I want to stand up and be a little more of myself in the world

Dear Self,

Today I am going to talk to people about myself.

It seems a little odd. I feel like I am going to either have a great time sharing things I have learnt about the world or fail miserably at something I profess to teach others about.

Perhaps I will be exposed for being a fraud.

But that’s a catch 22. The only way not to be a fraud is to say yes to these kinds of opportunities and use them to learn about myself. Taking the opportunity to reflect upon how I behave in front of other people when I share something in public.

In doing so there is a risk that I fail, that I am not very interesting or engaging. So I could avoid appearing like a fraud by avoiding this kind of situation. But unless I say yes to this kind of thing I can’t learn anything new about what I might want to share with others to help them in these kinds of situations.

If I avoid this kind of situation I may avoid appearing like a fraud but I would definitely be a fraud.

What would I say to someone else in this position?

I would say “Let’s put all of that aside for a moment. Why do you want to talk to these people today?”

Hmmm

They are my kind of people. If they have come along to The Weekly Service then they are curious about the world in the same ways that I am.

I want to demonstrate how sharing something real about yourself is enough to inspire others to stand up and be a little more of themselves in the world.

I’d like to inspire some of them to stand up and share something about themselves one day.

Luke

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Know someone who would enjoy this letter?