This is one of those prompts where I am kind of scratching my head, because I am not the arbiter of what is or isn’t a good word.
That said, I will play along because, why not? 😄
Limitations.
Talking the self imposed kind here, because I know there are folks out there with legit limitations. Although, in truth, I have seen people with legit limitations do some pretty amazing things, which only helps illustrate my point.
And don’t misunderstand me. I’ve been guilty of imposing plenty of limitations upon myself.
Stay in/go back too school – Nah. I’m too stupid.
Apply for that job – Nope. Don’t have the experience.
Learn to play (insert song title here) – That’s way too complex for me.
Simple examples, but you get my drift.
Setting these limitations is just a smoke screen for a lack of confidence in ourselves, our abilities and our fear of failure. That, and the fact that we are rarely happy with small progress.
“Eruption” is a 1:42 guitar solo. If I can’t learn it in 1:43 or less, then it’s not worth it, I guess. But what if we reframe that just a bit?
I busted my ass to learn to play this. Am I as good as the latest YT wunderkind? Nope, not even close. Is it note-for-note perfect? Hell no, it is not. Do people recognize it when I play it? Yeah. Am I a better player than before I learned it? Hell yes.
I’m too stupid to go back to school.
Reframed: I went back and took an 8 week course. Is it a degree? No. Did I gain valuable knowledge? Absolutely.
I took those limits off myself and I gained something. A lot of somethings, actually. I also built up confidence and was able to push those limits out just a bit further.
This blog is another example. I never started one before, because I assumed people wouldn’t give a damn what I had to say. Some probably don’t, and that’s fine too.
But I reframed it and realized first and foremost it is for me. It’s my place to create, to learn, and hopefully inspire others.
Turns out there are a few people that enjoy what I have to say. And for that I am extremely grateful. But even if they didn’t, it was a worthwhile endeavor. I learned a bit about blogging, I got to discover a way to make art I enjoy, and I think I became a slightly better writer. More limitations pushed out further.
At the end of the day, a lot of us are capable of way, way more than we give ourselves credit for.
Take chances, have fun, don’t get overly attached to outcomes and maybe, one day, you’ll remove so many limitations that you are leaping tall buildings in a single bound.
You didn’t seriously think you were making it out of this post without a gorilla sighting, did you? 😉
P.S. Listen to “Eruption”and feast your ears on what I consider the greatest guitar solo of all time.
Love ya, Eddie. Still missing ya.
The Beginning At Last 
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