Last week, an article was published about me on ABCNews.com (if ya missed it, you can see it here). What started off as something so exciting, I could hardly contain myself, for a brief moment turned into something that was equally heartbreaking when my hubby asked me if I had seen some of the comments people had posted. It got me thinking about vulnerability and putting myself out there for the world to critique.
Let’s stop for a moment because I know the whole world is not actually thinking about me, but it amazed me that after receiving a tremendous amount of love and enthusiasm from those people I know and love, I had never really thought about the possibility that I could gain some haters. What surprised me even more was the reaction I had to that reality.
When I reluctantly went back to look at the comments below the article, my heart raced, and I wanted to cry (those of you who know me know I can be uber-sensitive). Anyway, after some self-coaching, I decided to take my own advice and focus on the good.
1. People are talking about me and what I do. That’s pretty awesome!
2. Those people who don’t have anything nice to say are not my ideal clients anyway!
3. Sooooooooooo many people had super-nice things to say about it.
4. I had an article published about me on ABC News!!!!!
So what is it about being visible, that is so scary to so many people? It always goes back to what other people will think, and our desire to be loved by all. If you’ve read some of my other posts, you should already know by now that we have absolutely no control over what others think of us. Also, what other people think about you tells us about them, not you!
If you spend your life not being vulnerable because you fear failure or criticism, you pretty much guarantee you won’t move forward in life. If you don’t love, you won’t be loved. If you don’t try and take better care of yourself, you won’t become healthier. If you don’t go for your dream job, you will never get it. If you don’t get off your couch, you will never experience the world. Avoiding failure=avoiding success.
You have a choice when it comes to being vulnerable. You can either go for things in life, and risk failing, or you can never put yourself out there or try something new, and guarantee you won’t succeed or grow.
Not living up to our own standards, and/or receiving criticism from others generally doesn’t feel good, but you can choose to see these things as a sign that you are trying, and that is admirable. Hey, and maybe those people who don’t have anything nice to say are actually jealous that you are doing something with your life. Maybe they feel pretty crappy about themselves. Maybe we can have compassion for those people because my guess is they probably aren’t too happy.
We get what we give in life, so give it your all!! Don’t let fear get in your way…what’s the worst that could happen? My guess is the worst that could happen, is probably not so bad afterall, and most likely will help you learn and grow!
Love to you all! Happy Day!!
