About stepping into our greatness...
It's not so much a stepping up, as a letting go.
That phrase 'stepping up' is creating so much havoc, as if we have to somehow be more than what we are. It sounds like it might require climbing up onto a high diving platform, naked for all the world to see. Who wants to do that!? Well, maybe some of us do, and they should live and be well, but I want nothing to do with it!
From what I've discovered, stepping up is more like 'settling in.'
It's a feeling of utter comfort. It turns out we need to do so much less than what we thought. It's as simple (and as complicated, I know, I know) as just being ourselves - I know, I know, it can take decades but it is nonetheless still so simple! - we only need give ourselves permission to do so.
So, let's 'settle in' to our greatness!
The more I settle into my 'greatness' the less I care about visibility. I don't need to make myself visible. I AM. My power is in my energy, not my visibility.
It's small wonder all the admonitions to be visible are freaking some of us out! This culture is so much about appearances - and visibility, our culture says, comes with judgment.
These are the qualities our culture holds dear: are our eyelashes long, our breath fresh, lips plump, bowels regular, hair luxuriant, skin a reflection of ageless beauty, and our body fat index no greater than 15%? Can we claim that our 50 is the new 30? Are we empowered enough? Are we fierce like Tyra or funny like Amy? Are we rocking our personal style?
How are we doing? Are we checking all the boxes? Are we worth considering?
It's all image! Fabulous. Ferocious. Tender. Deep. What role should we play? How should we sound? How should we be? I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but my dear culture, you had my head spinning round, trying to figure out how to win at this game.
In a recent post I wrote "no more playing small'; now I know that it's no more playing small AND no more playing big. No more stepping up or stepping down. I'll just be me.
An alligator needn't 'act' like an alligator, he IS an alligator. A dove needn't try to be a dove, she IS a dove; gentle, mean, greedy or content, she's still a dove.
We don't need to PLAY ourselves, we just need to BE ourselves. There is such comfort in that. No strain at all. We each are the exact right size and we don't need to strain to be bigger or constrain ourselves to be smaller than we are.
Our size is a reflection of the fullness of our hearts and the generosity of our actions, anyway, so let's stop worrying about visibility and stepping up. (And let's stop worrying about the size of our eyelashes, waistlines and wallets, too!)
Let's just do our best.
Let's love our best.
Let's just BE.
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