I’m not actually a fan of soccer – but I challenge anyone not to have been caught up, at least a little, by the Matildas campaign in the Women’s World Cup.
They may not have won.
They may not have even come third.
But in the eyes of so many people they are absolute winners.
The record number of people watching the games.
The ‘sudden’ enthusiasm for and recognition of women’s sport.
But more than anything, the impact you saw them have on children and especially young girls, was wonderful.
The number of times you heard them talking about the Matildas with words such as ‘awesome, amazing, inspiring…’.
So often in sport when a team is knocked out of a competition, in step the critics.
Should have… could have… would have.
They were there – but the louder voices were definitely the ones saying ‘proud’.
In society generally we are all too quick to judge and criticise, whether it’s ourselves or others.
Why this obsession with trying to knock people down all the time?
I’ve always said (from a work perspective) you rarely hear anything when you’re doing a ‘good’ job (or just doing your job), but you soon know about it, if something doesn’t go quite to plan.
So next time you’re about to give yourself that internal dressing down, stop for a moment.
Note what you did well, the fact you gave it a go, and look at how you can use this in the future.
It doesn’t matter how small it is, a little bit of self praise or recognition can go a long way.
In meditation when your mind becomes distracted, it’s easy to say ‘that’s it, I failed, I can’t do this’.
But instead why not try: ‘I took some time for myself today so sit and be quiet. I gave a it a go and that’s great. I’ll do it again soon.’
If you can offer yourself a sense of this loving kindness, it becomes a lot easier then to offer this to others.
Let’s use the inspiration of the mighty Matildas and feel that sense of ‘awesome and amazing’ that we have in all of us!
Ann🙏