There aren't that many TV shows that I love, but Greys Anatomy is my favorite. Each week there is a yummy little moral of the story - I will spare you the details of this one episode, but I'll share the thought provoking morsel (moral) "The Truth Hurts, and That's Why We Lie "
Each person might of heard this in a different way, but what I heard wasn't about the little white lies we tell others, or the omissions we leave out in order to keep peace, or avoid trouble. What struck me is the lies we tell ourselves, the ones that almost go unnoticed because each of us have carefully crafted a set of handy stories that keep us warm and safe every night. It is also these same stories that keep us awake each night, feeling restless and sometimes hopeless. We hold onto these stories because we fear the unknown, how we or our lives might be different or what people might think of us, or the changes we might have to make in order to live with complete truth, courage and authenticity.
One of my carefully crafted stories was revealed to me about the time I decided to become a professional coach. It was a big exciting moment for me, I had found what I was going to do when I grew up, this was it, everything I had been looking for, and in being so invested and enthused about having this coaching thing turn out - this not so pretty story showed up and sounded a little something like this "I really really want this - but if I attempt this and fail, I will be finished" "Then what will I do" Who will I be" having said this out loud, well it HURT to finally realize how many times this same story had stopped me in my tracks in the past. But this time I really, really wanted this to work so I had to ask myself???
Is this really true? Would I be finished? Would my life loose all purpose and meaning? Of course not it was just a lie to keep me "safe", it was the story that protected me from feeling vulnerable, embarrassed and weak, or what being a failure might actually mean about me, would I give up and surrender, or would I be resilient and find courage and trust in myself. It is these seemingly small stories, or you might say lies disguised as comforting stories that keep us from everything we want and need in order to experience an extraordinary life.
So what was the truth, the truth that allowed me to sit here and tell you about it today - as the coach I wanted to be so badly - the truth was that by not trying and by not allowing myself to be vulnerable, I was already failing. So here I am a few years later, with a few failures under my belt, but much more success and courage than I had ever found before. So the TRUTH may hurt when its revealed, but it holds the power to set you free.
;0) Wendi
P.S. For some reason this memory just popped into my mind of this beautiful, unique and what some might consider eccentric woman I ran into one day, quite literally, and when she turned around and bent over to pick up what she had dropped she revealed a timely message(quite a site as you can imagine) in the form of a tattoo, "To Thine Ownself Be True" and I'll leave it at that! We all get the message one way or another...