Give Yourself A ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Card

WELLNESS | by POSY GERING

IF YOU HAVE EVER PLAYED THE GAME MONOPOLY, you know the power of the “Get Out of Jail Free” card. Instead of going directly to jail, where you are stuck until you roll doubles with the dice, you get to get back in the game immediately. Why not put a couple in your pocket to use today?

SOURCE: MONOPOLY

If you’re like me, every time you make a mistake or commit an infraction of your unwritten rules, you put yourself in mental jail. Iron bars are nothing against the strength of imprisonment of labels such as “stupid,” “wrong,” “bad”, “irredeemable.” If you accept the label, it usually sets off a vicious cycle of judging yourself, and proving that the judgment is true, further imprisoning yourself, limiting your creativity and cutting off innocent learning.

There is a quick way out of this: Give yourself a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. It creates a sense of freedom, cuts off the self-recrimination, and gives you at least an interior smile to carry you through the rest of your day.