A Head Thing

"Third grade is supposed to be one of the hardest grades."
These are words my daughter uttered before school started this year. She was nervous. Multiplication tables? State testing? She just wasn't sure she wanted to go to third grade.
You see, she'd gotten in her own head. Convinced herself it was going to be hard, that she couldn't do it.
​And once you get in your own head, it's really hard to get back out.

Needless to say, this school year hasn't started quite as smoothly as any of the others for her. Though it helped to meet the teacher and find out which friends were in class with her again. She was still uncertain. And when you tell yourself you can't do something, you can't.
So, when we started working on multiplication table flash cards (with the ONES), there was much whining and bemoaning. But we got through those.
Her daddy and I keep reminding her how smart she is. Telling her we're here to help. And that she can do this.
Then, she figured out she could do the twos, too. And that boosted her self-confidence a bit. She passed her early tests and pulled all A's on her first progress report. Oh. Maybe she could do this.
Don't get me wrong. She's still nervous about the testing to come in the spring, but we just keep telling her she's got this.
But don't we, as adults, sometimes do something similar. Maybe not with multiplication tables (I've known those since about third grade when my daddy drilled them into my head--thanks, Daddy!). But with other things.
Ugh. This book is going to flop. Ugh. This work day is going to be horrible because I have to do this and this and that. Ugh. We're never going to be able to afford to do thus-and-such because we'd have to give up xyz. Man, we're never going to lose weight again because we can't make the time. Etcetera.
And every time we say we can't or we're never, we're planting that seed of doubt and negativity in our heads. And making it that much harder to make something happen.
In this case, we need to be less like my third grader. Remember all the times we have made things happen. Listen to my early readers who enjoyed my story and loved my characters. Figure out a plan to save money or play some upbeat music to make the work day less stressful.
And, most of all, get out of our own heads. Because those doubts and fears aren't from God. Throw them back where they came from. And rock the third grade, or whatever you may be facing that seems like a giant. After all, God is a giant-slayer. He's got this, and so do we.