Meet my friend, Kelly Bay, author of Beer and Junk.
I met her back at UNI circa 1999 in amongst the partying and all around irresponsibility of college life. Fast forward 17 years: She’s a business owner, massage therapist, committed wife, and loving mother to three amazing kiddos. Welcome to her blog about the full spectrum of her crazy, lovely life. She’s real and isn’t afraid to tell her story, unfiltered. I appreciate her honesty, humor, and most importantly, her spirit. My blog article, Taming the Jerk, resonated with her as well. Enjoy her guest blog describing her internal Jerk: Striving Sally:
Name it to Tame it
You know that voice in your head? The one that is always doubting you? The one that becomes loudest at your most quiet times? Yesterday, Allison at From Within Wellness, introduced us to Vice Grip and her efforts to “Tame the Jerk” in her head. It’s clear to me that this is the next step in my Path to Mindfulness. Allison’s advice to help halt this negative self-dialog is “name it to tame it.” I think she says that because it rhymes, unlike “name it to tell it to eff off.”
Striving Sally
So, I’ve named my negative inner voice Striving Sally. The good news is that Striving Sally is not a perfectionist. Even the voice in my head does not expect me to be Martha Stewart. But, Striving Sally is an asshole nonetheless.
She says shit like, “Oh, your blog only has 23 followers? And you know that most of them are related to you right?”
Also, “You served hot dog buns for breakfast? What kind of person serves hot dog buns for breakfast? And now you’re going to go into work and pretend to be a professional- does anyone actually fall for that shit?”
And, “You still haven’t finished the standard operating procedures booklet for your office? You know you’ve been an employer well over a year now, right?” (Sometimes Striving Sally is right, I’m working on that Five Island Spa Co.)
Striving Sally, you’ll notice, is a complete bitch. And unfortunately, I have allowed her to take over my life, like a tyrannical, coke addicted boss. Success never comes fast enough for her, and she never takes the time to appreciate the huge strides I have made. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if I were to ever speak to my own employees the way I allow Sally to speak to me, they would quit on the spot.
Eff off Sally
So, I’m telling Striving Sally to eff off. I’m taking as much time each day to reflect on progress as I am to plan for success. I’m reminding myself to Find Joy in the Journey, to Be Happy with What I Have while Working for What I Want, and a bunch of other crap I added to my Pinterest boards and then quickly forgot.
Photo by Kalligraphy
I’m allowing myself moments or even days to be tired, overwhelmed and unsure of the future. Accepting that unbalanced may be my default setting. Then, I’m getting a good night’s sleep, slapping peanut butter on hot dog buns, calling it a complete breakfast and heading back into the world to kick some ass.