up and I’m addicted to saying LOL and making smiley faces in my posts :)
That is it…take it or leave it. I’m going to take it.
So who are you? Think about it for a second…only for a moment and then let that revelation wash over you like cool water. Don’t think too hard or you will start to think of what you aren’t or what you wish you were. Exhausting I tell you…that is pure exhausting.
