One day you will look back and be glad you did not sync yourself to someone else’s pace and you chose instead
to sync yourself in the steady rhythms of grace.
The other day I wrote about being vulnerable. I’d taken some chances, risked the pain that could result from vulnerability. I could do nothing else if I were to be my authentic self. Have you done this? Risked being yourself?
If you have, then you know the conflicting emotions that can result. The fear of pain. Of not being accepted for who you are. Of being different.
And then, if you’re lucky (or if you work at it), the knowledge that we can only be who we are. Nothing more, nothing less. Not everyone will get us. And that’s ok. Because whether they do or they don’t has nothing to do with us.
Yes, a hard lesson for most of us. But that doesn’t make it any less true. But because I’m a work in progress, I keep this reminder on my desk:
Storyblock by Kai Skye, the artist formerly known as Brian Andreas.
Look. It’s only natural to want people to think well of us. But in the end, what really matters is what we think of ourselves. And if we are authentic in everything we do and say, we should feel pretty ok with ourselves. Yes, it might be painful at times, especially if being our authentic selves puts us out of sync with others around us. But that’s really their issue, not ours.
I’d love your thoughts.
I still care some about what people think. I tend to be sensitive to criticism; I would never do well publishing a book, for example. But it’s better, the older I get.
Iknow the feeling. I am writing a one woman show and just started a class. We have to read our work as we write, and receive feedback. Always a challenge!
I think with blogging we get more confident. I had a friend who I advised should be a blogger. “I’m not that brave!” she replied. With experience, comes confidence, but those first steps in being who we are, can be scary.
Well, as someone who has written in a couple genres I can say that blogging is pretty low on the risk scale. Being edited is always a journey ..and boy can it be bumpy!
I remember my mother saying, “What will people think?!”
It was ingrained in me from an early age. Even now, I care what people think.
But I’m finally learning to care what I think as well.
I’m a work in progress!
We are all works in progress, right?