Dare to be Free
This weekend, I was fortunate enough to have assisted 21 people brave enough to dare to be free. Of self-limiting beliefs. Of self-imposed judgments. Of holding back. Of being small.
It was an honour to witness and a privilege to be in their midst. Courageous people ripping out the tap roots of what’s holding them back and filling that void with new, fertile and brilliant truths about their essence…it was sheer joy and beauty.
I felt like a bit of an interloper at times, because here’s the truth…I haven’t really dared to be free of my own self-limiting belief. Mostly because I didn’t really know what it was. But with the help of the masterful L.A. Reding (the co-creator of this unbelievably powerful program Dare to be Free), the incomparable Elisa Palombi and the knowing Paulo da Silva, I’ve discovered what the mother of all my self-limiting beliefs is: I fear…nay BELIEVE, that I am a fake. Which REAAAAAALLLLY sucks because one of my major core values is authenticity.
Hence the proclamation here: I want to be authentic about the fact that I fear I’m a fake.
That’s a risky proposition for a coach who claims to be powerful and runs the risk of publicly admitting weakness. But I do so in honour of those brave enough to dig deeper this weekend. And in service of those who have a story made up in their own minds that I have it all together. Nope. And I’m okay with it.
Now that I know what’s truly been holding me back, I have some work to excavate it. Back-breaking work given that those roots are pretty deep…they’ve been gaining power for 36 years.
I’ve committed to myself and to the group that I would eradicate it. So I will. And I’ll let you know how it goes…but I think you’ll just feel it.
I found this a week or so ago, loved it, and now I will share:
http://www.ordinarycourage.com/my-blog/2008/5/21/oh-the-audacity-of-authenticity.html
Excerpt: “And, there are many, many, gasping fish-out-of-water moments.
Oh, the audacity of authenticity. You’re going to confuse, piss-off and terrify lots of people – including yourself. You’re going to pray it ends, then pray it never ends. If you’re like me, you’re still going to be crazy and find yourself lying, cheating and faking it on occasion, but in some magic way, it’s different. You don’t blame/shame yourself (as much) or other people for lying, cheating and faking, you just kinda go, “I wonder what’s going on with me?” Gasp. Gasp.
And . . . every now and then, when hope, gratitude and wonder align like the stars, there are moments of feeling like a fish in water. Graceful, weightless and free. “