What I Learned From the Super Bowl Selfie Kid

By now you've heard of the Super Bowl Selfie Kid. Ryan McKenna earned instant fame this past Sunday by taking selfies with Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl Halftime Show. As expected, McKenna became a household name - as well as a meme - and earned the hashtag #selfiekid on social media. 

The next day I was reading an article where the seventh grader described his experience:

“I just thought to myself, ‘I’ll never get this opportunity again in my whole life,'” McKenna told the Pioneer Press. “I just went for it.”

I just went for it. 

On stage at the Super Bowl with a famous pop star singing right next to him, this 13-year-old understood the value of the moment he was in...and went for it. 

It made me think about how liberating this carefree approach would feel in all of the ordinary, non-Jumbotron moments in our lives. As adults, we can get so caught up in all of those practical reasons for why we absolutely shouldn't do something. We overthink or overanalyze. We don't know where to start, so we never do. We don't have the time or the money or the support we might need. We doubt our strengths or what we are capable of. We worry that we will fail.

What if we all gave ourselves permission to not get sidelined by the practical reasons for not doing something, and actually go ahead and do them? Sure, adulting is full of responsibilities and we do sometimes have to put things off for a whole variety of reasons, but let's collectively find ways that allow us each to say, "I just went for it" more often than not. Whether you want to run a marathon, start a business, learn a new hobby, write a novel, go on a trip to Paris (my 11-year-old daughter's ultimate wish at the moment), imagine that this is your opportunity to create your own Super Bowl Halftime Show. So go ahead, take that selfie and hashtag your #justwentforit moment...I'll be over here rooting for you!

xo

Dreaming of a trip to Paris with my daughter...and croissants.