Do you ever feel as if you are sending your Personal Representative out into the world each day instead of the Real You? Perhaps this has become such an ingrained habit that you don’t even realize you are doing it. This is a common part of the human condition, primarily because of the master assessments that most of us carry around with us…
“I am not enough” and “I don’t deserve this”
Why do we resist our natural desire to ‘be who we are’ and yet encourage others to “say what you think” or “do what makes you happy”? Brene Brown describes vulnerability as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. (Hey, where do I sign up!) The majority of us spend most of our waking hours trying to avoid being vulnerable. When we see others step out in the world and let themselves be seen, we assess that as courageous. Why? Because it’s scary! And, we have experiences of times when we have put ourselves out there and have been hurt in the process. Often, this pain makes us wary of doing that again, and thus we are prevented from cultivating a sense of our own worthiness. Try to imagine a day when you were allowed to just ‘be yourself’. No worries about what someone else would think, how you might be judged, or if you will still be loved. Can you feel the lightness that comes from discarding the cloak of worry and uncertainty? How is the emotional energy that you are expending on ‘staying under the radar’ keeping you from going to bed at night saying, “This was a really good day.”?
It is likely that if we allow ourselves to look at some of our finest, most defining moments, it has been when we took the risk to reveal our authentic self to others. If fear arises at those moment when you consider being genuine (aka – vulnerable), ask yourself, who am I allowing to assess me? Are they in a position to judge? Do I even respect that person’s opinion? The courage to show up and be seen again and again can be nurtured by practicing with those who know us best, and love us unconditionally. Ready to rumble?
