instead, I mentally told myself, “Good job, Lisa,
you’re rockin’, today!”
A wave of self-acceptance passed over me and
suddenly, I felt my heart rate slow, my anxiety
reduced, unafraid to speak in front of several hundred people at a large church gathering that my
family was attending that day. I stood tall, rolled
my shoulders back and let an exhale fully release
some residual self-doubt about if I would say the
right things and I allowed an inhaled breath to fill
my entire being--body, mind and spirit--with positive, self confidence in that moment, just a sweet
moment, less than one minute long. As I reached
for the doorknob to leave the bathroom, a fleeting
thought gave me the sweetest internal peace and
strength. I thought, “I’m going to say exactly what
I need to say in a way that best connects to the
people I’m talking to because I’m no longer afraid
to go up there and simply, be myself.”
I went up there and delivered a talk like a total
badass that day, talking to the crowd the same way
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that I would an old friend with comfortable laughter and showing off my own human characteristics
when I, for a moment, got off topic. After, I had
people come up to me and even stand in a line to
wait for others to get done talking to me just so
they could shake my hand and say, “thank you for
your message today”.
Nowadays, I’m not a regular church goer, but I
learned a lot from that experience twelve years ago
that translates over into what I do today as a motivator, trainer, coach and instructor.
I learned about myself, but also how much more
others can relate to us when we let go of the external crap that can distract us from fully knowing
and accepting our personal power, our own energy
and our own areas of greatness. I am often asked
how a person can let go more to really increase
the connection they have to their innermost self. I
think a great practice that helps me maintain my
own sense of personal power so I can be strong,
confident and bold is regularly writing out “I am…”