1999-2019: Celebrating 20 Years of Ripples
Ripples #1075: Being Big!
Dec 30, 2019
PEBBLE
My goal isn’t to play small with my life….My goal is to be as big as I possibly can and attract those who want the same.
-Blake Hickey, shared by Christine in Binghamton, NY
BOULDER
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.
-Neil Gaiman, shared by Andrea in Champaign, IL
PONDER
As we wrap up 2019 and get ready for a new year (and a new decade!), I’m carving out some time for reflection, for planning, and for anticipation of what lies ahead. I haven’t (yet) made a list of specific things that I hope to accomplish in 2020, but I know that I want to learn, I want to grow, and I want to expand possibilities for myself and those I cross paths with. That means I need to think big, plan big, and commit to some big actions. It also means that I need to prepare for some big mistakes, too!
Mistakes tend to make me feel small, like I’m not smart enough or organized enough or successful enough to have my act together in the way I should. I usually feel embarrassed, and sometimes also ashamed especially if others are impacted by my error. My mental chatter can get pretty mean, berating me for getting it wrong and warning me of the consequences of any more mistakes.
The quotes above give me an opportunity to replace harsh thoughts and feelings with more useful, and more accurate ones. Mistakes then transform into friendly reminders of my humanity, invitations to proceed more mindfully. They guide me to my bigness by helping me stretch beyond my comfort zone.
Whether you are a resolution setter or not, I invite you to join me in pondering how you want 2020 to be our biggest and bestest yet, and making peace with just how many mistakes we’ll need to make in order to make the most of it.
Peace,
Paul
The Ripples Guy
P.S. Some people may be tempted to point out that 2020 is technically the final year of the previous decade and not the start of a new decade. Here’s my take: I think most of us conceptualize a decade as consisting of the year that it is described as: the ’80s began in 1980, and the roaring ’20s began in 1920. The real question is, what will the 2020s be like? Let’s make them a time of adventure, growth, and connection, shall we?
