“Easy for you…”

 

Shared by Breanne Smedley

I remember the first time one of my teammates said it to me.

It was in high school after I had just hit a volleyball over the net.

“It’s easy for you, you’re 6 feet tall.”

I laughed it off and didn’t really think much about it at the time.

It’s true, height does give me a bit of an advantage in the sport that I love.

It happened a handful of other times throughout my career.

Not necessarily from teammates (because most know how much work goes into being great at a sport), but from others.

“I’d hit like that too if I were that tall.”

Read: “I now have an excuse for not hitting the ball like that.”

As if it was all just genetics that allowed me to hit a ball hard.

If only it were that simple. Those of us who play sports know you can’t just stick a tall person on a court and expect anything great to happen.

They stumble over themselves. Run into people. Miss the ball completely.

That definitely describes my early days playing volleyball.

Height, without skill acquired through practice and hard work, is meaningless.

I knew this when it came to playing sports.

But what I didn’t realize is that I was actually applying this limiting mindset in other areas of my life.

The belief that some people are just born with greatness.

And that I could never be like them because I wasn’t born with what they have.

Or with the circumstances, they were granted.

“Sure, I’d be out of debt if my parents paid for my college, too.” (Even though I’m glad they didn’t, and there’s nothing wrong with parents who do.)

“It’s easy for them, they make 4x what I make!”

“I’d be able to build my business faster too if I had a schedule like that.”

Thoughts, although maybe true, automatically limit my capabilities.

Give me an out and allow me to give up before even starting.

Make me think that others have it better than I do and that there’s nothing that I can do to get on their level.

Now, as a white, heterosexual woman born in the US, I’m fully aware of the privilege and access that I have based on what our current society values.

However, when I take a look at my own limiting beliefs, I can see where I have cut myself off before even trying.

And become jealous of those people who seem to “have it all, easily.”

This limiting belief becomes a fast track to frustration. Bitterness. Resentment.

All things that immediately stop any forward growth because I’m looking around at everyone else.

Thinking they have it easy.

In reality, it only looks easy.

To those that don’t understand that what looks easy, hardly ever is.

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#MindfullyEvolving

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