Manipulating Your Alter Ego

If life is a road, and the journey is in the car, my best self is always in the car.  If you've met me, you've met her.  She is the real Rosanna.  She can be pretty awesome.  The thing is, she is not always driving.  And in the car is also my alter ego, Rosetta, who sometimes takes the wheel.  (Yep, I named her.  It's more fun!  Try it.)

When I'm driving, I go where I want to go with joy and a strong capacity to be resilient no matter the circumstance.  When Rosetta drives, it's a bit of a different story.  She's quite the trouble maker, that Rosetta.  She wants to take me to Dairy Queen on lonely nights.  She wants to get the hell out of practice when we're only thirty minutes in.  And she definitely loves to slack off.

The thing is, I'm learning to mess with Rosetta.  I can push her buttons from the passenger side and get her to do what I want, to drive where I need to go.  And, so, I might be learning the art of manipulating my own self.

The other morning, I was having a hard time finishing our swim sprints with zeal.  Rosetta was preaching to me about how giving 90% on a 100% sprint was okay because it was the first week back at practice.  She was telling me that my coach needs to ease up a little.  Blablabla.

So, I played with her.

I told her that the hottest guy we've ever seen was on the pool deck, watching us, so we really needed to impress him.  Maybe he'd think we were so fast and take us on a date?  Maybe it would be the beginning of our love story, right then and there, because we were oh-so-fast!?

I knew in that moment that the real reason I wanted to swim fast--to make the most beautiful story out of the life God has given me--wasn't going to work.  Rosetta was driving.  So, I played some ball with her.

And we swam fast.

And I'm driving again!

If you can manipulate your alter ego without crossing any moral boundaries, I say go for it.  I know you feel that Dr. Octopus force inside of your head, convincing you that your existence is merely mediocre.  So, mess with it, play with it, dislodge it, love on it, and let it know that its spot in the driver seat will not last very long.

Rosanna and Rosetta, BFFs since 1948