The You You are Afraid to Be – Five ways to change your self image
I recently came across this note from Natalie Brundred of Spark and enjoyed reading it. I thought I’d share it with you, so with Natalie’s permission, here you go:
“The You You are Afraid to Be
Five ways to change your self image
Years ago, I went to a Halloween party called Boo Here Now: Come as the Person You’re Afraid You Really Are.
I won 3rd prize for best costume. That in itself is not surprising – I’ve always been creative. The scary part was that my costume was composed of items I wore every day!
I went dressed as a Librarian. Now, you know I’m no librarian – but underneath, I was afraid I really was – and I had to hide it and put up elaborate pretenses so no one would know that part of me.
Somewhere deep inside most of us is the person we were meant to be. But we worry that who we are will not be accepted or approved of by others… and that scares us down to our toes.
How often do you find yourself suppressing or ignoring parts of yourself that call you to something so much greater than the life you are living right now?
We all have those parts. Just think about the times you have said, “A part of me feels… but another part of me says…” We all do that – it’s very human.
But when you give the people around you nothing but the surface, the “safe” you, all they really get of you is pretense. And, all you get of yourself is a shadow — and you know it. That’s why you are frequently dissatisfied with yourself. And that’s no life.
Many of us live the Boo Here Now party every day – pretending to be one person while hiding our fear that we’re really this other way. And longing to be something else, but scared to take the steps that will get us there.
So how do you stop attending the BOO Here Now party and live instead in the BE Here Now party? Here are five steps to get you started:
Five Things to Practice to
Help You Be the Authentic “You”
1. Acknowledge who you are afraid to be every time you see it arise within you. Awareness is 95% of winning the challenge!
2. Look for your pretenses — the smoke that points you in the direction of the fire. Start to identify the particular ways that you cover up to divert people’s attention from what you don’t want to see about yourself.
3. Forgive yourself — you’re human, after all. We all cover up our heart’s desire at one point or another. You can’t move in a new direction — with or without your perceived faults and quirks — until you can forgive yourself for being human.
4. Visualize who you “want” to be. Dress up that skeleton. You have a bare-bones idea, now flesh it out and make it real for yourself.
5. Take one small action to start expressing that part of yourself. Then take another, and another. Before you know it, you’ll be living a different life, an authentic life, a life on purpose.”
Natalie Brundred
Spark Coaching
P.O. Box 70905
Rochester Hills, MI 48307
248-390-4191
www.TheSparkSite.com
Natalie@TheSparkSite.com
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Tags: self image, story
