When you fear telling the truth!!
Posted on June 16, 2010 12:00:00am, by Gerrianne Clare
How often do you reveal your true self to the world?
The inner dialogue that many people have is “if people really know who I am, what I am thinking and what I am feeling, they would not like me”. This is called “imposter syndrome”. We feel like imposters in our lives because the way we present ourselves to the world has to look a certain way but is not really who we are. We fear that if our true nature were revealed we would be ridiculed or ignored.
Many of us carry judgments about who we are, our thoughts and our actions and we live in fear that if people found out about the real “me” then they would not see “me” as worthy of their love and respect. The reality about living this way is that it is totally exhausting. So much energy is caught up in keeping up the charade that we need to shut down emotionally to stay ahead of the game.
Just this week I was met with a challenge. I was in a situation that felt uncomfortable to me. I feared that if I spoke my truth that I would not be accepted by the group. However, I am in a position of leadership with this particular group and felt compelled to bring my concerns into the open. I was met with agreement from some, silence from others and nay saying from others. What I noticed however was how good it felt to just speak the truth, regardless of how uncomfortable that may be. I was not looking for agreement from others simply respect for my viewpoint. This I received.
I have learned from experience that withholding my true spirit is a real soul killer. In the past when I suppressed my voice and avoided speaking up about problems or injustices that were happening, I became ill. I developed asthma, caught every cold and flu out there and was incredibly overwhelmed and stressed at how to keep myself from revealing my true nature. This was a powerful lesson to me about speaking up and telling my truth.
How about you? Are you speaking your truth? Remember, your truth is your view of things and it may be different from someone else’s. By exposing your thoughts and your truth you allow people to get to know what is important to you and thus provide an opportunity to learn about you and grow in relationship in the process. You also risk being judged for your truth. Are you willing to be yourself regardless of the judgments?
Do you live in fear of what others will think of you, how others will judge you if you were yourself?
Can you name one area in your life where you wear a mask to protect yourself?
The first step in helping to take off the mask is to become aware that you are even wearing one to begin with. Take some time this week to notice where you may be holding back your truth and wearing a mask. Just notice, do not judge, be curious about why and be gentle with yourself as you develop awareness of this. Let me know how you do.
In this moment
Notice what you see around you
Notice what you hear around you
Notice how you feel
Notice your thoughts
Ask yourself, what do I really want right now?
What is one action step I can take to get me closer to my goals?
I look forward to your comments.
Take care and I will blog with you later.
Gerrianne
Comments
Posted by Amy Miyamoto on June 17, 2010 at 12:01:42am
Gerrianne,
This topic is such a timely one...it seems I have been seeing and reading more and more people highlighting this same issue. And so many people I speak with confirm that stepping fully into speaking and acting in complete alignment with their higher self is what they are yearning for - yet can feel very risky at the same time especially when the masks we wear "appear" to have served us well in the past. This is true when the goal of the past was safety - this no longer is the case for those (like me) who are feeling called to pave a new road of living in greater truth. Thank you for speaking yours here!
Posted by Clifford Jones on June 17, 2010 at 12:12:13pm
Great post Gerrianne. The is incredible power that comes from living in integrity and being comfortable with the truth about who you are and how you want to "show up" to the world. One of the greatest challenges for all humans is finding their path in life, developing the confidence to be who they really want to be. Fear is the single greatest hindrance in this regard which is why it is absolutely essential to get coaching and develop a mindset to accept lower energy and feelings, let them pass and focus on the higher energies of courage, willingness, acceptance, reason, love, joy and peace. Keep up the good work.
Posted by Patricia DiFrancesco on June 17, 2010 at 6:09:08pm
For me I have always attempted to speak my truth. However actually knowing what my truth is an ongoing process. I know that many times in th epast when I thought I was speaking my truth I wasn't. I was speaking more from wanting to be right or to get MY point across. My personal growth over the last few years has been more and more to develop an awareness of what I am actualling feeling and thinking and to be clear aboutwhat I really want. Thanks for reminding me of this. I get better each time I stop and reflect on where I am at.