Maybe just ask someone?
We all know change is hard, but necessary and awesome and scary and empowering…yaddah, yaddah.
But the weird thing about change (well, one of the weird things about change because I can only assume there’s like a million weird things about change) is that sometimes things are better and you have no idea.
Sometimes, you have it so crazy good but are still worrying because you don’t have a point of comparison to know how good things actually are.
It’s more than just improving from bad to good, it’s a total change where the “good” is something completely new.
That’s what you paid for
A few months before I was born, my Dad splurged and bought himself a new Corvette. It was a sleek maroon color and was totally badass. I remember it from growing up and still to this today brag that it was the car that brought me home from the hospital after I was born.
He told me a story about when it was new. He’d drive around and drivers of other Corvettes would wave to him — a little two-fingered salute. He was in a little unspoken club and publicly thought it was hilarious, but privately loved it.
A few days went by from his purchase and he couldn’t get over the engine making a loud noise. Every time he started it…LOUD. Every time he hit the gas…LOUD.
Something was wrong with this new car, he thought, so he took it back to the dealership and asked the guy what was up with the loud engine.
The dealer laughed, put his hand on my dad’s shoulder, and said, “Doc! That’s what you paid for!”
It wasn’t my dad’s first car, but it was his first new car and yeah…those engines have some muscle to them that he wasn’t used to. The power and performance — and volume — of that brand new sports car engine was something he didn’t know much about.
He had it good and didn’t know it.
Now he knew.
Thank your lucky stars
I have two older sisters, the younger of which is a year and half older than I am. My mom told us the story of when she was a newborn baby and was spending her first few nights at home.
She never cried and always slept through the night. Even when she was brand-spanking new. For parents reading this, you know that is insanity.
My mother thought something was wrong. All babies cry through the night, right? All her friends told her so. SOMETHING HAD TO BE WRONG WITH THIS BABY.
The doctor laughed, put her hand on her shoulder, and then told my mom, “Mrs. Rao, your baby is fine. Consider yourself the luckiest woman alive and get some rest!”
She had it good and didn’t know it.
Now she knew.
The unfamiliar
New things are always unfamiliar, by definition, but “unfamiliar” doesn’t ever mean “not good.”
Just because it’s different, doesn’t mean it’s broken. This is true in just about everything I can think of: career opportunities, business decisions, even people.
If you’re not used to having it good, it can be super weird — and hard to realize — when you finally do. We’ve been taught to not compare ourselves to others, and I stand by that wholeheartedly.
So sometimes you have to ask someone if you’re doing it right, and that is perfectly ok.
Let’s just hope that whomever you ask, they laugh, put their hand on your shoulder, and tell you that you have it good.
Because then you’ll know.
#bewhatyoumake
