Did you see the movie “Bridget Jones's Diary” where
Bridget gets all dressed up in a Playboy Bunny style
costume for a “Tarts and Vicars” party and arrives
to find it's not a costume party after all? I
remember laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.
It’s very funny, when it happens to somebody else!
Well, here it is Halloween and my husband and I were
invited to a party on Saturday night, one we'd been
looking forward to since we first heard about it
back on New Year's Eve. We had a great time shopping
and scrounging around for just the right things to
pull our costumes together.
We showed up in the playful spirit of the
approaching holiday, dressed to the nines in full
American Indian regalia. My husband was wearing an
Indian Chief headdress, and I was dressed like
Pocahontas sporting a fringed, suede, beaded vest
with my hair done in braids and feathers.
As we approached the entrance to the party I stopped
dead in my tracks. Nobody was wearing a costume!! It
seems there'd been a change of plans and we were
caught unaware. I wanted to cut and run! My husband,
undaunted, just walked right in like it was the most
natural thing in the world to be dressed like this
on a Saturday night. I had to take a few deep
cleansing breaths before I could overcome my
paralysis and enter the room.
There was a time when a turn of events like this
would have been an emotional disaster and I would
have let it ruin the evening for me. My need to be
appropriate and my worries about what other people
thought of me would have overridden any possibility
of having fun. I was quite proud of myself for
being able to go with the flow. Granted, a stiff
Cosmopolitan can do wonders to create a helpful
attitude adjustment.
I share this story with you because it seems that so
much unhappiness in life stems from worrying about
what other people think of us, and fearing the
disapproval of others if we act a certain way, dress
a certain way, or make a certain choice.
The truth is that people don't really pay all that
much attention to us. Sure, our gaffs might provide
a moment of entertainment, but invariably people
have enough of their own worries to keep them busy.
Your choices don't really concern them all that much.
What a shame to hold yourself back from following
your dreams because someone might not approve. Whose
life is it anyway? On your deathbed, what is going
to matter more: what other people thought of your
choices, or how you feel about how you lived your life?
It's so empowering to be true to yourself, to give
yourself permission to honor your deepest desires,
to take control of the reins of your life, and to
take responsibility for making the choices that will
bring you the greatest satisfaction.
Who do you want to be for Halloween, and for the rest
of your life? Treat yourself to an experience of
being your authentic self and go out and have some fun!
