Why Not Me?

As most know, I submitted an entry for the Good Morning America (GMA) Advice Guru job. Yesterday I really wondered if that was a good idea. My doubts were fed to me from every angle. Whether it was watching the news or watching my family, I wondered if I really was good enough to do the job.

On the news they were talking about the conflict between the two candidates for governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin (R) and Jari Askins (D) regarding whether or not being a wife and mother made Fallin a better candidate than Askins. I don't really think being a wife and/or mother improves or detracts entirely from doing any given job, but as I look at how I describe myself I noticed that is always the first thing I say to describe myself.

Am I just describing myself or putting it out there as one of my assets? Maybe a little bit of both, but being a wife and mother isn't always an asset. Sometimes it can create doubt in ourselves.

My children are no angels, they have their rows like any other siblings, and yesterday they has a whopper. It upset me that they could go at it like that, and I wondered, “How could I think I can give advice when I can't control my own children?”

As I sat under a tree in my yard wondering about this, my son came out to talk about it. I realized that what helps me connect to people isn't that I've got all of the answers, that I'm perfect at anything, but that I'm just as flawed a person as anybody I talk to. Maybe more so.

It isn't that anybody revels in my flaws, but that we connect through them. We learn from the flaws, mistakes, of each other. We all look for the person that has “been there, done that” when a problem comes up because we know that the person that has made the same mistakes we feel we're making will be more understanding and won't judge us.

My flawed family, children included, think I would do a great job. My flawed friends think I would do a great job, and I think I could hold my own and help a lot of people. I'm a WRITER, wife, and mother. So whether it is as GMA's advice guru, or just those that find me here, I can and will help people that ask me.