Notes from Steve

Doubt your doubts - a preacher once said.  For me - I fell twice on my bike this year.  Not big time, hurting myself falls, but falls nevertheless.  And it was because I didn’t trust my instinct and doubted my abilities; I fell*.  Same with the rest of my life - my intuition on what I know and have experience in usually guides me to positive outcomes … a tiny bit of unnecessary doubt makes me fall every time.

They say of child artists - the best are the really young ones, the four to six-year-olds because they stop when it feels in their hearts that they should stop.  Older artists - it’s been said - keep painting because their head voice is doubting.  “Maybe more paint or bolder strokes or a cow and a goat would help” … it usually doesn’t. 

How do we trust ourselves?  How do we listen to our inner voices and intuition developed and honed by years of experience and wisdom?  Maybe stop giving the buzzy, little, doubting voice so much power. 

*One of my falls was on a St. Paddy’s Day ride. I was riding my big mountain bike and had just left Pal Joey’s bar with friends.  I was nervous about the snow and thought too much, and someone looked at me, and down I went.  A couple of years ago - there was a big sheet of ice outside on the trail alongside Pal Joey’s bar, and a woman looked at me and shook her head, and down I went.  I got a big bruise then -- I think I’m going to blame Pal Joey’s from now on.