I've always been a humanities person. In high school, I was bored to death with biology and chemistry and only survived physics thanks to my Dad, a brilliant scientist with a gift for making the complex seem simple. In college, I decided against majoring in psychology because there was too much biology required. And while it took me a while to figure out what it was that I wanted to do with my life, I always knew for sure the two things I didn't want to be involved in: science and medicine.
I was thinking about all of it over the Labor Day weekend, as I found myself in an intensive aromatherapy class, trying to recall the periodic table of elements, visualize valences, and formulate the difference between organic and inorganic chemistry.
All of a sudden, I couldn't get enough on the plants that the oils came from and the electromagnetic frequencies generated by the oils' molecules. Sesquiterpenes, isomers, and quantum physics became subjects of intense fascination. (Dad, are you reading this?) And following my recent purchases, Amazon now believes that the best way to get my hard-earned dollar is to prompt me to buy books on health and healing. What happened?
What happened was the classic irony: the very things you think you'll never need in life come back to prove you wrong.
And it made me wonder: What if I hadn't resisted sciences so much in high school? What if, at that early age, my teachers had found an angle that would have made those subjects interesting to me? What if I hadn't let myself get scared of biology and pursued that degree in psychology? Would any of it have broadened my view and, ultimately, shortened my path to a meaningful career?
Now, I'm not saying this to suggest that I regret having short-changed science in high school. One of my beliefs is that there are no mistakes in life – only lessons to be learned, and that, whatever our path, we were meant to have walked it, even if it's taken us on seemingly long detours.
What I'm trying to say though is that the perceptions of ourselves that we carry since our childhood often prevent us from doing the things we really want or need to do later in life.
How often have you heard yourself saying something like: "I can't handle my finances because I've never been good at math." Or "I was always good at math, so I'm not a very creative person." Or "I'm really not good at writing, so I can't have an office job." Or "I'm not very diplomatic so I won't be a good salesperson." How often have those kinds of beliefs prevented you from moving forward with something you genuinely wanted?
The thing is that we often form those kinds of perceptions on the basis of something that happened to us years ago. And even when they are no longer true and should be simply cast aside, we continue to carry them through our life, letting them become obstacles and mental blocks.
The longer I coach people, and the more I work on myself, the stronger my belief that our lives are only as good as what we believe in. Believing is seeing. If you believe that there are no miracles, there won't be any. If you believe that you are not good at something, you won't be.
The opposite is also true. All that's requires is for you to set aside your limiting belief and believe in something different. Today, at this moment, you can choose to change your view of yourself and decide that you are whatever it is that you want yourself to be.
The lesson of my aromatherapy class was that if you are passionately interested in something, you will learn the skills and get the knowledge necessary to pursue it, and you'll have fun doing so. Science on its own may not have held much meaning for me in high school. But tied to an intense curiosity and a strong interest, it became a fun mountain to climb, and, fueled by passion, the climb felt more like an invigorating hike than an exhausting mountaineering adventure.
But an even bigger and truly unexpected gift was this: I will no longer say that I'm not a science person. I will never again say that I'm not interested in science or medicine. I am now, and no amount of science will get between me and what I'm interested in.
So to all of you who may have developed a particular perspective of yourselves based on your past "mistakes" or "failures," now may be the time to ask yourselves:
Where in your life might past experiences, and the perceptions of yourself that you've developed as a result, be holding you back from pursing a path that you really feel drawn to?
What are you not doing that might potentially change your life for the better, just because you hold that particular limiting belief?
Where in your life could you become more open-minded to let something new in?
Where is there a seedling of something new trying to make it through the thick soil of your old perceptions of yourself?
Perhaps it's time to come around and water the baby-plant. Give it some plant food, welcome it to the world, and see what grows. You never know - it might just become an unexpected gift that will enrich your life in many beautiful ways.
Comments