I have this habit of trying to become like the people I am around. Of trying to belittle myself for other people – AKA playing small.
JD Hancock via Compfight
If people have an African accent, I try to use their accent, or if people are slouched, I begin to slouch too. In my mind I was being humble, trying not to make people feel bad, or make them feel like I thought I was better than them, but recently I realized that I was playing small. I was not being the wonderful person God created me to be.
Instead of being awesomely me, and encouraging others to be awesomely and uniquely themselves, I was telling them that I didn’t think they were good enough to experience the authentic me. I was telling them that I didn’t think I was good enough to share the authentic me with them
So instead of learning from them, I was robbing them. Instead of building them up I was tearing them down.
But not anymore. It’s time for the authentic me to shine, to love fully, to smile fully, and to live sincerely. Because by being authentically me, I let others know that they have the permission to be authentically themselves as well.
Stop playing small…please… we need you.