Wise Words From Stuart Smalley

Some of you may or may not know who Stuart Smalley is.  He was a character played by Al Franken on Saturday Night Live back in the 90s.  His catch phrase was “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”

You would be absolutely amazed at how many times I repeat this to myself throughout a day, week, month, or year.  When your battling so hard to just maintain, it is hard to keep your hopes and dreams alive.  However, you MUST keep them alive.  You can never give in to giving up.  (At least this is how I feel.)  When I go through periods of self doubt where I wonder if I can keep performing at a high level at work, where I wonder if I am making a difference with my advocacy work, where I wonder if I am pulling my weight at home, where I wonder if I spoil my dog enough, I stop…take a deep breath…and repeats the words of Stuart Smalley in my head.  As cheesy as it may sound, I repeat them over and over in my head and then set a goal of something to accomplish for the day.  I find that once I accomplish that one item, I end up on a roll and get a whole list of things done.  It’s just that sometimes, accomplishing that one item is so incredibly difficult.  Who would have thought that a cheeseball character from all these years ago would be what kicks my behind in gear?!

Recently, I have also been doing a lot of reading focused around self-reflection.  There are some fascinating books on the subject.  It is important to note that these books are self-reflection not self-help.  Self-reflection books focus on how to become more introspective and more aware of your surroundings.  They also deal a lot with emotional intelligence and how to read/interact with others.  One of the books “The Essentials of Fabulous” recommends creating an encouraging loop to repeat to yourself.  To create a list of positive things that have been said to you and positive thing to reflect on.  Then replay this list whenever you are in a period of self doubt or having trouble getting moving.  (It’s the 21st century Stuart Smalley!)

So this morning I added to my Stuart Smalley loop various comments I have received at work about my quality of work and my ability to maintain an extremely high standard while fighting with the moving target that is Gastroparesis.  I repeat to myself that I have managed to successfully educate my workplace on Gastroparesis and how I have to live/work to balance it (which is an scaling Mount Everest type of fete for most people).  I repeat to myself what my family/friends have said about what I continue to accomplish in spite of Gastroparesis.  Most importantly, I repeat to myself several of the comments I have received about this blog from my fellow GPers.  My little blog is making a difference and helping others.  These are all reasons to crawl out of bed and accomplish some things today.

I’m good enough!  I’m smart enough! And doggone it, people like me!

~Millie