This morning, I got notification that an article I had written had been published in the Rare Patient News. The topic is traveling when you child has special needs. I was excited to learn about it and was reminded of a skit by Steve Martin. The new phone book arrived in the mail (this was pre-contact lists on your smart phone.) Steve dances around saying, “The new phone books here, the new phone books here, I am somebody now.” It is a funny skit and we always laugh when we think about it.
Humor is based on reality.
Do we allow ourselves to be validated by some external situation or do we know how to value ourselves?
This past weekend at the Surrey International Writers conference, I heard a couple of presenters talk about this. They called it the Imposter Syndrome. It is when we devalue our accomplishments and ourselves. We are afraid that others will see that we are a fraud, an imposter. It affects men and women in equal numbers.
Although I have had this experience before, I didn’t know that there was a name for it. I can really relate to Steve Martin’s character when he says, “I’m in print, things are going to start happening to me now.”
It is always exciting to see our goals form and take shape and then manifest into reality. That doesn’t mean we have more value the more goals we have achieved. I recognize, particularly being Nick’s mom, that value is not tied to accomplishment. That is easy to recognize in other people, and harder to acknowledge personally.
I am challenging each of us, that includes me, to value myself for being me, including all the unique and amazing things.
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