Stop Thinking You Are Special

“Stop thinking you are special,” G told me once while I whined about what I believed to be a uniquely dark, lonesome moment in my life.

It was a comment that shook me at first yet also turned out to be one of the most valuable observations G would ever cast over me.

A remark that humbled and matured me and permitted me to start dropping my stories.

My worries.

Family history.

Complaints.

Self-inflicted busyness.

Astrological sign.

Myers-Briggs type.

Diet convictions.

Dreams.

Dramas.

Appearance.

Hobbies.

The elaborate design of all of them combined, which I thought made me, but actually only perpetuated a self-image that held me back and made me boring and exhausting to be around with.

On the other hand, stopping to believe I was somehow different than everyone else helped shed some of my worst narcissism and childishness and allowed me to narrow the gap between them, you, and me.

And over the years, it’s our shared humanity, non-specialness, and sameness that has become ever-so evident to me, which I find remarkable and where I like to meet.

Words

I added ten books with the usual takeaways to my old bucket list challenge Read 100 Business Books, marking 85 total now.

• Give and Take
• The Culture Code
• No Hard Feelings
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• How to Talk to Anyone
• The Art of Gathering
• Zero to One
• To Sell Is Human
• Little Bets
• Thanks for the Feedback

Warriors Challenge

In January, four friends and I picked a habit each and committed to dedicating 20 minutes daily. For every day one failed to practice their routine of choice, they paid €5. At the end of the month, the people who didn’t miss any day got to divide the bounty.

The habits were: reading non-work-related books, doing yoga, meditating, studying AI-generated art, and for me, writing.

A few of us liked the January challenge so much that we decided to keep going with two new people for February and March (and two new habits: ice baths and drawing.) Also, to make the challenge more interesting, we set the bounty to €5 per person, so failing a day now costs €25.

This challenge helped me publish Favorite Things 2021 and update the above post, both somewhat evolved tasks in what tend to be busy months. Plus, I sent two letters with today’s marking day 65 of writing in a row without fail. I wholeheartedly recommend doing a challenge like this of your own.

🔖 Related reading: Begin Again

Quote I’m Pondering

All of our miseries are nothing but attachment. –Osho

With love,
The 2-in-1 kind,
Mirha (and Peanut)
❄️