When we are trying to achieve success in life, there’s one force that can foil us again and again. That force is what I call the banshee of blame.
Let me give you an example: this morning I woke up at 5am. Not because I had planned to get an early start on a glorious day, but because I had heartburn. I had heartburn because I had overeaten last night. When I realized this my banshee of blame swooped in, with thoughts like “You knew this would happen with that slice of pepperoni pizza” “You couldn’t say no, could you?” “Now your whole day is going to be crappy because of your lack of self-control” “You do this to yourself over and over again.”
On and on it went, all of it true, all of it powerful, but none of it helpful. Was all that blame going to help me have a successful day one bit? No, it was all negative destructive energy. There are countless ways we let blame latch on to ourselves, either blaming ourselves or blaming others “I would have been on time if it wasn’t for my sister talking on and on” “I wouldn’t have gotten fired if those executives were more concerned for their people and their bonuses” “I would have gotten an A in that class if my instructor wasn’t such a jerk.”
Just like the banshee from the movie Avatar, the blame banshee is a powerful energy that can destroy everything in its path. But just like the Avatar banshee, with courage and strength you can learn to tame it. You can take that same energy and redirect it into positive action. “I’m late so I’m going to focus on making the most of my time” “I have the freedom and focus to find an amazing job opportunity now” “I will prove that I knew my coursework in the real world” and in my case “It’s a beautiful day, I have the opportunity to be at the beach early and (yes, that’s where I got the banshee idea) fly my new banshee kite that my son Blake got me for my birthday.”
You can’t eliminate tough things from happening in your life, but you can tame your blame banshee and use that energy to create success in your life, every day.
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