Until today, I have never taken my two youngest children (2 & 3) grocery shopping. We’ve run into the grocery store down the street for milk or eggs, but we’ve never done a full-scale shopping trip together. I’ve been convinced they wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Because we have busy schedules, I choose to grocery shop once every 3 weeks. With faithful meal planning, it works for us. Subsequently however, I’m that lady whose cart you gawk at, as it practically overflows onto the floor. 3 weeks worth of food for 6 people is a lot! Grocery shopping is a feat – and a feat I was convinced I couldn’t do with my toddler and preschooler. I knew I wasn’t good enough/skilled enough/brave enough to take that on.
“It’s too long of a trip.”
“They’ll get fussy.”
“I can’t handle the shopping and two small kids.”
Oh the depth of our insecurities as mothers. How quick we are to invent excuses and reasons for not trying things. How easily we believe our own negative self-talk. How quick we are to down-play our abilities. How easily we forget our strength.
Wanna know how the shopping trip went? My kids rocked it. They were AMAZING. We were in the store for almost an hour and a half, and they were perfect. They were capable. So was I.
As I stepped out of the store today, there was an incredible sense of freedom. It was freeing to know I could do this. It was freeing to know we were more than capable.
You see, insecurity, anxiety, and negative self-talk are binding. They lock you up in the prison of your mind. Every time you give in to one of the silly lies we tell ourselves, the chains get a bit tighter. We end up talking ourselves out of SO much – because we’re so certain we’ll fail.
“Bekki, you’re talking about the grocery store. I can do the grocery store.” I can hear you reading along. And yes, for some of you, tackling the cart of never-ending groceries with two kids 3 and under may seem like a piece of cake. But, what else are you keeping yourself from doing or trying? What is it that you are certain you can’t handle or can’t do?
Grocery shopping with my two youngest was a good step for me today. It drug me out of my comfort zone, out of my negative head-space, and into the land of “You CAN do this.” I’ve been putting off a few more ambitious tasks due to fear. I’m afraid to fail. I’m afraid to be less than perfect. I’m afraid I can’t.
You might not succeed at everything you try. You might not be the best. But you CAN try. You CAN. You are capable of SO much more than you give yourself credit for. You are capable. You are strong.
“When you want to introduce a lie, you have to silence the voices of truth.” Ravi Zacharias
Don’t silence the truth. Don’t let yourself believe the lies we play out in our head. You’ve got this. Whether it’s running an errand or setting out to conquer the world – you CAN do it! Don’t believe me? Just try.
