On a crisp morning in April I put on some bright, colorful leggings for my morning walk.
A few blocks from home, a man on his porch called out, “Wow! You’re very colorful!” and something to the effect of how visible I was. We traded some pleasantries, and as I walked away he said, “Being seen is safety!”
Dressed in running clothes himself, I’m pretty sure he meant that literally. As in, “If you’re wearing something bright and visible, you won’t get hit by a car on your run.”
Despite the literal interpretation, the deeper significance of his message leaped out at me.
So often we as coaches, entrepreneurs, big dreamers, high achievers, and let’s face it, normal human beings in any walk of life, fear visibility on some level.
We fear rejection. We feel not good enough. We fear being perceived as too much. We even fear success.
We fear the responsibility that comes with stepping fully into our power.
We’re not sure what it would actually be like to live in our full power.
Our egos think it’s safer to hide. Safer to stay small. Safer to stay in the familiar, even if we can be so much more.
But in reality, our hiding serves no one. We are not safe when we hide; we’re procrastinating and perpetuating our own fear.
Of course we have times of quiet, solitude, and integration. That's not hiding. That's restoring our energy so we stay whole and sustainable.
Being seen – for who you really are – is safety. And you can’t be SEEN for who you really are unless you’re willing to BE who you really are.
If you’re feeling unseen, maybe you’re masking your truest and most beautiful self.
The more you live into who you really are and cultivate your INNER sense of value, the more those who love, honor, and value the real you will show up in your outer world.
The next time you find yourself hiding out and fearing visibility, flip the script.
What if being seen really IS safety?
Be YOU, confidently and courageously.
When you shine your light, you give others permission to do the same.