Act like a Dinosaur or go Extinct
A while ago, I was out for a business dinner with a group of colleagues and the check came. And all of a sudden, we transformed into tyrannosaurus rexes, meaning we drew our arms tightly into our sides. Not one of us was eager to pick-up the bill because it would be a large tax on our limited budgets. We weren’t offering to over-extend our resources (and arms in this case) and take on more responsibility than required. That seemingly insignificant dinner always leaves me wondering if I would be better off a dinosaur, or maybe more specifically, to have the small, baby-cute arms of a T-Rex in other areas of my work life.
Think about it! Having small, scrawny arms in relation to your physique would denote that you are not meant to lift more than you should. You accept your physical truth. When you choose to lift really heavy shit, it ideally would be worth challenging your adorable little arms. And because you don’t strain your arms often, when you really need to or want to challenge those birdy biceps, you are better able to handle the tension because you aren’t lifting stuff just to lift it all the damn time.
If you are built like a T-Rex you don’t confuse motion with progress. You aren’t lifting things to please or impress people. You aren’t beating yourself up for not doing everything all of the time, because you’re selective. Here are some common choices I have made, where embracing short, little arms would have made for a better outcome:
Writing a to-do list fit for a small army vs. 1 human
Volunteering for assignments at work that offers no developmental value
Participating in events out of guilt
Attending meetings without a clear purpose or agenda
Devoting a listening ear to whiney or gossipy water -cooler conversations
Worrying about how others perceived my message that had no mal intent
Consistently cleaning up work messes that I didn’t make
In direct contrast to the types of activities that build muscle under productive strain, the choices above only wore me out. I couldn’t step into my power and be queen of the lizards, owning my own reptilian greatness. I was trying to do all the things, versus choosing the right things. I am not advocating for not helping others, not listening to friends, not volunteering, etc. Rather I am making a plea that we must master our time, delegate to others, ask for help and let go of perfection and people-pleasing. In short, we must ask other able-bodied people to use their arms, or we must decide when it’s okay to let go, because our hands are full.
Because if you don’t start being selective with your time, your development and happiness could go extinct.
