I was in class the other day with a perfectly fit, perfectly young, perfectly punk rock young woman who literally had an outloud reason for why she couldn't do EVERYTHING. Including such gems as:
"That gives me rug burn"
"I'm clumsy"
"If anyone is going to break their neck doing that, it's me"
Etc., etc., etc.
It was so overt and so constant that I couldn't help but hobnob with the teacher afterwards about how often this girl sent up the "I can't do that" cry (seeing as how now I am also a *gasp* teacher, and I'm interested in dishing about how such things could and ought to be handled. And I also just have sort of a gossip streak...) and the teacher just shrugged and said:
"Yeah. It's her mantra."
And I just...yummy...I just LOVED this, because it was so very very true. The "I can't do it" mantra. Nearly as powerful, if not more so, than the "I don't want to do it" mantra, the "I'm no good at that" mantra, and my personal favorite, the "I don't deserve that" mantra.
They are powerful, those little sound loops in our head, but also (thankfully) totally within our control...
(or so they say)...
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