Next week is Halloween. Who will you be?
Don’t do it to fit in. Don’t do it to stand out. Do it because it’s fun!
Sometimes wearing a costume is fun! It may feel silly. It can also be freeing! -– being someone else for a moment. Kids know this, that’s part of the allure behind Halloween. Trying on a new persona. Especially if you wear a uniform to work (and most all of us wear a uniform, whether we know it or not). But somewhere along the line we grow out of this. We decide to put on a serious costume and wear that one daily. Boring. Then we wonder why we feel the way we do.
Doing something because you think it’s right, (or wrong), is being in reaction to it. That’s giving the 'should' more importance and power than you. What if you did something just because it was fun? What if you could put on a new costume that made your job feel fun? Your home life feel fun? Where did FUN go anyway?! What if it’s somewhere in the back of your (metaphorical) closet…
The great news? You don’t have to put on an actual costume – but try on a different way of being! Try leaving the way you usually show up behind for a day and try being somebody else. Try it. The alter ego you never tell anybody about. The fantasy you. The bigger you, the grander you, the louder you, the quieter you, the you that doesn’t fit into the everyday you. Be that! You play a role every day - now trying playing a new (less serious) one. Without explaining why. Like the little boy who wants to dress up as Elsa from Frozen just because. Or Mitchell from Modern Family excited to dress up as Spiderman!
But don't stop there! Don't get scared because the people around you aren't dressed up too (agh, Mitchell). They actually are. Their costumes just aren't as fun. And that's a choice they're making. Every day that we wake up, we decide what to put on. And who to be. And how to feel about it. Our way of being is something we put on. What if we woke up on Halloween and decided to be someone new for fun? What if we gave ourselves a day of realizing we are more than the costumes we wear – so we can wear many?
Give yourself an opportunity to try on a new version of you (without actually squeezing into a spandex Spiderman outfit).
Forget next week. Who will you be TODAY?