12 Aug ARE YOU STAYING SMALL AND PLAYING IT SAFE?

Do you play it small and safe? Never venturing outside of your comfort zone, wanting more yet you’re not sure how to get it and in the end, you convince yourself that it’s really not worth it. Not if you have to sit in the discomfort of vulnerability.

The worst part is that you know you’re not living up to your potential, you see everyone else living big lives. They’re not afraid to speak up or share their opinion or go after what they want. Why can’t you seem to manage that?

It feels pretty hopeless and frustrating: the idea of never being bold enough to show your true self. It’s like you’re wearing a mask most of the time. You know there is something shining inside but it’s impossible to get it out.

What will happen to you if you don’t do something about this? Well, you can go on like this for the rest of your life, you’ve managed thus far and it’s not all that bad really – which is what you tell yourself the moment you even think about stepping outside of the safe, comfortable box you’ve created for yourself.

But at what cost will you do this? The cost of never being the person you want to be? Feeling like a fraud in your own skin? The soul-destroying knowledge that you will never show up for yourself fully and move towards becoming an authentic being?

What if you chose to face the fears that keeps you small?

Stepping into discomfort is a skill you can learn. Sure, it’s not that…comfortable, but isn’t it time you finally made that decision as to how you want your future to be?

And who you want to be?

Being comfortable with who you are and believing in yourself are gifts that only you can give yourself, regardless of what has happened in your past.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom” Anaïs Nin.

One of my clients recently discovered that the lack of recognition she felt as a child, has kept her living a small life. She believed that no one wanted to see what was inside or what she had to offer. She felt rejected, dejected and uninteresting.

With the thought of not being seen or recognized, she believed she must be so ugly inside and therefore unworthy of showing herself to the world. “I’m not even wanted to be looked at on the inside”. So she hid it all. “I keep it all inside and never share it, because it must be so ugly. So ugly that my own caregivers didn’t even want to see. They never engaged with that part of me, never encouraged me to share it”.

This was the belief she had been tightly holding onto and subconsciously living with each day.

We worked on practicing the feeling of what it would be like to be seen and recognized.

Over time, she connected with how this would feel and how incredible it felt to be seen, to feel important and valuable and interesting. To know that her contribution was wanted, appreciated, enjoyed and even cherished. Over time, she was able to give recognition to herself. From there, her life got bigger. She blossomed.

The irony is, that by staying small; believing that there is nothing that anyone wants to see, in turn provides no recognition. And the cycle repeats. Forever. Until you choose to stop it.

Don’t mourn any longer over what has been lost, instead, focus on creating it for yourself.

Take the steps today towards feeling whole and fully recognized.

Come and join me in a place where you can start to blossom.