Did you know that this simple phrase hold a lot of power:

Who cares?

Try it. Say it. Ask it, of yourself.
In situations where you feel ashamed, vulnerable, ridiculed, embarrassed, made a fool of. When you forgot, or never understood in the first place, when you ask a question only to be told it was answered already. When someone gives you ”the look”; you know the one, raised eye brows, looking down his/her nose at you. When you imagine yourself not being good enough, fit enough, smart enough, beautiful enough. Not being enough. Unworthy. Insufficient. Worthless. A total and utter failure.

In those situations, more and more often I ask myself: Who cares? I mean – really cares? who cares

Asking myself this question makes it easier for me to fall out of the misconception that everything centers around me. The feeling that e v e r y b o d y  in the room must have noticed my mistake, that all everyone is talking about is the giant pimple in the middle of my forehead, the sensation that all eyes are upon me and therefore I must be the topic of the day, for everyone. Who really cares about me? About my pimple? About my slip up? I mean – really? Anyone? Or is it more likely something people in my surrounding will shrug off, perhaps feel a bit of kinship and recognition with, or possibly not even notice because they themselves are so busy thinking about their slip up, their pimple, their stumble?

Now. This can easily be misunderstood. And I get that. It’s perhaps less risk of misunderstanding this, if you’d hear me ask you Who cares? spoken in a soft voice, with a lot of humor and love in it. Spoken from that place, for me, asking Who cares? opens up the possibility to stop taking myself so seriously. That’s the context I use it in, and if you’re willing, try it yourself.

 

First published on my blog on May 8th, 2016: https://helenaroth.com/doing-gentle-17-who-cares/

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Audio production: Caspian Almerud

Photography: Anders Roos http://www.andersroos.nu/

Soundtrack: Olof Jennfors Ljudtjänst http://jennforsljud.se/