Be Seen
I have spent a long time worrying about people’s opinions of me. Too long in fact. Somewhere in the process of becoming a teacher and needing to maintain an image of “professionalism”, and a mother, and changing physically, and getting older, and social media becoming a thing, and then it becoming a highly curated thing, I found myself shrinking. Hiding. Not wanting to be seen.
When considering a career change, one that would require me to be out in the world so that clients could find and interact with me, whew - this brought a lot of feelings to the surface. But as a life coach, I know better. My training has taught me that being seen and known for who you truly are - loud and proud for everyone to see - is indeed healthy and important, and will draw your people closer to you.
I had this picture taken of me the other day. A previous version of me would have kept it hidden away on my camera roll, too nervous to post it somewhere where someone could see it and have thoughts (gasp!). I now recognize that this is keeping me small. So what if people have thoughts. And those thoughts might actually be kind, or remind them of some fun times we’ve shared, or prompt them to get in touch. So, today I am not going to minimize myself. I am going to post this lovely picture that my amazingly talented husband took. And if you find that you are keeping yourself small, I hope this little brave moment of mine inspires you to do something where you allow yourself to take up some space and to be seen for the fabulous person you are.
