High Achiever
This is not the dining table of a high achieving, successful woman.
Or at least, that's what I thought a couple of years ago.
I had been feeling stretched in all the ways. I was working harder than ever before in the corporate world to prove that motherhood hadn't dulled my professional sparkle.
I was working equally hard on the home front, determined to prove that this smart, capable and high achieving perfectionist could not only handle being a mama to three small children, but could SHINE while doing it.
And then my husband innocently suggested that it might be fun to have some quirky chairs in a rainbow of pastel colours at our dining table.
I wasn't having any of it.
"Why not?" he asked playfully.
I had plenty of reasons why not:
It's weird! It's just not the done thing
My parents will think we're poor and can't afford matching chairs so they'll worry about us
Our friends will think we're crazy hippies and won't want to be our friends anymore
Everyone will judge us for being unsophisticated and having tacky taste
If we ever want to sell our house, having unconventional furniture will devalue it
My lovely husband patiently heard me out and then asked, with that customary sparkle in his eyes, "ok, so you've told me all the reasons why OTHER people won't like it. But what about YOU? Do you think YOU might like it?"
I was flummoxed. Lost for words. How was I supposed to know if I liked it? All my opinions had been shaped by the world around me. I didn't know it back then but almost every decision I had made in my life had been subconsciously calculated to maximise approval and minimise criticism/judgement from others.
I hadn't been thinking or behaving like a leader. I had been thinking and behaving like a follower.
The thing is, I liked the chairs. I love colour. So I said yes. We still use them every day and it makes my heart happy being in such a light, joyful space.
I've come to realise that this IS the dining table of a high achieving, successful woman. And she's a leader too. She just needed to expand her vision to see that xx
