There’s a fear in my heart that I must work daily to silence, or it will take over and convince me that everything I am doing is “wrong.”
Who cares about your light? You’re blinding them. You’re overwhelming.
Have you ever discovered that, simply by being yourself, you’re helping others do the same?
Holding strong to who you are, and what you believe can be difficult.
You get a feel of people. Some people feel encouraged by others’ exuberance and enthusiasm and others feel threatened, and suspicious.
I once held a little experiment.
I ran around Lake Hollingsworth, which is about one mile in diameter. When I encountered some people running or walking the other direction, I noticed many of them avoided eye contact. They looked down, or away, or just stared as if transfixed as if they were watching something serious on television.
Here we were, two humans, doing something healthy. Getting outside to enjoy the city, the weather, our health, and we couldn’t even look at each other for a polite smile?
The next time around, I was ready.
I gave them a smile that said, “I am going to smile at you until you smile back!” (Actually, when I think about it, it was a pretty goofy, silly, happy smile…)
And guess what?
They smiled. The saw my silly, goofy friendly smile, and they welcomed it.
Not all of them.
But most of them.
And the best part of this experiment was that I was able to be myself.
A friend of mine calls me a Goober (referring to Sponge Bob’s Goofy Goober Rock song).
We don’t have to buy into the way everyone else acts.
We can be ourselves.
And, if you’re not into Spongebob, you can refer to this quote that always comes to mind, at the right times, challenging me not to cover my light:
“There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children (and Goofy Goobers) do.
So, let your light shine. Be yourself, and don’t hold it back.
