I am intelligent, but not a scholar. I am curious, but not a researcher. I am devout, but not disciplined. I am religious, but not orthodox.
For many years I expected myself to be all of the above,
which means I am well acquainted with failure. Liberation came with accepting
who I am and letting go of who I am not.
There will always be sufficient scholars, researchers, disciplined
devotees and orthodox faithful to make up for my deficiencies.
I am impressed by your scholarship, but no longer
intimidated. I can admire your
discipline without shaming myself, and gladly
let you have your orthodoxy, with great relief.
The freedom and exhilaration of letting yourself off the
hook of unrealistic expectations is accompanied by the joy of embracing
authenticity.
Speaking for myself, it means trusting my intuition more
than fact gathering; trusting contemplation more than petitioning; rejoicing
that outspokenness and extroversion serve a purpose; affirming my innocence and
earnestness, and acknowledging that I am not everyone’s cup of tea.
Who do you know yourself to be? Dare to share?
And we are the better for your authenticity...it's such a relief to let go of who somebody else thinks you are if it isn't who you think you are. Sometimes a great notion.
ReplyDeleteI have been a people pleaser and peacemaker, the first two that come to mind. I'm working on dropping the people pleaser and just now realized that peacemaker has a lot of trying to control others. Funny how tricky my mind can be. So, my pursuit is to have peace within and ask myself what I'm looking for in pleasing others :-). Thanks for that Robyn!
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