This week I hit the trifecta! Not the horse races though. I took a new step beyond the ego’s rat race and into greater clarity. While visiting with a chiropractor friend he surprised me and said, “I want to offer you a gift.” Based on what he saw, he described me as a “kidney personality” according to the work of Bob Cooley, author of The Genius of Flexibility. He went on to describe a simple stretch I could do that would mechanically support my personality type. In a matter of seconds I was completely energized. During our discussion he also shared some of the characteristics of the kidney type. The one that stood out the most for me was “detached.” That certainly struck a chord!
Shortly after that I called my sister to wish her a happy birthday! She’d thrown herself a party with the special needs class that she teaches at school. “It felt really good to take care of myself and celebrate with my class. You know, she said, “I have a really hard time saying ‘thank you.’” We both laughed since this is certainly a family trait. In fact, we both admitted that we still squirmed when some one thanked us for doing something.
The third call was the most amazing of all. Talking with my friend and master web designer, Roger MacRae, helped me with another piece to the unworthy puzzle. He asked me if I said, “You’re welcome” when people said thank you. I don’t very much. From those two simple words, I got to see all the ways that I deflected people who said, “Thank you.” In fact, it was a way to dismiss their thanks, detach from others and play small!
Here’s a challenge I’ve accepted, and hope you will too: Look for opportunities to say “You’re welcome” and notice what happens when you validate someone’s thank you.
