“The greatest act of courage is to be and to own all of who you are – without apology, without excuses, without masks to cover the truth of who you are.” – Debbie Ford
You know that thing you do when you make a snide remark and then laugh it off with, “Just kidding”? What would happen if you actually were responsible for the fact that you’re not?
Because in that moment, as you say those words, you’re really not kidding, are you? You just don’t have the guts to say what you want to say, so you back pedal.
You don’t have the confidence to be who you are and say what you want to say. Not much a surprise as you probably weren’t brought up to express yourself in this way.
No. Instead you were told to be nice, get along, and for God’s sake, do not rock the boat.
It takes a helluva lot of courage to grow beyond this conditioning; to live without apology and without excuses. But the alternative – wearing a mask – is unbearable.
Before you react, I’m not advocating turning into an asshole. I’m acknowledging that it’s not an either/or spectrum with nice on one end and jerk on the other.
We all have a dark side and there’s no point in pretending otherwise. However, you also don’t have to let it dominate your life, ie: becoming the jerk or suppressing it, ie: showing only the nice, often superficial mask.
This is an invitation to live without the pretense.
To take off the mask and be true to yourself.
To unleash your courage like a contagion gone viral!
Since reviewing Debbie Ford’s book Courage, this has been on my mind, a lot.
Debbie writes to ignite your confidence and reclaim your courage, you’ve got to step into your highest vision of who you are. But mostly, you’re so used to living in the past and the stories of who you are, you can’t see the vision. It’s hidden from your view.