OK.
It's true.
I'm a Julia Roberts' fan.
And while it's super-cheesy (yes, also confessing to liking cheesy), I often have cause to think of Roberts in The Runaway Bride.
It's an oldie now, but I think it speaks so well to the way we can lose our own Inner Compass. So easily we can hand over agency for Our Self and Our Needs to those around us. We can forget what it is that makes us uniquely us.
Maggie (Julia Roberts) has reached Urban Myth status for repeatedly running from marriage at the altar. Ike (Richard Gere), a reporter sent to explore this, interviews each of Maggie’s men. They clearly state that she liked her eggs exactly the same way they did. Scrambled, fried, poached: Maggie always followed preferences of the man she was with at the time. When Ike presses Maggie, the truth is revealed that, if left to her own devices, she has absolutely no idea about how she genuinely likes her eggs. To counteract this, Maggie prepares eggs for herself in every way imaginable, and, yes, she finally works out what she genuinely likes. (And yes, true love also wonderfully arrives for Maggie and Ike. So surprising!)
Let's see eggs as a symbol for our choices and preferences. Do we know what we genuinely like and prefer, or are we shaped by those around us, or those we indirectly interact with through Social Media?
If we are to combat Perfectionism and Anxiety, I suggest that we need to become people who REALLY KNOW what WE REALLY LIKE AND WANT.
A good test is to construct a sentence that ends with, "and that's the way I like it." So, for example: "I'm going to the movies tonight, and that's the way I like it." "I'm having takeaways tonight, and that's the way I like it." "I'm going for a walk now, and that's the way I like it." If we find we can't genuinely agree with our sentence, then that is an indication that we are not being true to our Inner Needs.
Let's get back in tune with our own needs, likes and wants.
And why not watch some cheesy Gere and Roberts as a bit of light-weight therapy/ fun over the weekend?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqyGc7-UEj4
Contact me: Lorraine Dodd: Counsellor in Howick, Auckland 0221 874 057, through the contact section http://lorrainedodd.wix.com/lorraine-dodd by email nurturinghope@gmail.com or Private Message me through Facebook