I’m not quite sure how it happens. We grow up and along the way an idea is implanted into us. Like a seed into the rich fertile soil of an inquisitive, open mind. We see, we hear, we notice over and over and before too long this idea becomes our reality. I like reality. I am trying every day to love what is real and obvious and accept what is true. BUT, some ideas aren’t true, we’ve just grown up allowing them to blossom as truth in our minds.

One day, I sat down to contemplate the (what I’ve come to call them) the Myths that bring me pain and suffering. I have four main ones (and many myth-lettes that I could go on and on with, I’m sure).

•see myth #1: I Have To Work Super Hard to Make a Living
•see myth #2: Successful People Stay Up Late

Myth #3: I Deserve Sweets

Provide by Katie m. Berggren
Provide by Katie m. Berggren ~ snag prints here

Dessert. It seems innocuous enough, right? Growing up, we (my sibs and I) cleaned our plates. Cleaned it. I was known for sitting an hour after dinnertime, eyeing that glass of milk* or that little slimy pile of cooked and salted spinach. But, with my eye on the prize: the bowl of ice cream or homemade apple pie that I would get when I finished my dinner.

*side note about that glass of milk: I learned much later that my older sister was secretly dumping her glass of milk into my own when wasn’t looking. Thus, my amount seemed to never decrease. I didn’t notice. But I did stress over that white stuff, especially as it started to warm in the evening hour.

Time seemed to fly between where I was given treats to where I was allowed to give myself sweets. And before too long, as an adult, I felt I deserved sweets. One essence of being an adult, I thought when I was a child, was that you could do and EAT whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. Cookies right before dinner? Sure. But not for the kids. When I entered that mystically awesome stage of adulthood it hit me that I was now in charge of myself. And I know my kids feel the same way I did as a little girl. They have to ask for a cookie, but heck, when they aren’t looking, I’ll eat at least one while I’m cooking dinner!

I realize though, that I don’t DESERVE sweets just because I am fully capable of reaching the cookie jar without a sneaky stool. They are there, those cookies, and I am here. I do not DESERVE dark chocolate at night after the kids go to sleep. If I choose to have some, then fine. But I am working on getting past that feeling of entitlement. Geesh. And setting limits.

Sometimes I find myself chained to my studio workbench in the evening hours focused on finessing painted skin and bodies curling together ~ and I stay focused ~ because I love it so much, and partly because painting in the studio keeps me away from the dark chocolate in the kitchen cupboard.

I’m trying to break this sweet-myth. I have my 4 main myths posted above my workbench and slowly but surely this “truth” is becoming a “farce”.

 

The above is one of my own personal myths. It may very well have nothing to do with you. But what about YOU? Is there a myth that has been planted in you and has grown to cause you suffering? Does noticing this myth put you on the path to conquering it?

Join me on the Facebook Page and share your story, let’s triumph over our myths together.

Love & Sincerely, Katie

www.kmberggren.com