Buying In & Out Of ‘Not Enough’

Buying In & Out Of ‘Not Enough’

buyin

I don’t want to feel this way any more. I don’t want to feel that I am ‘not enough.’ I want to see how wonderful and amazing I am—and how wonderful and amazing you are. It has been far too long that I have bought into the message that you and I are ‘not enough’ as we are.

In response to these feelings, I’ve decided I’m no longer accepting any message, internal or otherwise, that encourages me or anyone else to believe that who or what or why we are is ‘not enough.’ I’m done buying into it. It’s horseshit and it is created out of our polarized culture that thrives on encouraging us to feel separate, alone, and mindlessly focused on consuming in order to fill the void we’ve created together.

Not enough, not enough, not enough. Buy more, get more, perhaps then it’ll be enough.

I’ve decided to become like a superhero, vigilant to the messages that encourage us to feel like we are not good enough as we are. Fuck these messages, and fuck the cutting voice inside me who actually buys into its bullshit. Only I can give any thing the power to make me feel not good enough. Only I can choose to dis-empower myself. It takes my ‘buy in.’ I’ve decided it’s time I own this.

You and I are so much more than we realize—and that is the real truth. The breadth and heights of what we’re capable of is actually what we need to be reminded of—and yet our dominate culture has a different message. It sells us on ways to be more, better, faster. It fearfully sells us on ‘not enough’ in hopes we will buy into its offerings. It needs us to feel less than, in hopes we’ll feel we need it to feel whole. It’s a never-ending co-dependent see-saw we ride, if we allow it.

I’m buying out of ‘not enough.’ For it’s the only way I can see clearly through the noise and to the heart of my self. Doing my work to release this dominant message, I allow myself the ability to rise to any occasion, confident in knowing I am enough as I am.

photo credit: Ron Mader

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Messenger

The messenger brings with them a message that is not really their own. It has been given to them, to deliver to you.

If you don’t like their message, if you don’t want to receive what they’re sharing, you may feel angry with them. You might want to shoot the messenger. But consider, is it the message you don’t like, or is it the person delivering it? There is a difference.

If it is the message you disagree with, take a moment before you shoot the messenger. Consider that your disagreement with their message is not necessarily a reflection of them, it is more a reflection of you. In seeing the messenger as the source of the problem, you aren’t seeing the difference between the message you are receiving, and the person delivering it. There is a distinction. The message is what triggers you, and the messenger is simply a deliverer of that trigger.

We are so much more than the messages we (consciously and unconsciously) share with others, and we are so much more than our emotional triggers. In recognizing yourself as both a giver and receiver of these potentially triggering messages, you share in the responsibility of knowing this emotional truth. We are all messengers, we all have value to share, and yet we can not be defined by this role and other people’s reactions to it. Our work is to be responsible for how we deliver our messages, and how we receive the other messengers in our lives. Working to know our triggers, we come to fully embrace our role as messengers, as we learn to distinguish the value of the messages — and the messengers — in our lives.

photo credit: David Seibold

One Thing I Think I Know About Personal Branding

One Thing I Think I Know About Personal Branding

NoMessage

There is no demand for my message.

Personal branding isn’t about packaging myself up into a pretty box and showing only the good and glowing. The whole me, not my tidy little message, is what people want and will see, whether I attempt to control it or not.

Establishing a message for myself, deciding on a pretense, trying to make you think what I want you to think about me, is not of benefit to me. And it’s not of interest to you. You don’t care about what I want to pretend to be.

My personal brand, it is my Marketing, and it’s not something I do to you. Marketing is something I do with you. It’s about creating great conversations.

That’s what’s really in demand. Connection.

My message, my pretense, can only prevent me from reaching that place with you.

 

An Invitation to Share Your Wisdom

An Invitation to Share Your Wisdom

photo by kelley_leigh

From the moment I learned of the existence of the web, I was immediately drawn to it. I couldn’t have told you why, I just was. I felt I belonged there, and I wasn’t used to feeling that way.

What I realize now is that I was so attracted to the web because is was the first medium that allowed the individual to share their unique perspective with the world.

Shine your light.

For the first time, we, the individual, have the power to touch and connect with people from all over the world. Before, we usually only had the opportunity to shine our light on those in direct proximity to us.

The web has created an opportunity for us to share our story with the people who truly want to hear it.

No one else is like you.

No one else is like me. No one else knows exactly what you know and communicates it in the special, amazing way you do. You have so much wisdom that only you can share.

And you now have the opportunity to make a difference in more people’s lives than you ever have before. We need to hear from you.

The very existence of the web is an open invitation for you to share your wisdom. This, I believe, is what it is here for and personally, I can’t wait to learn from you.

photo credit: kelley_leigh