Hey, you don’t have to “settle.”  That’s one lesson that made itself known to me when I was at the Dare to Declare Academy last week. Four of us went to dinner at a lovely restaurant; two of us ordered the gnocchi special. We were served a plate with spiral noodles covered in white sauce. I hesitated for a moment but then dug in and began to eat . . . slowly thinking maybe I misunderstood, this isn’t what I was expecting, but oh well, it’s good enough. Then Debbi interrupted my thoughts, “That’s not what you ordered, is it?” My friend and I both looked up and agreed it wasn’t what either of us had ordered.  We let the server know and she confirmed a mistake had been made. We waited, and she brought us the gnocchi plates (which were way better than the white pasta stuff).

So how many times have I done that? I reflected later that evening. Way too many times, was my honest answer. I’ve never been one to want to draw attention to myself, preferring to be in the background. So I let things go. Don’t want a fuss made over me. So even if I’m getting something different than what I want, I figure it’s okay. It’s good enough. Well, that was me— Now I choose to be more definitive and intentional about what I want and not settle for less. I’m worth it, (and so are you, by the way). It’s that simple.

—

P. S. If you haven’t heard yet, my next book is done. You can get it here: Reflections on Adult Literacy Amazon link. There’s still time to register for the virtual book launch Thursday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. Cathay’s Book Launch Registration