Marianne Williamson has a wonderful quote that says:
Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.
There is a difference between humility and playing small.
Humility is realizing that we are not better than other human beings. Playing Small is thinking and acting as if we’re not as good as other human beings.
I think women sometimes get these two things confused. We put others needs before our own, not out of humility but because we are playing small. I think we will only stop playing small when we remember how to play.
Shining Like Children
Children shine because they play with absolute abandon. They’re not afraid of falling or failing. Granted, they’re a lot closer to the ground than we are and mostly cartlidge while our bones are hollowing out, but still – they have FUN!
They shine because they don’t worry about others opinions on how they should play – small or big. They just play.
I would like for all of us to get together and have a day of play.
I mean we should PLAY in a way that puts us back in the “BIG” category.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Dodge Ball for the judgmental people in our lives. Invite anyone who makes your life miserable, and we’ll put them inside the dodge ball circle. As they stand there telling us that we should not be playing or we shouldn’t wear those jeans or we should watch what we eat, we can let that yellow rubber ball fly.
- Red Rover, Red Rover, send skinny right over. I want this game only because those of you who are thin won’t win. Those of us who are holding onto our menopausal middles with pride will survive, breaking through your tiny arms with ease.
- Tether Ball for cumbersome quotes. The tether ball would be inscribed with cute little sayings like, “A moment on the lips, forever on the hips.” This would encourage all dames to bring that ball on a rope home.
- A Snow Cone machine. Hey, we’re women with hot flashes. We might just dive into the snow cone machine after a game or two.
- A Wack-a-Mole of needs. You know this game – where little plastic moles pop up out of different holes and you bash them back down with a plastic mallet. Ours would include requests from everyone around such as, “Why don’t we have any groceries in this house?” “Can you take cupcakes to my daughter’s school in the morning?” “Can your bring cookies to the shower/birthday/anniversary party?” “Can you bring a dish for the potluck supper?” “Would you take minutes in this meeting and get copies to everyone?”
Dames Should Play Big
Remember when you used to really, really play? Running so fast your thought you were going to fall on your face? Well, I do that now when I walk, but you get my point.
Let’s put together a Dame playground. Let’s allow ourselves to play big and stop playing small. We deserve a break, and we deserve to laugh.
If you want to create another Play Big game, let me know.