Reply To: Exercise 1: Personal Essay
Personal Essay
Leading is something that I often associate with the practice of success – going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm (according to Winston Churchill) It’s way too easy and way too much of a conditioning or programming to fall into the victim mentality and channel the story of why I couldn’t accomplish or pursue something that I wanted to do. I give myself many excuses and many outs and sometimes even sabotage my own efforts. This is done so that I can fall back on the narrative that I truly could have, if only I gave my full effort. I don’t do this consciously, and then I fall victim to being impacted by the same experiences I keep attracting and recreating in my life.
In order to create the life we want, we’ll need to signal the gene ahead of the environment, or rather, the feeling ahead of the experience. I have found this week that I have found an avenue to do so – meditation. It’s something I’ve dabbled in off and on and never really had much of a conviction about until I saw data supporting the impacts of meditation. It starts with being aware of the old thoughts I don’t want to have anymore. Then I need to create the visual life and feelings I will want to have when I am my ideal self. Lastly, I need to stay conscious of the new mindset constantly.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson
I love Williamson’s empowerment of the self to shine and lean into our power. I’ve feared coming across as arrogant or simply never was taught to toot my own horn. In fact, I’ve been conditioned to believe that it is boastful. Looking at social situations, it’s so common to commiserate with others. I am curious to see who will celebrate my successes and my positive pursuits with me. Who fans the flame of my light, and who is afraid of it. This is one way that I have started to navigate leading myself through relationships in my circle. My hope is that through learning to lead myself, I can inspire others to do the same. To be intentional, to create a life they love.