This was a mantra I had heard repeatedly in RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5 by the winner Jinkx Monsoon every time she had to stand in front of the judges for their critics. I was a little slow to understand why she kept saying that. But the moment I had the literal visualisation of those words in my head, I cannot get it out. It’s as if I could see the criticisms, the insults, the negative voices splash up from everywhere and slide off the duck’s tail. It is a pretty mental image. My duck is green with a little bit of white.
In work or life, it is inevitable that we hear others say or do things to us that are meaningless, unhelpful or even hurtful. We get affected, we want to react, but where is the end to that? More often than not, our inner critic could also be the one that is hardest on us. Can we let it go? Can we forgive ourselves? How do we embrace who we are completely without being overly critical or self-absorbed?
Surely it’s not as easy as water off a duck’s back?
But we have to start somewhere.
Credits for gif to http://nakamorijuan.tumblr.com
The Pursuit of What Matters Most 